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COMPREHENSIVB HISTORY OF JAINISM
Bābur and Humāyūn.100 Among his works we can mention the Rāyamallabh, udaya101 and the Akabarošāhi-Srngadarpana.103
Jainism in Rajasthan : Like Gujarat, Jainism continued to exist in Rajasthan, as a separate religious system, in the period under review (1300-1600 A.D.). As we have already seen, several places of Rajasthan were intimately connected with Jainism from quite early period. However, a few of the important Jain centres were destroyed by the Muslims, in the period under review. Let us first take note of the condition of Jainism in Northern Rajasthan, which includes the very important district of Bikaner.
Bikaner area has yielded more than 2500 Jain inscriptions203, inscribed mostly on metal icons. Only a few inscriptions have the names of the reigning kings. However, they give the names of the prominent monks of different gacchas. The names of most of the śvetämbara monks, found in Bikaner inscriptions, can also be noticed in inscriptions, from other places of Rajasthan and even Gujarat.
The earliest temple10e, of Bikaner was founded during the reign of king Bjkāji in V.S. 1561, corresponding to 1503 A.D. It was dedicated to the first Tirthankara Adinātha. The relevant inscription informs us that the original icon of Ādinātha was first installed by the famous Kharatara Acārya Jinakušala in V.S. 1380 at Mamdovara. And we actually know from the KB105, that this great Jain monk was very much busy installing images in that particular year (V.S. 1380) in various places of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Another inscription, from the same temple106, gives us the information that Kāmrān, the brother of Emperor Humāyün had invested this place in V.S. 1591. and destroyed the temple of Adinātha, which was rebuilt by Varasimha, the minister of Jayantasimba in V.S, 1592. The date given for Kāmrān is absoluely correct, and this epigraph proves that, from the very beginning, the ministers of Bikaner kings were active supporters of Jainism. The temple of Adinātha
