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CHAPTER III.
PRINCELY PATRONAGE
Ganga feudatories of the Pasindi family--The Nirgunda Rāja-The Rāṣṭrakūta feudatory Caki Rāja-The Cellapatāka nobleman LokādityaThe Santara lords-The Kongalvas The Cangāļvas Gollācārya-The Silahāras of Karhāḍ -The Rattas of Saundatti-The nobles of Nāgarakhanda-Kūci Rāja, a Yadava noble.
THE
HE royal precedent of fostering Jainism having been thus set from early ages, there was nothing surprising in the nobles of Karnataka having taken to a similar liberal attitude towards it in their own provincial governments. From the eighth century A.D. onwards till the end of the thirteenth century, every attempt was made by the feudatories of the Karnataka monarchs to add to the strength of the Jina dharma. This had a most salutary effect on the people, and, as we shall presently see, it was partly responsible for the wide support which Jainism received from all quarters.
The earliest example of feudatories who were devout Bhavyas is that of a branch of the ancient Ganga family itself. The Narasimharajapura plates of the Ganga king Śrīpuruşa already referred to in an earlier context, relate that chief among that king's friends (anukulavarti) was Naga