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JAINISM IN NORTH INDIA (AD 600-1000)
151
tion 120 dated saka 888, and who is described there as belonging to the Gauda Samgha was originally a Jaina saint from Bengal. There is no reason to suppose the existence of samgha of that name in U.P.121 We must remember that Jainism was very popular in Bengal, and since the latter was connected with the religion from early times it is natural to suppose that the Jaina monks belonging to this state were held in esteem by monks from the other states of India. With the decline of Jainism in Bengal in the tenth century AD, the monks of this state naturally sought asylum in other parts of the country. It is also interesting to note that probably Somadeva in his Yaśastilakacampūl22 refers to a Jaina shrine of Tāmralipta, the ancient port of southern Bengal.
To sum up, we must repeat that with the exception of Gujarat and Rajasthan, and a few select pockets elsewhere, Jainism was fighting a losing battle in northern India. In Rajasthan and Gujarat it was because of the enthusiasm of traders that this religion managed to retain its hold. In other parts of India Saivism and Vaisnavism became the dominant religious systems. In eastern India the Pālas largely patronized Buddhists. In central India the kings of the Kalacuri, Candella, Cāhamāna, Guhila, and other dynasties did practically nothing to promote the cause of Jainism. In northernmost parts of India, the ruling dynasties never cared for Jainism. Kashmir was a citadel of the Saivas and Punjab of both the Saivas and Vaisnavas. In south India, however, especially in Karnataka the picture was different, and I shall now turn my attention once more to the south.
REFERENCES
1. Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, I, p. 123. 2. Ibid., I, p. 251. 3. Ibid., II, p. 154. 4. Ibid., II, p. 184. 5. Ibid., II, p. 187. 6. See Annual Progress Report of the Superintendent, Hindu and Buddhist
Monuments, Northern Circle, 1918–19, p. 12. 7. Watters, op. cit., II, p. 154. 8. D. Mitra, 'Some Jaina Antiquities from Bankura', JASB, 1958, 24, no.
2. 9. See Jaina Journal, 1969, IV, no. 4; see also R.D. Banerji, Eastern Indian
School of Mediaeval Sculpture, p. 145; see also Jaina Journal, V, no. 1.
