________________
160
COMPRBBBNSIVE HISTORY OF JAINISM
suggestive. But this great monk, with his devoted band of followers, practically visited every important tirtha of Northern India, in the first two decades of the 14th century, and kept the flag of his religion flying on every Jain shrine.
The KB gives us the vital information that in V.S. 1375, corresponding to 1318 A.D., Jinacandra III succeeded in obtaining a far mān from Kutabadina Suratrāņa94, and visited the Jain tirthas of Rajasthan, Haryana and other parts of Northern India. This Muslim king was no other than Qutb-ud-din Mubārak Shāh (1316-1320), the Sultan of Delhi, who as we bave already seen, was on friendly terms, with that celebrated merchant Samarã Shāh, another contemporary of Jinacandra III. It is interesting to note that this Kutabadina has been described very correctly, by the author of the KB95, as the son of Sri-Alāvadina Suratrana. This work further represents Kutabadina as honouring Jinacandra and his followers. It appears from this text, that during this period, there were a very good number of devoted Jains in tbe Muslim capital, where Jinacandra III stayed for a few months. Among the prominent Jains of Delhi, who were devotedly attached to this Kharatara guru, we may mention Thakkura Pheruse, of the Srimāla gotra, who wrote his Ratnaparikshas?, in V.S. 1372 and Dravyaparikshas B, in V.S. 1375. These invaluable works will be discussed in the chapter on the Svetāmbara literature.
Jinacandra III died in V.S. 1376 and was succeeded by Jinakusalasuri, who was an equally energetic monk. After spending the first two rainy seasons at Patan (Pattana), he decided to visit the two great tithas of Satruñjaya and Urjayapta along with his followers. The KB89, gives us the information that his followers at Delhi succeeded in obtaining a farmán from Patasähi-Śr 1-Gyasadina mahārājāchiraja in V.S. 1380. This king was the emperor GhijasUd-din Tugbluq (1320-25), who, as we have already noticed, also gave patronage to Samarā Sbāh. Among the śrāvokas
