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Jaina Traditions and Archaeological Remains: Some Observations period could be given cognizance.
The possibility of the substratum of Dravidian languages being spread far and wide finds ready concurrences in similarity of archaeological remains found from widely different settings after the decline of the first civilization. It is in this context that assertions by G. R. Sharma way back in 1960 (p. 14) alluding the Pre P. G. W. rampart and corbelled drain of Kausambi due to Harappan influences, becomes tenable. Similarly, B. P. Sinha (1993: pp. 135-139), two decades later, had suggested Harappan fallout in the mid Gangetic valley. Recently Saran and Sant (2002: pp. 129-140) have not only elaborated on the same line but have also again vouched for "the belief, that many of the traits of Chalcolithic culture of central India and northern Deccan had derived from the Harappan culture itself. The duo have drawn parallels of material remains between Harappan including the farther away Lothal and many sites of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh in the Mid Ganga Valley. In this context the resemblance of Harappan copper tablets with the smaller, thin, flat punch marked coins of the Mauryan period is interesting (Sundara, 2001, p. 103). In this context, it would be appropriate to quote Saran and Sant (2002:p. 129) who states "Lal has conceded that subsequent to the fall of the Harappan urban civilization, the communities had dispersed in different directions and in all probability certain common non- urban traits had infiltrated and mixed up with cultural traditions of various local communities.”
Again this mixing could become possible as there were underlying common factors across the subcontinent. Pertinently, the Neolithic and Chalcolithic communities have shown many linkages with Harappans, both coeval (Saran and Sant, 2002, p. 135) and/or later. Similarly, as mentioned earlier, there are evidences of continuity between Harappan and Megalithic cultures. All these have brought out the large number of links throughout almost the entire length and breadth of the country in the proto historic period except perhaps for the Ganga Yamuna Doab region initially dominated by the Ochre Coloured Pottery and later by the Painted Grey Ware. The links from the times of Harappan civilization with the middle Ganga plain and south India continued later between the latter two regions. In this context, if the reader removes himself, at least for a moment, from preconceived notions that Jainism was merely reactionary movement in the second civilization and think that like Shiva and Shakti cults other religious dispensations could also have its roots in the first civilization then only he could visualize how Jainism has accommodated past knowledge and oral traditions.
Assertions
For the non-religious scholars of Jainism it is very difficult to give cognizance the earlier Tirthankaras before Parsvanatha (Shah, 1987, p. 33). According to Deshpande (1974: p. 21), "the enumeration of twenty four Tirthankaras in the Jaina canon is an attempt to commemorate and glorify earlier or contemporary exponents of this doctrine of renunciation so as to bestow a hoary antiquity to the religion". However, to some extent, the least said is the other way round, wherein by giving cognizance to the life and times of
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