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MEDIÆVAL JAINISM country's liberation, was really an adjunct without which no freedom could be effected either in the field of religion or in that of politics. To the history of these celebrated Jaina generals we now tum in order to learn how this great religion proved to be a solvent of some of the most pressing problems which faced the statesmen of the times.
The first great name in the constellation of brilliant Jaina generals we meet with is that of Cāmunda Rāya, popularly known as Rāya. A braver soldier, a more devout Jaina, and a more honest man than Cāmuṇda Rāya Karnāțaka had never seen. Stone inscriptions of his own time and a work of his in Kannada are the sources of information for the life of this exceptionally remarkable general. Details about his lineage are gathered from his work called Cāmuņdarāyapurāna and from stone inscriptions of his ruler and himself. The work called Cāmundarāyapurāņa deals with the history of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, and it was composed in A.D. 978. In this work Cāmunda Rāya says that he belonged to the Brahma-Kşatra race, and that he was known as Brahma-Kşatra-śikhāmaņi. His royal patron was Jagadekavīra, Dharmāvatāra, Rācamalla (IV).1 But he seems to have served under the Ganga king Mārasimha as well.
The age in which king Mārasimha and his son and successor Rācamalla IV lived was very precarious for the Gangas. Under the former the two formidable dangers to the Ganga kingdom were the Western Cālukyas and the Nolambas, while there were other enemies who were equally troublesome. The Western Cālukya opposition was led by prince Rājāditya, and the Noļamba menace by Nanni Nolamba, Noļamba Rāja. The other enemies were the Pallavas
1. Kavicarite, I. p. 46. 2. Rice, My. & Coorg., p. 57.
