Jain Inscriptions of Rajasthan

Author(s): Ramvallabh Somani
Publisher: Rajasthan Prakrit Bharti Sansthan Jaipur

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fully engraved script; the study of their palaeographical details, therefore, is all the more interesting.
(vi) The inscription ends by recording the date or its execution. Pre-medieval inscriptions, generally do not record the month and day or their execution; only the year is available in them. But in the later inscriptions these are also specifically mentioned. In cases, where date is not recorded, it has to be roughly worked out on the basis of palaeographic details and other historical data.
The word "Chha" ("") or Iti-Subham etc. are found at the very end of the record.314 The earliest known use of the syllable "Chha" is from the Hatundi Jain temple inscription of V.E. 1053 (996 A.D.).
Sangh-Yatras :
Like other religious people the Jains were fond of pilgrimages visiting various holy sites connected with the life of the Tirthankaras or temples famous for their art and antiquity. We have several epigraphic and literary evidence regarding large congregations of pilgrims that used to collect at various shrines in Rajasthan. Sometimes no separate epigraph was recorded about the journey but it is included in the achievements of the family. In the Chittor inscription32 or V.E. 1495 (1438 A.D), Jaisalmer inscriptions33 of the Patavas, such description is given in detail. There are also several small inscriptions bearing the record of individual persons visiting a shrine. In Abu, we have several such small inscriptions from34 the 15th century A. D. to 19th century A. D. Most of these inscriptions are in the local dialects. These inscriptions also contain the names of several persons, who accompanied a Sangh. From these epigraphs, we can infer the period over which the place where such inscriptions are noticed remained in worship.
31A. For details see Author's paper published in Maru-Bharati. Vol XXVIII No. 1 p. 36
32.
J.B.B.R.A S. Vol. XXIII p. 50.
33. Nahar III No. 2530/ Jin-Vijay's paper "Jaisalmer-ke Patavon ke-Sangh ka Varnana (Jain-Sahity-Samshodhak Vol. I pp. 108-111).
Abu II Nos. 174 to 183, 379 to 406.
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