________________
APPENDIX
231
native and Mohammedan rule. Writing far back as 1829, Colonel James Tod says in his Annals of Rajasthan: "The number and power of these sectarians (Jainas) are little known to Europeans who take it for granted that they are few and dispersed. To prove the extent of their religious and political power it will suffice to remark that the Pontiff of the Kharataragaccha, one of the many branches of the faith, has 11,000 clerical disciples scattered over India; that a single community, the Ossior Oswal, numbers 1,00,000 families; and that more than half the mercantile wealth of India passes through the hands of the Jaina laity. Rajasthan and Saurashtra are the cradles of the Jaina faith, and three out of their sacred mounts, namely, Abu, Shatrunjay and Gimnar are in these countries. The officers of the state and revenue are chiefly of the Jaina laity, as are the majority of the bankers from Lahore to the ocean. The chief magistrate and assessors of justice in Udeypur and most of the towns of Rajasthan, are of this sect; and as their voluntary duties are confined to the civil cases, they are as competent in these as they are the reverse in criminal cases, their tenets forbidding the shedding of blood... Mewar has, from the most remote period, afforded a refuge to the followers of the Jaina faith, which was the religion of Valabhi, the first capital of Rana's ancestors, and many monuments attest the support this family has granted to its professors in all the vicissitudes of their fortunes. One of the best preserved monumental remains in India is a column most elaborately sculptured, full 70 feet in height, dedicated to Parshvanatha - in Chitor. The noblest remains of sacred architecture, not in Mewar only, but throughout Westem India, are Buddhist or Jaina; and the many ancient cities where this religion was fostered have inscriptions which evince their prosperity in these countries with whose history their own is interwoven. In fine, the necrological records of the Jainas bear witness to their having occupied a distinguished place in Rajput society; and the privileges they still enjoy prove that they are not overlooked."
The Jainas are advocates of education. Their benefactions to Western education and intellectual progress in India are well known. The University of Bombay owes to a Jaina merchant the
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
