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JAINISM IN RAJASTHAN
CHAPTER I
SOURCES Jainism has played an important role in the history of Rajasthan from the earliest times to the present day It was not only patronised by the rulers and members of the ruling families, but it received also the warm support and had an appeal to the heart of the massess. The contributions of Jainism are apparent in all aspects of the cultural heritage of Rajasthan which abounds in Jaina antiquities. There are numerous Jaina temples which are fine specimens of art and architecture and have beautiful sculptures. Numerous Jaina inscriptions unfold the history of this land. Jaina monks tried for the social uplift of the masses; and they also enriched the local languages by their literary works. But these sources are widely scattered and many of thein have remained unexplored. No work has been written so far to trace out the history and influence of Jainism in Rajasthan. To elucidate this subject, an attempt has, therefore, been made in this thesis by using all scattered materials in a comprehensive and correlated manner.
These sources may be broadly divided under these heads: (1) Archaeology; (2) Literature; and (3) Writings of the foreigners.
(1) ARCHAEOLOGY: (a) Epigraphy: The inscriptions form the most reliable source of our information. There are discovered by me about two hundred Jaina inscriptions in the various parts of Rajasthan and over a thousand have been already discovered by other scholars mainly by GAURISHANKAR HIRACHAND OJHA and PORAN CHAND NAHAR. The carliest inscription seems to be belonging probably to the fifth century B.01 They are incised on rocks, pillars and images, both of stone and metal. They are written in Sanskrit, Prākrit and Rājasthāns and sometimes in a mixed language. The inscriptions upto 600 AD are in Brāhmi script, those from 600 to 900 AD. mostly in the Kuţıla foim of it, and the remaining are written in Devanāgarī script. A good many of them throw a flood of light on the religious, social and political conditions of the periods under review.
1. Bhāratiya Prüchina Lipimālā, p 2 According to Dr. SIROAR, it is not a Jaina inscription but his views do not seem to be tenablo, See JBORS, March 1954, p. 8.
