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INTRODUCTION.
towards all living beings, abstaining to a certain extent from flesh-eating, belief in re-incarnation and in the theory of Karma; and how he favoured it by (his) handing over its religious places to its followers and honouring its learned professors".
A marvellous array of conquests over almost all parts of India was one of the many glorious achievements of Akbar. His plan of bringing under his sceptre the whole of India had met with a large measure of success. By the end of the 18th year of his rule, in 1574 A. D., his sway extended over North-Western, Central and Western India. (Gujarat conquered in 1573 A. D.), and over the Punjab and Kabul. The end of 1574 A. D. witnessed the annexation of Bengal and Behär; and in 1575 A. D., his mighty hand descended over Orissa. According to Badãoni, "many years previous to 983 H. E. (1576 A. D.), the emperor had gained in succession remarkable and decisive battles... No opponent was left in the world". It was about this time that the Emperor got the Ibadatkhand built at Fatehpur. Men of learning, men well versed in the doctrines of their own faiths, religious fanatics and liberal-minded philosophers, in short, men interested in religious problems, gathered there in large numbers, and carried on discussions and debates over which the Emperor, not unoften, presided. Thereafter he suppressed several rebellions here and there (Malleson, "The Emperor Akbar" p. 115 and onwards).
Abul Fazl says in his Aine Akbari (Vol. 1, p. 537)-"I shall now speak of the sages of the period and classify them according to their knowledge, casting aside. all differences of creed. His Majesty, who is himself the leader of the material and the ideal worlds and the sovereign over the external and the internal, honours five classes of sages as worthy of attention....The first class, in the lustre of their star, perceive the mysteries of the external and the internal, and in their understanding and the breadth of their views, fully comprehend both realms of thought....The second class pay less attention. to the external world; but in the light of their hearts they acquire vast knowledge; (i. e; they understand the mysteries of the heart). The third class do not step beyond the arena of observation and possess a certain knowledge of what rests on testimony. (Philosophers and theologians). The fourth class look upon testimony as something filled with the dust of suspicion, and handle nothing without proof (Philosophers). The fifth class are bigoted, and cannot pass beyond the narrow sphere of revealed testimony.
In the list of these learned men, we come across the names of three Jainas, viz., Hariji Sür, Bijai Sen Sûr, and Bhanchand; they are no others than Hira-Vijaya Sari, Vijaya-Sena Süri, and Bhanucandra Upadhyaya. Hira-Vijaya Sari is placed in the first class, while Vijaya-Sena Sari and Bhanucandra-with whom we are concerned here, are placed in the fifth class.
1. Hira Vijaya Süri.
After his return from Kabul in 1582 A. D. Akbar heard that there was in Gujarat a Jaina Monk, named Hira-Vijaya Süri, who was richly endowed with striking qualities of head and heart and who led a life of saintly purity. Always eager to come into
