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BOOK REVIEW
A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF JAINISM, Vol. II (1000 A.D.
to 1600 A.D.) by Dr. Asim Kumar Chatterjee, published by Firma KLM Private Ltd., Calcutta, 1984. Pages 410. Price Rs. 150.00.
The learned author, Dr. A. K. Chatterjee, is a Reader in the Deptt. of Ancient History and Culture, of the Calcutta University, and has to his credit several historical works like The Cult of Skanda-Karttikeya in Ancient India (1970), Ancient Indian Literary and Cultural Tradition (1974), A Comprehensive History of Jainism Vol. I (1978), and Political History of Pre-Buddhist India (1980).
In Volume I of the present work, he claimed to have attempted to write a connected history of the Jain religion from the earliest times to 1000 A.D. He, however, believes that although Jainism is definitely older than Buddhism, it originated some 800 years before the birth of Christ, Parsvanatha of Varanasi, the 23rd Tirthankara being its real founder. Consequently, after noticing briefly the earlier 22 Tirthankaras (ch. I) whom he considers to be mythical figures, he discussed Parsvanatha (ch. II), Life of Mahavira (ch. III), and the spread of Jainism in different parts of North and South India from 200 B.C. to 1000 A.D. (chs. IV-X). Then in two chapters he described respectively the canonical and noncanonical Svetambara literature (ch. XI-XII), and in another (ch. XIII) the literature of the Digambaras, and in the last (ch. XIV) Jain Thinkers.
In the present volume II of his work, he continues the history of Jainism from 1000 A.D. to 1600 A.D., in seven chapters, appending at the end a Select Bibliography and Index. In the first 39 pages of Section 'A' of ch. I, he has discussed the achievements of eminent Jain gurus and laymen in the field of their religion, as well as the patronage granted to them by the Solanki or Caulukya kings and their successors, the Baghela rulers of Gujarat. He has made good use of the available literary sources, epigraphical records and secondary books on the subject. The account runs in a chronological sequence, almost reign-wise. In Section 'B' (pp. 39-54), he has dealt with Jainism in Rajasthan (1000-1300 A.D.),
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