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CHAPTER XI.
THE ANEKANTAMATA IN THE EMPIRE
Why Jainism held its own in the various cities The history of Jainism in the different cities of the Vijayanagara Empire from the fourteenth till the seventeenth century A.D.
N EITHER in the great capital nor in the provincial seats
I was the influence of Jainism so markedly felt as in the different cities of the Vijayanagara Empire where the citizens accorded to it a most cordial reception. This could not be otherwise when the Vijayanagara monarchs themselves, in spite of their having been committed to a policy of upholding the Hindu dharına, had nevertheless championed the cause of the syād vāda doctrine, and when the provincial rulers had showed their great anxiety to preserve the prestige of the Jina dharma in the various parts of the Empire. Thus guided by the imperial and feudal rulers, the citizens were not slow to give Jainism every support they could give in their towns and villages.
The history of the Jaina religion, therefore, assumes a different phase in the Vijayanagara age. It is no more the religion of the royalty it had been in the days of the early Karnāțaka kings. Notwithstanding the unreserved patronage given to it by the Vijayanagara monarchs, and the encouragement shown to it by the feudal nobles, Jainism realized that its fortune was now cast with the common people. And
