________________
The Rāstrakūtas Feudatories / 57
interesting part of the history of south. It blossomed into full bloom with the sustained refuge of the Gangas and it reached its summit in the reign of the Rāştrakūtas. Gangavāời had the reputation of being the land of Jaina sanctuaries and lamasery.
3.8.2. When the Rāstrakūtas became the overall suzerians of Karnātadēśa, prominent princely family of the Gangas who were ruling for over four hundred years, came under their sway. While examining the position of the Gangas in the age of the Rāstrakūtas, leaving aside their early and later history, it becomes clear that they were accorded far higher rank among all the vassals of the imperial Rāştrakūtas. Inscriptions have extolled the cordial and cardinal relationship that prevailed between the Gangas and their overlords, demonstrated by other literary records.
3.8.3. Amõghavarşa-I, the Asöka of Jainas, worked for the spread of Jainism with the help of the Gangas. The period of Gangas with the Rāstrakūtas, which spans a long epoch of two centuries, was the unequalled age of prominence for Jainism in south. Jaina art, architecture, literature, sanctuary and monastery reached its climax. Archaelogical remains of historical consequence, unearthed so far, has provided required corroborative evidences to prove the Ganga's earnest dedication to śramaṇadharma. As revealed in the epigraphs of this time, free, handed bounty flowed to the Jaina temples, monks, nuns, holymen, to the lustral ceremony of Jina, to the sustenance of monasteries and men of letters.
3.8.3.1. Gangavādi-96,000 had included many minor sub-divisions like Gangasāsira, Punnādu-6000, Kongannādu-8000, Male-1000, Mandali-1000, Kolāra-300, Edenādu-70, Aridāļike-70, Beddoregere-70, Nirgunda-300, sērinādu, Bayalnādu etc. Geographical boundaries of Gangavādi (şaņņavati sahasra, śrīrājya, Gāngiyarājya,
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
