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JAINISM IN NORTH INDIA (200 BC-AD 600)
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from the Jaina temple, an āyāgapața, a fragment of frieze, illustrating the transfer of embryo and some railing pillars. 28
The Jaina Kuşāņa inscriptions from Ahicchatra disclose the names of the following lay devotees: Gahapalā, the wife of Ekraļala, the daughter-in-law of Sivasiri, and the daughter of Grahamitra; all these persons are mentioned in the inscription of year 9, corresponding to AD 87;29 in the inscription of the year 12 we have Jinadāsi, Rudradeva, Dāttāgālā, Rudra, Grahamitra, Kumāraśirī, Vāmadāsī, Hastisenā, Grahasirī, Rudradatā, Jayadāsī, and Mitrasirī, all of whom were carpenters by caste;30 in the inscription of year 74 we have?! Dharavala and Aryadāsi. The names of the following Jaina monks also occur in the inscriptions discovered of Ahicchatra: Tarika32 in the inscription of year 9, who belonged to the Koliya gana, Sthaniya kula, and Vairā sākhā; Pusila* (Koliya, Bambhadāsiya and Ucenagari) and another unnamed monks belonging to the Vāraṇa gaña and Vajanagarī sākhā. The most definite proof of the existence of Jaina monks at Ahicchatra is supplied by a Lucknow Museum Jaina image inscription5 that refers to a monk (whose name is indecipherable) belonging to Petivāmika kula and Vajanagarī sākhā, who is called a native of Ahicchatra (Adhicchatrakā). All these pieces of evidence go far in testifying to the popularity of Jainism at Ahicchatra in early times.
Another old city, Kāmpilya, was intimately connected with Jainism in pre-Gupta days. This town was correctly identified by Cunningham with Kampil in Farrukhabad district, U.P.36 It was, according to the Mahābhārata, 37 the capital of southern Pancāla. The city, as we learn from the canonical texts, 38 was visited by both Pārsva and Mahāvīra. It was believed to be the birthplace of the thirteenth Tirthamkara, Vimala, and is also mentioned in the Bhagavatro and Aupapātikasūtra 10 The fourth Ninhava Asamitta, who flourished 220 years after Mahāvīra's death, i.e., third century BC, was associated with this town. The Uttarādhyayana," a very old Jaina canonical text, refers to a certain king Sanjaya, who was a Jaina devotee. This place has yielded a few Jaina inscriptions. 2
Sārkāśya, mentioned prominently in the Rāmāyaṇa," as the capital of Kusadhvaja Janaka, Sītā's paternal uncle, was one of the important towns of pre-Buddhist India. It was, according to that epic, situated on the bank of the river Ikṣumati. It is identified by Cunningham“ with Sankissa in Farrukhabad district of U.P. This town, it is interesting to note, is mentioned by Pāņini, 15 and Patanjali
