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JAINISM AT THE PROVINCIAL COURTS 319 sembly of king Sāluva Deva Rāya ; while king Sāluva Kļşņa Rāja worshipped the great Jaina orator.1
It is not to be imagined that Jainism which received such support from the rulers of Sangītapura and other provincial capitals, had not enemies who tried to crush that religion. One such enemy of the anekāntamata was the chief of Srisaila (Kurnool district). He was a pious Vira Saiva chief, and the son of Santa. An inscription dated Saka 1433 (A.D. 1512) commemorates the many gifts of this chief to the well known temple of Śrīšala. It is said that one of the pious deeds of this chief was the beheading of the śvetāmbara Jainas ! 2 We do not know what action the Vijayanagara Government took against this zealous champion of Vira Saivism, especially in an age which had produced the great Kịşņa Deva Rāya.
However, chiefs of this type were not the rule in the Vijayanagara Empire. On the other hand, the sympathetic, and, in many instances, sustained aid given by the many great nobles for the welfare of the Jina dharma, was in a large measure responsible for its success in the different parts of the Vijayanagara Empire. Inscriptions ranging from the middle of the fourtecnth to the early part of the seventeenth century A.D., reser in copious terms to the endeavours made by the nobles and citizens on behalf of the syäd vāda doctrine. But before we describe these records, it may be interesting to observe how noble ladies gave expression to their devotion to thc Jina dharma. In this connection we have to remember the lead given to the ladies of the Empire by the members of the imperial family which we have already described above.
1. E. C. VIII. Nr. 46, pp. 146-149. 2. 16 of 1915; Rangacharya, Top List, II, p. 953.
