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PREFACE The inscriptions at Sravana Belgola were first collected and published by Mr. B. Lewis Rice, C.I.E., M.R.A.S., Director of Archaeological Researches in Mysore, as far back as 1889. A thoroughly revised and enlarged edition of the same was brought out by the late Director of Mysore Archaeological Researches, Práktana Vimarsha Vichakshana Rao Bahadur R. Narsinhachar, M. A., M.R.A.S. While the first edition contained only 144 inscriptions, Rao Bahadur Narsinhachar has brought to light hundreds of other inscriptions from the same locality and his edition contains no less than 500 of them. The site may now be said to be more or less thoroughly explored.
These inscriptions have a peculiar interest for the historian in so far as all of them are associated in one way or another with the Jain Religion. Interest in historical researches has of late been awakened in almost all the important communities of India and it is a happy augury of the times that the Directors of the Manikachandra Digambara Jain Granthamala have decided to include in their distinguished series a set of volumes bringing together in a handy form, all the known inscriptions of the Digambara Jains, thus facilitating the work of the future Jain Historian. It was thought suitable and convenient to start this series with a volume of Sravana Belgola inscriptions and the work was entrusted to me.
The present edition is based upon the above mentioned two editions. It has, thus, nothing new to offer to the scholar; but to the general reader, who is interested in Jain History but who for one reason or another can not go to the previous costly editions in Roman and Kanarese characters, this edition has a few advantages. The text of the inscriptions is here presented for the first time in Devanagari characters, the numbers of the inscriptions in the previous
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