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General Editors' Preface
The Jaina contributions in shaping the cultural trends and in enriching the wealth of civilization of India are quite significant. Jainism is an all-India religion in the sense that Jaina monks and house-holders have played a striking role in different parts of India in shaping the religious, social and political events in different periods of Indian history; and even today, the Jainas who number more than twenty lakhs are scattered all over the country. Jaina caves, temples and holy shrines have their architectural and artistic value, and the Sastra Bhandaras, 1. e., collections of Mss., contain rich literary material which is of special importance for the study of Indian literature and languages.
The Jainological material is so rich and varied and so much extended in time and space that it is well-nigh impossible to take a detailed survey of it at a stretch, in one volume, on an all-India basis. Under the circumstances, there have appeared a number of books which devote themselves to the study of Jainism in its various aspects in different parts of India. A few of them may be noted here: Studies in South Indian Jainism by M. S. R. IYYANGAR & B. SHESHGIRI RAO, Madras 1922; Jainism in North India by C. J. SHAHA, London 1932; Mediaeval Jainism by B. A. SALETORE, Bombay 1938; Jainism and Karnataka Culture (originally Jainism in South India) by S. R. SHARMA, Dharwar 1940; Jainism in South India & Some Jaina Epigraphs by P. B. DESAI, Sholapur 1957, Jainism in Gujarat by C. B. SHETH, Bombay 1953; Jamism in Bihar by P. C. ROY CHOUDHURY, Patna 1956, Jamsm in Orissa (in Hindi) by Dr. L. N. SAHU, Aliganj 1959.
These monographs clearly indicate that there is abundant material for the study of Jainism: its past and present, in different areas. There is scope for similar attempts in other areas as well.
In this volume Dr. KAILASH CHANDA JAIN has taken a survey of Jainism in Rajasthan from the earliest times to the present day. Jainism, in his opinion, has proved itself a great cultural and dynamic force under the liberal patronage of the heroic Rajput rulers who were a great support to Jaina monks and laymen who, in their turn, enriched the cultural heritage of the area. Earlier scholars like TOD, OJHA, NAHAR and others have touched this aspect in their accounts of Rajasthan, Lately, Muni JINAVIJAYAJI, Shri
