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Status of Jainism in India :: 121
and 13.9 per cent in Madhya Pradesh. In other words, as many as 43.9 per cent of the total Jainas in India are concentrated in western India comprising the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is thus evident that western India is the stronghold of Jaina religion
4. Jainism in North India
When by 300 B.C. the migration of Jainas began from eastern India to different parts of the country, one of their branches was firmly established in north India from the middle of the second century B.C. and was settled in the Mathurā region. What Sravanabelagola was to the Jainas of South, Mathurā, in the old kingdom of Sūrasenas, was to the Jainas of North. The numerous inscriptions excavated in this city tell us about a widespread and firmly established Jaina religion, strongly supported by pious lay devotees and very zealous in the consecration and worship of images and shrines dedicated to Lord Mahāvīra and his predecessors. As these inscriptions range from the 2nd century B.C. to the 5th century A.D., it is clear that Mathurā was a stronghold of Jainas for nearly a thousand years.
Another centre of Jaina activities in the North was Ujjayinī. It was the capital of Maurya Emperor Samprati who was the Jaina Asoka. Since we find several references to Ujjayinī in the Jaina literature, it seems that the city might have played an important role in the history of Jaina religion.
The archaeological and other evidences brought to light from different parts of north and central India establish close relations of various rulers with Jainism. During the Mohammedan period Jainism could not get the royal and popular support as it used to receive before but it succeeded in holding its own without much trouble. Jainas even could secure some concessions for their holy places and practices from the liberal minded Mughal emperors like Akbar the Great and Jahangir.
It is recorded that emperor Akbar was very favourably inclined towards the Jaina religion. In the year 1583 A.D. he
