Jain Thought and Culture

Author(s): G C Pandey
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 63

Akbar and Jainism
53
spread in Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Sirohi and some parts of Marwar by the 15th century The same was the case with Purnimiya Gachchha and Sardha Purnimiya Gachchha which though it had originated in Gujarat became quite dominant in the 15th century in Jaisalmer and Sirohi states Its inscriptions are also found at Jodhpur, Nagor, Ajmer and Udaipur The Agamika-Gachchha, founded in the later half of the 12th century by two acharyas of Agamika Gachchha, had spread in the 15th century in Jaisalmer, Nagor, Barmer, Osia, Sirohi, Ajmer and Amber Besides these, there were many other Gachchhas like the three Kula-Gachchhas, those named after venerable persons (such as Piplacharya-Gachchha, Prabhakara-Gachchha etc), those named after the place where they were founded (such as Harshapuriya Gachchha) The early Jain inscriptions found in Jaipur mention Chanchak-Gachchha (inscription dt 1472 AD), Raja-Gachchha (instription dated 1452) and Chhahilera-Gachchha (inscription dated 1555) The inscriptions found in Marwar, Jaisalmer and other places in Rajasthan mention some other Gachchhas Also the Mula Samgha and Mathura Samgha of the Digambaras had good footing in Rajasthan 1 Thus, substantial evidence exists, only a part of which has been mentioned here, which shows that Jainism was a living creed in Rajasthan, and paucity in the number of its followers was amply made up by the zeal of the Jain Bhattara kas, acharyas and the sramanas who moved from place to place to spread the religion of Mahavira The Chaitya-vasi system contributed much to the spread of Jainism, for, according to the rule, a monk could not stay longer than a night in any village and more than five nights in a town Though gradually considerable deviation from this practice was observed, yet the ideal remained and continued to contribute to the spread of the creed through wandering monks
In view of the above facts it does seems likely that Akbar, during his frequent visits to Rajputana, came in contact with the Jain acharyas even before 1578, when, as Abul Fazl writes,2 the Ibadat Khana, which had been built at the Emperor's orders at Fatehpur Sikri for holding religious and philosophical discussions, was thrown open to the scholars and divines of different religions, including the Jain sevaras or Archaryas of the Swetambara branch and the Jatis or Jain monks 3 According to Jain sources, the Jain
1 See KC Jain, Jainism in Rajasthan, Sholapur, 1963, pp 18 49, 59, 60, 65, 68, 75, 88. 2 Akbarnuma (tr Beveridga), 11, p 365