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MONUMENTS & SCULPTURE A.D. 1000 TO 1300
[PART V
home of a people known as Sarāk. They live by agriculture and are strictly committed to ahimsa or non-violence. They follow the Hindu religion nowadays; but Risley noticed in his Tribes and Castes of Bengal that the Sarāks of Lohardaga still consider Pārśvanatha as their particular god. It is also admitted that the tribal name Sarak has been derived from śravaka, which means a householder following the Jaina way of life. The above evidence cumulatively may indicate that the Sarāks were originally Jainas; their traditions also lend support to this view. It appears from our survey of Jaina relics that Jainism as an organized creed survives in eastern India with the Sarāks as the chief patrons. Their agricultural economy could hardly compete with the commercial economy of western India. Among the Jainas of eastern India there was no state dignitary like Vimala-Saha, a merchant-prince like Tejaḥpāla or a banker-prince like Vastupala. That may explain partially the absence of any great art-activity in eastern India under the patronage of Jainism.
S.K. SARASWATI
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