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Jainism in South India
of the recognised designations by which they were often known elsewhere. Another form in which they are known in the South is Asuvis, which is the Tamilisation of the term Aji vikas. There was a special rate that was levied for the maintenance of the community of the Jaina monks, and the rate was designated Asuvikal Kasu, the cash duty or cess levied for the purpose of Jaina monks. Jaina and Buddhist centres alike flourished specifically designated by the name palli. This state of things continued under the empira of the Cholas, and there is perhaps only one instance of any importanco, that, for some reason, there was a destruction of the caves of these Jainas by an outburst of popular fanaticism. Otherwise they do not appear to have suffered very much, as the Jaina centre at Conjeevaram received the patronage of the two generals of Vijayanagar in the early days of its existence, Chaichappa and his son Iruga, both of them generals of the empire. There are numbers of Jaina communities lying scattered in various centres all over the land still pursuing their peaceful occupations and continuing to be more or less prosperous.
The greatest setback that the Jains suffered in the Dakhan country was under the decaying power of the Chalukyas when there was a Kalachurya usurpation in the middle of the 10th century. A community of Virasaivas, which perhaps we can trace back to the days of the Pasupatas and the Kápalikas of the earlier centuries generally, growing into importance assumed a new form and acquired even a new degree of fanaticism about t::is time. They came into prominence in the Karnataka country under the rule of Bijjala who was himself a Jain, but had two Brahman ministers, an uncle and a nephew, who held high positions in the state service. Led by these Brahmans, they broke out into even open rebellion, and in the course of the struggle, the Jains suffered much, before the rebel elements could be brought under control and made to pursue a normal course of life like communities. Thereafter the Jains have not achieved any prominence comparable to the position which they occupied under the Rashtrakutas in the days of Amogavars ha or in the seventh country of the Pandya previous to the days of Kun Pandya in the century. As one among the various communities constituting the population of the South, they were allowed to pursue their course of peaceful life and continue to be prosperous communities down to the present time.
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[ Shree Atmaramji
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