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CHAPTER VIII
MODERN PERIOD OF
THE DEVELOPMENT OF JAINISM
TOWARDS the twentieth century, the south Indian part of the Jain community was numerically very small. According to the 1901 census, there were 7 Jains (6 according to the data in 1941) per ten thousand of population in Madras. In Hyderabad, it was 18 (15 in 1941) and in Mysore 25 (45 in 1941). Approximately the same picture was seen in northern India: in 1901 in UP and Punjab there were 18 to 20 Jains per ten thousand of population (19 and 13 in 1941). But in western India, the ratio was different. In 1901 in Ajmer-Marwar, there were 418 Jains per ten thousand of population, in Rajputana 349, in Baroda 247, in Bombay 123. Towards the middle of the twentieth century, the number of Jains in the west also decreased. According to the 1941 census, in Ajmer-Marwar there were 323 Jains per ten thousand of population, in Rajputana 247, in Baroda 164. Only in Bombay the number of Jains increased to some extent. It was 127.
In 1950-1960, an
increase in the Jain community was observed. In comparison with 1951, it increased by 25.17% (according to 1961 census, Jains formed 0.46% of the population of India).
Highest increase was seen in the local groups in the eastern regions of India and in the regions intensively developed by the Indian Government recently. Though the numerical strength of these groups in absolute figures is small, in terms of percentages, their increase is quite remarkable: In Assam, it is more than 127% (in all nearly 9.5 thousand Jains), in Andhra, nearly 85% (in all 9,000 Jains), in Orissa, nearly 84% (in all 2.3 thousand Jains). In Bihar the number of Jains increased almost by 116% (in all 17.6 thousands).
In western India the increase in the community is extremely
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