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Cultural Milieu of Jaina Caves: Socio-economic and Religious Backdrop
337 is said to reflect the tradition about the caves having been excavated by the Vidyadhara princes Nila and Mahanila (Mirashi 1977: v). However, there is no evidence to support this assumption. Moreover, the cave dates to the 6th century CE, while the Silaharas are said to have ruled Ter in the 7th century CE. The only site that furnishes a substantial number of inscriptions is Mangi-Tungi, though most of these are of much later date and record only the names of monks represented in sculptures. It appears that most of the inscriptions in the Jaina caves record donations of individual icons rather than the entire cave.
A study of other Jaina inscriptions from the area point at the type of patronage Jainism received in general. As is evident from the list above, the grants to Jaina temples were made primarily by the royal families, officials and the trading community. The Rashtrakuta, Silahara, later Chalukya, Kalachuri and Yadava kings, a number of subordinate chiefs, officials like Dandanayaka, revenue collectors and village heads and merchants-guilds were the patrons of the sect. Except Rashtrakuta Indra III and Yadava Seunachandra, all the rulers made donations in south Maharashtra. Jainism was very strong in north Karnataka and south Maharashtra, being physically close to it, must have been a prominent centre of the sect. Of all the dynasties, the Silaharas of Kolhapur patronised Jainism liberally. Gandaraditya and Vijayaditya made large donations to a number of temples in Kolhapur and the area around it. Gandaraditya's Mahasamanta Nimbadevarasa built a Parsvanātha and an Adinatha temple in Kolhapur. Except Vasudeva, the betel-box carrier of Samanta Kamadeva, who built a basti at HavinaHerilage, no evidence of people from lower strata of the society granting donations to Jaina temples are available. However, if the vast data of inscriptions, especially those on image pedestals recording dedication of an icon, is studied properly, it would definitely bring into light new features.
The kings, chiefs and officials mainly donated land, while the merchants and guilds donated revenues of various commodities. Many donations were made jointly by rulers and the merchants. Among the mercantile community, a few individual merchants or śreşthis are mentioned as patrons in Nasik, Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, while in south Maharashtra many famous and powerful guilds of the period are found patronising Jainism. Some of these guilds were Vira Bañanjus, mentioned in the Kolhapur inscription of 1135 CE, 500 Svāmis (of Ayyvole), mentioned in the Desinga Borgaon inscription of 1150 CE and 500 Svāmis of Ayyvole, Mummuridandas and Ubhayanāndesis mentioned in the Malakavathe inscription of 1166 CE. Of these, 500 Svāmis of Ayyvole or Via Bannjus was the most powerful guild of the period operating in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh from 9th century CE. It is supposed to have originated at Ayyavole or Aihole in Karnataka. Eventually it spread to the other parts of south India. Their latest reference is said to be in 1680 CE. The guild included various classes of the merchants who traded in all sorts of commodities, both inland and overseas and visited far off regions. From the praśsti of this guild in various records of Karnataka, narrating mythical origin of the guild and high-sounding titles, it is clear that it was a very powerful guild of south India in medieval period (Gururajachar 1974: 119126). The representatives of this guild in aforementioned Kolhapur inscription included merchants from Kolhapur, Miraj, Malabar district of Kerala, a few other places and a royal merchant of King Gandaraditya. Mummuridandas was another powerful guild of
