Jains in India and Abroad

Author(s): Prakash C Jain
Publisher: International Summer School for Jain Studies

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The book contains a large bibliography with special reference to Jain philosophy and religion, history, demography, anthropology, sociology and other social sciences. Needless to say, the five chapters and a bibliography constitute only a small book - essentially an outline of the theme "Jains in India and Abroad". As mentioned above, the genesis of the book lies in differential circumstances over a long period of time, and therefore a certain amount of repetition of contents has been inevitable. There might be a number of other shortcomings in the book. Nevertheless, encouragement received from various quarters finally prompted me to put together the book. I earnestly hope that it would be useful to the general readers as well as the scholars.
I am grateful to Prof. Nathan R. B. Loewen of Vanier College, Montreal for reading earlier drafts of the manuscript and for making extensive criticism and comments towards improving the same. Some of the Ph.D. scholars working under my supervision, particularly Kundan Kumar, Jaffar Ali Khan, Rakesh K. Ranjan, Rajiv Kumar, Rajeevan Kunnath, Navendu Shekhar and Ms. Rajni Bala helped me in a number of ways in finalizing the book. Ms. Chanchal Jain and Mr. Sushil Jana of International School for Jain Studies composed the book on PageMaker and assisted in designing the cover page with great enthusiasm. I am thankful to all of them. Thanks are also due to Dr. Shugan C. Jain, India-Director of International School for Jain Studies, New Delhi for promptly accepting the manuscript for publication on behalf of the School.
And finally, the book is dedicated to the fond memories of my father Shri Ratna Chand Jain and my father-in-law Shri C. K. Saxena who, in spite of their different socio-economic and religious backgrounds, had some common "Jaintlemanly" qualities. The book also purports to be a gift to my wife Dr. Renu Saxena, and our daughters Ms. Rashi Prakash and Ms. Sanskriti Prakash who might learn about the Jains a little more systematically than had so far been possible for me by telling them in bits and pieces.
New Delhi March 21, 2011
Prakash C. Jain
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