Chapter xvi

Medieval jainism

Jaina Culture on the Eve of Turkish Conquest

Jain dharma is as old as the Rigveda in the pre historic period inasmuch as Rshabhadeva is regarded as the founder of the Jaina religion followed by a line of twenty-two tirthankaras until we come to Parsvanath who has been recognized as a historical figure prior to the 24th, the last but not the least tirthankara, a contemporary of Buddha in the 6th century, B.C. - a tirthankara who awarded a progressive outlook to the Jaina religion of antiquity. The doctrine of salvation and emancipation, as preached by Lord Mahavira, based on "universal catholicity, was the birthright of all without distinction of caste, creed or sex so much so indeed that even the so-called mlechchhas were ordained as Sramanas whose girls were taken in marriage by Jaina monarchs. "A devout Jaina can observe all sorts of customs and can follow any usage, provided it does not against his ideal of Liberation." In fact 'caste' had no place of importance in Jainism according to Kundakundacharya. Instances of last Tirthankara himself, a Bhila in his previous life, of Bimbisara, the Magadha monarch, Indra bhuti (most learned Brahmana of Vedic persuasion) have been quoted as converts to Jainism after their vows of a ahimsa. Not only that. Even a chandala (lowest in the rung of the antyaja ladder) "should be respected and counted as a devata if he is endowed with Right Belief." In fact Jainism was more catholic than Buddhism, admitting Greek foreigners, Persians and Sakas into the Jaina Sangha. Prevalence of catholicity lasted even up to the end of the 12th Century A.D., Ashadhara of Rajasthan enjoining the members of the Jaina Sangha to intermarry between themselves. Instances of varna-parivartan (change of class) are forthcoming so late as the end of the Early Medieval Period.

In the fourth century B.C. Jainism became divided into Shwetambara and Digambara, the first schism based on whether the Jaina munis and yatis should observe the time honoured nudism as a must or should have drapery on private parts. Although Jainism was not fortunate enough in getting enthusiastic supporters among emperors like Asoka, Kanishka, and Harsha, nevertheless it was spreading gradually into several parts of India on its own merits, always getting local support.

As soon as Bhadrabahu, the Jaina scholar, turned towards the South, Jaina religion spread to the Deccan and South India (besides Western India) in the fourth century before Christ. In course of time one third of the population there became Jainas. Peculiar it was that Jainism was being shorn of influence in Magadha (Bihar) its birth place. And the neighbouring regions while it was being popularised in far-flung places of Bharat even as late as the Gupta period. Jainism had first reached the Deccan direct; between 800 and 1200 A.D. it became most influential in Gujarat, Malwa and Rajasthan.

Pauranic Hinduism with its rigid caste system, converted the Jaina laity to its new sects known as Vira Saiva, Lingayata and Ramanujas and the remaining Jainas, reduced to a minority, were greatly influenced by their Hindu neighbours. The Jaina acharyas now became strict and reserved in nature so much so that they formed their respective small groups of followers called mandalas, each controlled by a mandalacharya Bhattaraka who had his seat at some important place, who served, in the beginning of their regime the cause of Jainism rightly well by diffusing about the Jaina tenets and by converting people from all classes of society, putting the neophytes into various folds according to their different localities and occupations of livelihood so much so that the Vaishyas in course of time became the main supporters of Jainism with some ruling families, the former being much influenced by its ahimsa and moral life.

There were no change made in Jaina philosophy and canonical discipline during the Early Medieval period nor did any new creeds come into existence other than the ancient Digambara and Shvetambara; nevertheless local features made their appearance in it. Both the sects were subdivided into Sangha, Gana, Kula, Shakha and Gachchhas, the number of Gachchhas rising in the tenth century to 84, besides other recognizable nomenclatures as svetapat, pandubhikshu, nirgrantha, shapanaka etc.

Among innovations, thanks to the influence of the Buddha and Hindu dharma, the Jainas started image carving in the 6th century A.D., Jina puja, giving place to Jaina religious ideals based on Agama shastra. Soom started the construction of temples for the consecration of images of Tirthankaras on a large scale. Taking the cue from the Hindus, the Jainas adopted for worship a number of gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon, besides their own Pancha-Parameshthins, the five fold Divinity, namely the Arhats, the Siddhas, the Acharyas, the Upadhyayas and the Sadhus the half millennium (550-1050) being the most prolific, south of Vindhyas in this respect. By far the greatest achievement of the Indian sculpture is the colossal image of Gommateshwara in Sravanabelgola about which Fergusson has remarked as follows :- "Nothing grander or more imposing exists anywhere out of Egypt, and even there, no known statue surpasses in height."

The last two hundred years of the Early Medieval Jainism (1000-1200) saw great developments in the realm of Jain iconographical innovations, even the Jaina saints persuading their followers to carve Brahmanical deities. Even the blood sucking 'Indo-Austric' Devi-Mata was adopted by Jaina worshippers as a vegetarian deity, besides elephant headed Yaksha, as the nearest parallel to Ganesha, the pashu-devata of Brahmanism. Among female deities taken from Brahmanical iconography Saraswati and Lakshmi catered to the acquisition of 'learning' for the saints and of 'wealth' for the householders respectively. The four faced temple with a chaturmukh - most popular Jaina theme, seems to have been a development of the Chaturmukh Siva of the Gupta period. Among popular goddesses were the Yakhinis, Ambika and the Chakreshwari with all their accompaniments, multitudinal arms and the prescribed objects which they held in their arms and laps. The more a devi became popular, the more a Jaina Sramana was amenable to the cult of 'Karma-Kand' against which Mahavira had started his religious reform. The Jainas had now not only started Jina-Puja-bhakti but also subscribed to the caste system, 'Sraddha' and pitritarpana which further brought them nearer to Pauranic Hinduism. Jina-puja, started for veneration, had developed into Jina-bhakti.

There was a two-fold division in Jaina society that of the grihastha and the sanyasi. Of these, the class of the saints was overflowing with piety, penance, sacrifice and nisprahta (freedom from desire) etc. This gave them a respectable and honourable place in Jaina society and ruling circles. The life of all Jaina sanyasis however was not ideal; several of them had adopted the role of ascetics for enjoying life. But on the whole the moral standard of the Jaina monks was above reproach. For this reason they were popular revered both in society and government of the day. They inculcated the traders and well-to-do classes the importance of the four charities, giving away  of knowledge, grains, medicines to the deserving people and donating for the construction of upashvas or the erection of sharana sthalas (resting places) and inspired them for philanthropy; having nothing to accept for their own selves. This led to the building of large number of Jainalayas and upashrayas in several parts of the country during the Early Medieval period especially in Western India - Rajasthan, Malwa and Gujarat.

Like the followers of other faiths, the Jains discovered during this period the means to salvation in 'Omnamo alihantanam,' 'Mahavirayanamah' and 'Arhana' and uttered these mantras.¹

The fame of the Jainas, pertaining to learning, inspired many a Brahmana to adopt Jainism, Gujarat being the chief centre of Jainism in the Early Medieval period when the Jainas had to face strong rivalry of the Saivas (and the Vaishnava revivalists) in the South. Tired of persecution perhaps, some, Jaina families and others may have crossed over to Gujarat where the Solanki rulers were fully liberal towards Jainism, Jaina mandirs and proselytization by Haribhadra and where Jineshvara Suri got the title of Kharatara from king Durlabharaja for defeating the Chaitya vasins in debate. The Gurjara-Pratihara Emperor established colossal images of Mahavira Swami in his Metropolis, Kanauj and Gwalior, the second capital. The Jainas, residing in sizable number in Sawalakh, Tahangiri and Abu, became more and more influential in Gujarat specially during the rules of Jaisinha Siddharaja and Kumarapala (turned Jaina under the influence of Hemachandra). According to Jaina pattavalis, several Jaina acharyas proceeded from Malwa to Rajasthan to preach. Jainacharya Meghachandra II of Ujjain, made Baran, the centre of his activities while others went to Chittor - both places being parts of the then Malwa kingdom of the Paramaras where Jaina families had settled in Dhar, Mando, Nalchha, Ujjain, Oon etc. In the tenth century a 'sangha' was started to Shatrunjaya and Jaina acharyas like Amitgati, Mahasena, Dhanpala and Dhaneshwara Suri enjoyed the patronage of king Vakpati Munja.

In Khajuraho (East Bundelkhand), Parsvanatha temple was built in the time of Dhanga Chandela (950-70) and Jainism was flourishing under the protection of Brahmanism. Several Hindu deities have been carved in the Jaina temples of Khajuraho e.g. Parashuram, Rama-Sita, Krishna Leela, Hanuman, Siva, Navagrah, Digpala etc, worth mention Deogarh in the Lalitpur district of modern Uttar Pradesh was the great cultural centre of Jainism in the then Western Bundelkhand.

In South India, the Jainas had received a set-back due to the renaissance in the Hindu religion, although Jainism continued to spread among the rulers, Vaishyas and agriculturists, the Rashtrakuta ruler, Amogha varsha being pro-Jaina.²

Jainism as a Religion on the road to Decadence :—

Innovations in the society of the Jaina minority community living in close proximity of the Hindu majority, in course of time was but natural, leading to transformation. This has been shown above with the qualification, in the words of a learned Jain scholar, that customs and usages borrowed make little difference in Jainism "provided it goes not against its ideal of Liberation". But here is an affirmation leading to a wandering from the right path and a deviation from truth in the form of a chaitya or resting place adopted by certain Jain monks expected to move about continuously from place to place, normally living in forests. Their deviation from the normal practice was absolutely intolerable, as early as the 8th century in Gujarat, the stronghold of Jainism during this period under "a number of brilliant teachers of whom Haribhadra Suri of Chitor² (700-70 A.D.) was the foremost, a learned Brahmana who had accepted Jainism as more rational and followed its teachings in letter as well as spirit. Jainism was to be a rational religion, without any mysteries of super - abundant ritual and ceremonies - a religion the message of which was to reach every one without any distinction of caste and class, wealth or property. Asceticism, self-abnegation, self-control and chastity were to be the characteristics of a true follower of Jina for thus alone could one dissociate from the Karmika material which holds down the soul (atma). Yet Haribhadra found many Jaina sadhus (now known as chaityarasins) living in chaityas and mathas, building Jaina temples, putting to personal use money allotted for religious purposes, wearing scented and coloured clothes, singing in the presence of women, paying court to the rich, using tambula (betel), lavanga and flowers, taking rich food, selling images of Jina, practising astrology, reading omens, quarreling with each other to have disciples, putting off religious discussion by telling people that abstruse matters could not be discussed with them in short doing practically every thing which a Jaina Sadhu should not do. (Haribhadra Suri's Sambodha Prakarana).......(Hairibhadra Suri) raised his powerful voice.....(and) by the word of mouth and his pen, he did more than any other Jaina teacher to meet the arguments of the Buddhists as well as the Hindu revivalists and to purify the Jaina Church of many evils."³

Udyotana Suri (author of the Kuvalaya mala Katha), a pupil (of Haribhadra Suri, followed by) Siddharsi Suri (in the 9th century), the writer of Upamiti bhava prapancha-katha (continued the work of the great pioneer). But the acharyas who succeeded most......were probably of the Gachha known as Kharatara (who propagating the) Haribhadra teachings, they actually made them a living force (in the eleventh century)......

Jineswara Suri (again a Brahmana), in whose time his followers received the designation of Khara tara on account of their following the strict and true path laid down in the Jaina scriptures (puritanism) defeated the chaitya - vasins in a religious discussion (Shastrartha) at the court of king Durlabharaja Solanki (C. 1010-22) of Gujarat.

Abhayadeva Suri (his disciple) wrote his commentaries on the Jaina angas from 1063 to 1071 A.D........(His) teachings (and) personal examples won over many people.

Vidhi-marga :- (The) great disciple (of Abhayadeva Suri) Jinavallabha (d. 1169 = 1112 A.D.)..........(of) Asika (Hansi) (led people to) the "right path" - the 'Vidhi - marga' (founded by Vardhamanasuri) as the Khartaras called it. (He) leaving Pattan, chose Rajasthan as the sphere (of his reform movement)...(Rajasthan which was) full of chaityavasins and their followers (like Gujarat). If he succeeded in establishing vidhich-aitya, they tried to capture it......Now and then blood even flowed (in this tug).⁴

...........Jinavallabha made Chitrakuta (Chittor) his headquarters......won over......many followers, lay as well as clerical, who soon made his teachings well known in Rajasthan and Malwa especially....in Bagad (i.e. Dungarpur Banswara - Pratapagarh). Reformed temples (vidhi chaityas) were established at Marukotta, Narwar Nagor and Chitor and perhaps in other places also; each one of these bore the following inscription—

"Here are followed no rites of those who go against the sutras. None ever bathes here at night. It is no property of the sadhus. Women do not get admission here at night. There is no insistence on the privileges of castes and sub-castes. The worshippers here are given no tambula (betel leaves). Such are the rules of a Vidhichaitya (Footnote, 15 Ibid).

(King) Naravarmana of Malwa, at the time, the overlord also of Chitor, sent for him (Jinavallabha) to Dhara and in recognition for his poetic talent and selfless life⁴ granted him two Parutthadrammas daily from the custom house of Chitor for the maintenance of its two vidhichaityas.

Comments

The so-called sadhus donned the monastic garb and yet yearned for pleasures and enjoyments. No Jaina sadhu is permitted by his scriptures to take food especially prepared for him; he is only a recipient of what is superfluous and can easily be spared by the householder for the other's use. Yet these so-called sadhus took greedily what their disciples prepared for them. They made Jaina temples their homes in spite of the fact that their religious life in them was bound to be interfered with by the singing of musicians, dancing of courtesans, sounding of drums and crowding in of spectators, wearing of garlands and costly garlands. For a real sadhu, a layman's house was a far better habitation; in fact this had been the practice of the great Jaina tirthankaras and teachers. Jina canonic law condemns acceptance of money and property, undertaking of worldly projects and the un-Jaina practice of eating many times a day. They do not allow also the use of padded and comfortable seats, such use being indicative of lack of self-control and desire for enjoyment, both of them ridiculous in a bhikshu. But the chaityavasins taught something different. They told the people to adhere to their own gachcha, saying that a man's gachcha was fixed for ever. When questioned about property, they told their disciples that a yati had after all his requirements. Even if a Kharatara taught something prescribed by the scriptures, a Chaityavasin's follower had directions not to accept such a teaching....... (Such) lead of brats, picked from streets, and made into acharyas, who defying all religious injunctions and enjoying the best of life courted popularity by organizing religious processions, bathing ceremonies of gods, spectacles and the like and acted almost as ordinary house-holders, regarding the gachcha as their house-hold and the temples as their property. Such sadhus were bound to invite the ridicule of the populace and make them feel that there were not any greater hypocrites than the Jaina sadhus who were thought to be practising penance, even when they had property, comfortable houses to live in, luxurious beds to lie on and almost every vice and weakness of the common herd.

When Jinavallabha died in S. 1169=1112 A.D., the vidhichaitya movement.......was carried on by his distinguished pupil (of Rajasthan), Jinadatta Suri (d.V. 1211=1154A.D.), popularly known as Dadaji who perhaps won over more adherents to the Kharatara fold than any acharya that preceded or followed him.......adopting Apabhramsa (as his medium)...........His Charchari, Upadesarasaya and Kalasvarupakulaka......(were composed in) simple yet poetic language.....; the first two could even be set to music and sung while dancing. Chitrakut (Chittor), Nagor, Narbhata and Kanyanayana (Northern Bagad), Ajmer, Vikramapura (Southern Bagad), Rudrapalli, Ujjayani and Dhara.......Uchchha (Sindh) were among various cites visited......⁶

The next acharya, Jinachandra Suri (was) author of Prabodhavadasthala advocating the vidhichaitya point of view⁷........ Jinapati Suri (d. 1277=12220)...... made further progress-.......need of reform had became fully recognized (by) many other acharyas too, not belonging to the Kharataragachcha.... notably Hemachandra Suri.......Jainism had either the favour or the active and steady support of a number of Chauhan rulers and their ministers......Prthviraja III employed Jainas in his service and granted Jayapatra to Jinapala Suri in V. 1239 (1182).......Accession of the Jaina emperor Kumarapala, the overlord of Nadol (etc.) (was a landmark in the expansion of the reformist movement). The amamari - ghosanas (proclamations of non-slaughter) (are frequently met with on Jaina festival days).....Jainism was a proselytising religion, all castes, though the Vaisya caste perhaps predominated, were represented in the Jaina Samaj).....Many Rajasthan Brahmanas of the 12th century appear to have been non-vegetarians. Their descendants of today, however, are vegetarians most probably due to the humanising influence of Jainism. It offset not merely the influence of their meat-eating patrons, the Rajaput princes and chiefs, but made them, in due course, the staunchest advocate of ahimsa".⁸ (for the ahimsa of the Nagaur Sufis please refer to the thirteenth century Chisthi counterparts of the Kharataras in the relevant section following in this article - Sufis who flourished in Rajasthan in the vidhimarga background with their own precepts and practices of renunciations (tark-i duniya) and, like Jinaprabha Suri in the next century, had cordial relations with Muhammad Tughluq, the most learned Sultan (but difficult to deal with) who ever sat on the throne of Delhi and who enjoyed his liberality namely Sufi Hmeeduddin Nagauri alias (Sultan-ut) 'Tarikeen's grandson, Shaikh Fariduddin alias Chakparran).

Jaino-sufic contacts

In spite of his repeated invasions of Northern India in the first quarter of the eleventh century, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was a patron of a great Muslim Sanskritic scholar, Abu Raihan Alberuni whose book, written in Arabic is the only source book for our knowledge about India culture on the eve of the Turkish conquest of India. Unfortunately Alberuni had no contacts with Jaina scholars during his stay in places like Multan where he wrote his Kitabul Hind⁹ and we get no information at all about the conditions of Jainas and their learning from this source.

Another book, written in Ghaznavide Lahore, perhaps during the revivalist regime of Sultan Ibrahim Ghaznavi (1059-99) was the first Manual on Sufism ever written in Persian namely the Kashful Mahjub⁹ of Shaikh Abul Hasan Ali Hujwairi alias Data Ganj Bakhsh (Giver of Treasure). This was the period in Western India when the vidhimarga movement among the Svetambara Jainas, had been in full swing in Rajasthan under the Gujarat - based Jinavallabha Suri of Hansi in spite of persecution at the hands of the chaityavasins. Of the reformed temples (vidhi chaityas), one was established in Nagaur (Sawalakh), the military capital of the Chauhan rulers of Sambhar.

Sultan Ibrahim, according to the Persian writer, Minhaj-us Siraj, was very learned, erudite, lover of justice, god-fearing, kind, a friend of the Ulema, religioner and religious (Tabaqat-i Nasiri, Urdu Tr. pp. 428-29). He sent a deputation consisting of Sayyid Anas Mashhadi (Didwana), Sayyid Tahir Mashhadi (Khatu) and Sayyid Raushan Ali (Ajmer i.e. Sambhar) who arrived in H.424=1091, as per the alphabetical chronogram 'Koh-i Jannat' (Mount Paradise) corresponding to the reign of Prthviraj I (C. 1090-1110) to enquire about the startling news that homicide of Muslims was prevalent in Rajasthan! As to these Muslims, there were a sizable number of colonies in Western India, the Ganga-Jamuna Valley, and the coastal regions of migrant people like, tourists and traders with whom the  antyaja untouchable class came into contact and got converted to Islam. In fact these neophyte antyajas, described by Alberuni and Jaina sources, were sometimes the victims of sacrifice at the hands of the worshippers of Brahmanical gods wanting flesh and blood like Bhairon in Nagaur.

Shaikh Hameeduddin Raihani arrives in Nagaur :—

Only three years later than the arrival of this deputation was the coming of a freelance Sufi Shaikh Hameeduddin Raihani, alias Raihani Dada in Nagaur of which the Persian chronogram quoted is Daur-i Nagaur' (Age of Nagaur) equivalent to 487H.=1094A.D. Alberuni had already recorded that the invasions of Mahmud had struck terror among people resulting in great prejudice and animosity against all Muslims (Turk and non-Turk) and Ghaznavide invasions were a recurring feature¹⁰ of the eleventh century, king Durlabhraj Chauhan III, having met his death in a battle against Sultan Ibrahim. This added a new fuel to the fire of hatred between the two communities. This Muslim Sufi co-believer in the doctrine of ahimsa par excellence found a good reception and hospitality in the midst of Oswal Jainas, the most influential community in the town whose population counted the legendary figure of 'nine hundred and ninety- nine' families! The family into which he was admitted in the garb of a Sufi or a Jaina jati, were the ancestors of Rajmal Chaudhari, son of Pannalal in the Mahalla (quarter) called Kalipol. The 'Nau Kothi Upasra', known as such after the nine cells for practising yoga, still exists in a dilapidated condition with the facade of the doorway, a specimen of exquisite architectural workmanship where Raihani Dada practised his penance at the same time teaching the Jaina (perhaps also Brahmana) children the three R's in the Posal near by whose building has recently been renovated. Thus practising yoga and teaching Jaina children he developed fraternity and intimacy with the Community of Ahimsa' and he is supposed to have breathed his last in 1164-65 (or thereafter) in the last year of Emperor Vigraharaja IV at an advanced age when a new Sufi-minded arrival is said to have performed his funeral prayers namely Shaikh Muhammad Ata, the future Qazi Hameeduddin Nagauri whose descendants in the village of Rohel Qaziyan have preserved this family tradition.¹¹

'Khidmat-i Khalq' (public welfare or Jana kalyan) was the first time-honoured duty of a Sufi who believed in the maxim "al-Khalq Allah" (All creatures are the progeny of Allah) and Raihani Dada was treated as a Jain; his memorials, 'Dadawari' on the Station Road, the Upasra of Bajarwara Mahalla and the place called 'Nau Chhatriyon ka Sthana' at a distance of two kilometres outside the Nagaur city are  extant today to commemorate him.

As to the funeral rites of Raihani Dada, his corpse or shava started on Jaina shoulders all the way to the place of funeral pyre outside the Mai Gate where some Muslims obstructed their passage with the claim that the Raihani Dada's body was to be buried under the earth and not burnt on the fire. The sacred body had to be put down and when uncovered, behold! The body no more there except flowers, was detected on the side of the Muslims who buried it outside the Mai Gate where an ordianry maqbara will be found raised on Raihani Dada's remains. This is the recorded version of the tradition in the much-read Urdu booklet of Qazi Rahman Bakhsh¹² of Rohel.

Homicide of Antyaja untouchables in Nagaur

It stands to reason that the reign of Vigraharaja IV (C, 1150-64-65), the first Chauhan Emperor of Ajmer, alias Beesal Deo so very considerate to the non-violent Jainas in the matter of himsa in the Golden Age of the Chauhans, 'narbali' i.e. human sacrifice was tolerated in a town dominated by Oswal Svetambaras which was the rendezvous of the reformist Kharatara gachchha whose saints, off and on, visited the place on the way to (Tomara) Delhi and who, not only had made Rajasthan as the main sphere of their religious activities but their followers were running a vidhi-chaitya itself. It was given to an would-be Sufi visitor 1164-65), when the Chauhan capital had already been transferred about half a entury back by Ajayadeva ( ) to Ajmer while Nagaur fort was held by the local Governor, called Beesal Deo in the Rohel tradition by mistake or psychological oblivion, to use his spiritual influence on the Governor to save the life of a young son of a widowed woman of the Teli caste regarded as untouchable even after conversion to Islam. This spiritual success¹³ of Muhammad 'Ata is remembered as Fath-i Nagaur' (Conquest of Nagaur) after the departure of Muhammad bin (son of) 'Ata whose masjid in Mahalla Kharradiyan is extant today as the first mosque ever erected in Rajasthan. What was the reaction to this event on the local Jainas is not known.

Another tradition recorded by modern historians is about the Great Khwaja (Khwaja-i Buzurg) undertaking his first ever journey to Hindusthan in the same year as Muhammad 'Ata (1164-65) but His Holiness tarried in Lahore to perform his 'Chilla' (Lent) in the mausoleum of Data Ganj Bakhsh only to proceed to Multan from where he returned, back his aim being to learn Hindvi (Indian) dialects, returning finally after about three decades in H.587=1191A.D. even prior to the second battle of Tarain (1192) during the reign of Rai Pithaura. Prthviraja III being a young ruler of unripe age in Ajmer, according to the tradition prevalent in the Durgah area of Ajmer, was persuaded by interested people to put the spirituality of the octogenarian Khwaja to test through Jaipal Jogi who was not only discomfited in the attempt but offered himself as a mureed (disciple) and was named Abdulla.

Sufi Tarikeen of Nagaur :

On the day when Shahabuddin Ghori's general, Aibak annexed Delhi to Ajmer-Nagaur Khalisa Land of the Chauhans, was born a male baby to the daughter of an Arabic-oriented astrologist who had given her in marriage to an immigrant from Lahore. This was no other than the handsome child of promising nature in the opulent family of his father who soon made himself the victim of spoilt boyhood before he came into contact with the Khwaja of Ajmer, who, observing lucky signs on his forehead, started his spiritual training under his own auspices when, as a youth, transformed in his social ideals to such an extant that he could turn down the invitation of his former company of associates saying, "I have tied my waist-band (kamar band) so tightly that it may not be loosened on the houris of paradise on the Day of Judgement!" This lad was no other than the future Sultan-ut Tarikeen Sufi Hameeduddin Nagauri, popularly called Tarikeen Sahib, the embodiment of the two-fold traits of character namely Renunciation ('Tark') and Sufistic 'ahimsa' (non-injury)' of the Chishtiya Order or Silsila, Ajmer counterpart of the Gujarat Khartara of which this junior Khalifa of Khwaja was posted to the region of salt producers and marble miners with an influential population of opulent Jain traders. Let us, therefore, give here a picture of Jain society in Nagaur town in the middle of the thirteenth century when the Sufi (his family epithet) Tarikeen (as entitled by his preceptor) settled down in the heart of Sawalakh (Marwar) as a middle-aged bachelor. His Senior Peer Bhai was Khwaja Qutbuddin Ooshi with whom the name of the Minar in Mehrauli village is popularly designated as Qutb Sahib Ki Lat a lover of Sufi Music called Qawwali on which Qazi Hameeduaddin¹⁴ Nagauri made common cause with the Chisthi Khalifa at Delhi at a time when the Delhi citizens did not regard Qawwali Music as lawful in Islam.

Jainism in Nagaur

We have taken pains to delineate the coming of the Sufis in Nagaur and the organization of the Chishtiya-Silsila in Ajmer with its two main branches in the erstwhile Tomara city of Delhi, presently the capital of the slave Aibak as Sultan Qutbuddin after the death of Sultan Muhammad Ghori (1206) followed to the Turkish throne by S. Shamsuddin Iltutmish Muhammad bin 'Ata had twice returned to Nagaur first as Qazi (Judge) for three years under Ghazni and subsequently as the populator of Rohel Qaziyan and recipient of the same Jagir under Iltutmish, his old acquaintance of his Baghdad childhood as a slave boy -Iltutmish under whose hegemony the city of Tomar Delhi developed into a Metropolis of the Turkish Empire. We have done so with a view to highlight the activities of the Kharatara vidhichaityins - the Suris Jinadatta, Jinachandra and Jinapati; each of whom visited Nagaur in the 12th century a.d. and made converts more from among Rajputs than from amongst the Brahmana samaj. Similarly Jinavallabha Suri and Jinadatta Suri were visitors of Nagaur like Hameeduddin Raihani (1094) and Muhammad Ata (1164-65). Jinaprabha Suri, the favourite associate of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq also passed through Nagaur on his way to Delhi via Hansi when the great building activities of Pethad Sah of Mando and his transcribing activities had won laurels for him in the thirteenth century of the Christian Era prior to the conquest of Malwa and Chanderi by Ainul Mulk Multani on behalf of Alauddin Khilji. During the rule of S. Qutbuddin Khilji, his successor on the request of Seth Samal, the Saraogis (householder Jainis) took part in the sangha (pilgrimage party) which had started from Bhimapalli. In the same century again both the contemporary local officials and the Delhi Sultan honoured a pious and abstemious Jaina of Nagaur like Thakkur Achal Singh who acquired a permit from Delhi for visit to places of pilgrimage in 1317 A.D. Prior to this, as early as in 1117A.D, Padmaprabha Suri of Nagaur Tapagachchha another Order, had already earned the title of 'Nagauria Tapa' by performing a Mahan tapasya (magnificent self-mortification).

An interesting thing occurring in Nagaur was the existence of Nagavanshi Kshatriyas, Nagavanshi Jainas and Nagavanshi Muslim Rajput Tak rulers called Khanzadas¹⁵ in the fifteenth century who were favourites of the Jaina community of Nagaur (Vide 'Peroj Prashasti' (Sanskrit).

The Great Revolution of 1192-93 following the second Battle of Tarain has been called by modern historians as the "Downfall of Northern India" and Prthviraja III as the "Last Hindu Emperor". The result of the terrible battle was decisive and far-reaching, enduring and everlasting - the free entry into India through Raashtan (and Delhi) of an alien religious civilization for the first time in the history of Bharat, as old as seven centuries whose free-lance representatives had been visiting India and settling here during the last one hundred years or more—a highly developed community in the realm of religion and literature particularly Sufism, professing and practising a faith of pure monotheism uncompromisable with the pantheistic idolatry of Pauranic Hinduism which had greatly influenced Mahavir's pure unalloyed Jainism during the last millennium.

As indicated by the poetic historian Isami, innumerable families of the middle class had entered India in the wake of Turkish conquest during the reign of Sultan Iltutmish (1210-35)—Sufis like Qazi Hameeduddin Nagauri and Khwaja Qutbuddin being the most prominent. As for Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, whose junior Khalifa served the cause of Sufism in Nagaur viz. Sufi Hameeduddin Nagauri alias Sultan-ut Tarikeen (the Great Renunciant or Maha-tyagi, his teachings are most relevant to us presently in the context of Jainism in the thirteenth century - teachings, besides ahimsa, which seem to have been sources of attraction for the Jaina laity in the course of three centuries or more.

Qualifications of a Renunciant (Tyagi)

According to the Sarur-us Sudur, Book of Conversations of Sufi Hameeduddin Nagauri, "Once while the Great Khwaja (i.e. his perceptor) was present in the Fort of Ajmer (i.e. Taragarh) when a dervish (friar) put in a query as to the qualification of a renunciant (tyagi) to which the Khwaja called upon Shaikh Hameed to supply the questioner with the details of renunciation (tyag) for the benefit of Muslims as per 'Tariqat' (Sufism) of the Chishti School. "Firstly, that he should not earn. Secondly, he should not incur debt. Thirdly, even. after a seven day fast, he should not disclose his secret to any body and should not ask for help. Fourthly, in case he is offered a good deal of eatables, cash, grain or cloth, he should not save anything for the next day. Fifthly, he should not afflict anybody with curse. Sixthly, that if he fares well, he should attribute it to the affection (shafqat) of his pir (guru), intercession (Shafa-'at) of the Holy Prophet and mercy (Rahmat) of the God Almighty. Seventhly, if he commits an unrighteous deed, he should regard it as an evil omen, refraining from bad deeds and fearing Allah so that the same act of commission may not occur again. Eightly, when he has reached this stage, he should keep fast in the day and stand for pre-dawn (or tahajjud) prayers in the night. Ninthly, he should maintain silence except when speech is inevitable as prescribed in the 'Shari-'at' (sacred law) of Prophet Muhammad, that it is haram (forbidden) to speak and haram also to keep silence purporting to the effect that he should utter words which may earn the goodwill of Almighty God".

Cheetal, the Shaikh of the Times

On an occasion sometime after 1224 A.D. approximately, five distinguished Sufi saints had assembled in Delhi namely Shaikh Najibuddin Nakhshabi (adoptive father of the Sultan Iltutmish), Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti (Ajmeri), Shaikh Jalaluddin Tabrezi, Shaikh Qutbuddin Bakhtyar (Ooshi), and Shaikh Hameeduddin (Dhillavi, later Nagauri), the narrator of the antecedote, when, the question arose "Who the 'Shaikh of the Times' could be and who (actually) is?" Shaikh Hameeduddin (Sultan-ut Tarikeen) remarked, "Cheetal is the 'Shaikh-i Waqt'!" Hearing this 'meaningful' phrase, the other saints present were silenced.¹⁶

Sufi Hameeduddin as a householder in Nagaur

A Sufi does not take celibacy for granted; he is not necessarily a celibate. As Jainism is a religion of yogis, let us see whether Sufi Hameeduddin, a vegetarian in practice and abstainer from himsa can or may correspond to the position of a Jaina ' Kshullaka' Shravaka of the eleventh Pratima.

Sufi Hameeduddin was leading a simple life of penury and want in Nagaur with 'Khadija Mai' a religious and talented daughter of the Qazi family of Ladnun of Sayyid lineae, while he himself was a representative of the Faruqi family of Hazrat 'Umar, the second Caliph of Islam when the Governor of Nagaur 'Khitta' approached the Sufi Sahib with the offer of a piece of land and some cash which he turned down in confirmity with the Chishti tradition brought by his Master of Ajmer. Again the imperial grant of a village with five hundred silver tankas was rejected on the advice of the purdah lady at a time when the loin-sheet of the husband was torn and when the wife, deprived of head-dress (orhna or dupatta), was wont to cover her head with the hind part of her shirt, on the ground that "I have kept ready self-spun yarn for my 'dupatta' and your 'tahband'; why do you worry"? This house-keeping lady performed her house-hold work with own hands-skimming curd or spinning yarn, and catered to the needs of the poor. She had a grocer-boy (bania) as an adoptive child. In this age of great controversy throughout this Islamic world as to whether 'affluence' is better than 'destitution,' the Sufi Sahib had an altercation with Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya Multani in Delhi, referred to above, followed by a lengthy correspondence in the matter so much so that it provoked a son of the Multani saint to such an extent that he came all the way from Multan to Nagaur to pick up a big row against the Nagauri over the his absence in Juma prayers as a defaulter. The Holy Prophet never took pride in anything except in 'faqiri' (penury), his invocation being, "O Allah! Keep me alive as a 'miskeen' (have-not) and give me death as a 'miskeen' and resurrect me along with the 'miskeens.' Any reference to the 'world' in the society of Sufi Tarikeen was taboo. So aloof was he from worldly affairs that he would not purchase even a kuza (earthen pot) from the market. In case a 'futuh' (offering unasked for) came to him, he was unmindful about it, what to speak of expending it. As for accepting the 'futuh' he would say, "If I know that the person, responsible for bringing the offering, would not be grieved in case I turned it down, I would certainly refuse to accept it. Since I am aware that my refusal  would hurt his feelings, I accept the offering." (Cf. the practice of Jina-prabhasuri in the next century.

Once the Shaikh was seen to be bare-headed without turban, he revealed his last nigh's vision that "angels were putting down names of 'unworldly' persons. When they approached me, they found me still bound by the 'Chahar-gazi (four yard turban). Hearing this I caused the small turban to fall down from my head where upon they were pleased to include my name among the 'unwordlies.' When I wore up, behold! I found the turban lying on the ground and my head bare."

Malik Karih was a Turkish officer, presumably the local Governor, who would not pay the 'madad-i ma-ash except on the Shaikh presenting himself. The Great Shaikh, laying hands on his beard, remarked, "Having attained this age if I acquire my stipend from a second person, you would have said that far from seeing the Turk, Baba may better forego the stipend."

Sultan-ut Tarikeen and Vegetarianism

As meat eating is optional in Islamic Shari-'at, the Shaikh is reported by his grandson and successor that the Baba enjoined on his people not to offer meat, on his death as a requital for his soul. Cooking of meat during his 'urs' anniversary is forbidden ever since which ban is observed till today, to the great chagrin of the Ulema class. The Suhrawardi Manual,¹⁷ equally acceptable to the Chishtis has reported that the Holy Prophet who ate meat and liked, if, but abstained from meat eating of his own accord.¹⁸ Mir Ghulam Ali alias Azad Bilgrami, the celebrated saint writer of the 18th century says in appreciation of non-violence (ahimsa) that Sayyid Mahmud Akbar never oppressed a living creature; this is the practice of the ''abdals¹⁹ who do not kill a living creature nor oppressing man-injuring animals like stinging scorpions. By chance a saint hit an ant which died with the result that he suffered by the loss of his angelic vision" (Ma-aasir-ul Kiram, Urdu tr. P. 116). A similar story of an out has been recorded about Sufi Hameeduddin Nagauri which had come crawling) on his clothes unnoticed from a distance, carried back all the way to its place of origin, creepy crawly. (Sarur-us Sudur MS).

It is recorded in the apocryphal malfuzat (conversations) of Khwaja Usman Haruni (Pir of Khwaja Ajmeri) that "Whoever slaughtered two cows (or bulls) he committed one homicide; if four bulls, two (homicides), if ten goats he likewise killed one human being". Sufi Hameeduddin had a pet cow which had received some injury and he was found dressing her wounds (applying ointment and bandage) when suddenly he was visited by a Hindu poet whose misconception about intending slaughter was soon removed on nearer approach.

A Sufi saint, in short, was non-violece personified.

Relations with non-Muslims

We come across little or nothing about relations of the Sufi Sahib with non-Muslims or Jainas for the matter of that - except his Hindu friend about whom he is said to have remarked that "he is a 'wali' (friend of Allah)." He had relations with a bania family whose grocer-boy often visited his wife Khadija Mai as her adoptive son.

Sufi Music (Qawwali or Sama i.e. Audition)

Just mentioning the great Qazi Hameeduddin as the victim of the ''fatwa' of the two Ecclesiastical Muftis; Qazi Sa'd and Qazi Ima'd in the imperial Court of Sultan Iltutmish and his successful defiance in the presence of the Emperor, the Qazi's acquaintance in his child- hood days in Baghdad, we pass on to the popularization of Qawwali Music in the Turkish Metropolis (Delhi) at the hands of the twin protagonists Qazi Hameeduddin Nagauri and Khwaja Qutbuddin Ooshi (arrival 1224 A.D.) so much so indeed that Qawwali in the next century was raised to the position of art by the greater poet Laureate Hazrat Amir Khusrau, an amateur in Indo-Persian Music under the auspices of his greater teacher and Qawwali patron - Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi and so much so also that the Qawwali of Qazi Hameeduddin Nagauri's standard was responsible for the 'spiritual demise' of two great Sufi auditionists namely Khwaja Qutb, the Qazi's own collaborator in Sufi musicology in Delhi and Shaikh Aziz, eldest son and heir apparent of Sufi Hameeduddin of Nagaur in the city of the Oswal Svetambaras of Sawalakh. This post-Qawwali feature an event of grave consequences, continued up to the twentieth century and must have left a strong impression on the Jainas in general and the Oswals of Nagaur in particular, thanks to the intimation affectionate fraternization of Raihani Dada whose relic is still treasured as an object of adoration in the house of the late Chaudhari Rajmal son of Pannalal.

Shaikh Fariduddin alias Chakparran

Now we pass on to the grandson of Sufi Tarikeen Sahib, who after the 'spiritual demise' of his father as victim of Qawwali audition, succeeded to the carpet of spiritualism left vacant by the Great Shaikh. As Shaikh Farid of the Chishtiya - Hameediya Silsila, (Order) of Nagaur was the favourite Sufi mystic of Muhammad Tughluq the learned scholastic Sultan - Emperor of Delhi in the next century (14th), a great admirer of the equally great Jinaprabha Suri of the Kharataragachha who passed through Nagaur on his way to Delhi via Hansi, we are taking pains to record the special favours conferred on the Suris's Chishtiya counter-part of Rajasthan and on  the graveyard (Qabrastan) of his immediate predecessor which has proved to be a memorial of great historical nature. The story, based on royal farmans and inscriptions, starts with the construction of the Baland Darwaza on the style of Tughluqian architecture which proved to be a source of great adornment for the city prior to the erection of the Friday Mosque (Jum'a Masjid) by Shams Khan Dandani, the first ruler of the autonomous Muslim - Tak Rajput dynasty of Khanzadas who began their regime in the first decade of the fifteenth century, soon followed the offer of the hand of the Sultan's daughter Bibi Rasti to the grandson of Shaikh Farid following the grant of the village of Deh near Nagaur, where the princess lies buried under an ordinary roof which the frugal family of her in-laws could provide. The marriage was contracted in the new capital of the Sultan from where Jinaprabha Suri was called by the Sultan for consultaion on some subject of grave philosophical import, namely Daulatabad (erstwhile Deogiri) in the Deccan.¹⁷

Shaikh Ahmad Khattu of Khatu

Next we turn to the Maghribi Order (Silsila) of Khatu in the Nagaur region (Khitta) to wind up our account of the Sufi back- ground of Jainism in Northern India. The Maghribi Silisila was brought to Khatu by Baba or Babu Ishaq or Delhi from Morocco in North Africa called 'Maghrib' or West just as we are accustomed to use the word Deccan (Dakshina) for the South and Dakkhinis for the Marathas. His adoptive son Ahmad of Delhi, (who was swept away from home by a violent Dark Wind i.e. from Delhi and brought to Didwana in the Nagaur District by a caravan) known as Shaikh Ahmad Khattu (i.e of Khatu) he was a contemporary of the ferocious invader Amir Taimur with whose army he went to Samarkand with the intention of trying to deliver innumerable prisoners Hindus and Muslims, captured from Delhi (and equally massacred). He finally settled down at Sarkhej prior to the foundation of the new Gujarat capital of Ahmadabad. His collection of conversations (malfuz) is a source book relevant to our purpose in the 15th century background of ahimsa and celibacy (brahmacharya) practised by the great saint during his half century stay in Gujarat where the Svetambara Lonka Sah was to rise against the image worship of his orthodox community and to succeed in starting a movement of heterodox 'Sthanakvasi' Jainas only to furnish an example to the Taran Taran in the Bundelkhand part of the Malwa Sultanate. Both these critics against orthodox Jainism will be treated in their proper place. I give here the relevant charitra of the centenarian, Ahmad Khattu corresponding to that of a pratima sharawak on the basis of the Persian Miraqat-ul  Vasul ilallahi war - Rasul (Urdu translation).

Shaikh Ahmad had a poetic taste turning out verses in Hindi, Persian and Arabic. He was bestowed a melodious voice, for singing and an attentive ear for 'Sohaila' song of a woman which entranced him and felled him into the water of the step-well on the verge of which he was sitting in his youth. At the same time no instance is available of his holding a sitting for a regular 'Sama' or Sufi Music (Qawwali).

As regards his character, Shaikh Ahmad was popular with non- Muslims but no case has been cited for his relations with Jainism in particular whether in Nagaur or in Gujarat. His attitude in social matters was that of kindness and liberality especially with the poor and indigent classes. None who came to him would return empty handed especially the fair sex. Once in Jaisalmer he gave away half piece of his turban to an old pauper to sell it and make his both ends meet, Shaikh Ahmad gave help to Jogis and Kolis of Gujarat and return-presents to the pampered, some of whom may have been members of the influential class of Jaina aristocracy in Gujarat met with in Persian histories in plenty.

Ahimsa— Now we come to a trait of character common to Jainism and Sufism, namely ahimsa. Non-injury, as practised by the Shaikh, is best demonstrated in case of birds and quadrupeds. Little gauraiya birds would come and sit on his head or knees. His attendants had been instructed to see that crows may not molest the tiny young ones of these winged creatures while the Shaikh himself was observed driving away the crows with his rod. He brought once a wounded kite (a shikar bird) and kept it under his care, supplying it with non- vegetarian diet until it was healed and flew away. Once some body brought a pelican, the feathers of whose wings had been pulled out. The Shaikh paid him for the bird and arranged for the diet of fish until the feathers of its wings had grown when he was released in the forest. A soldier once came with a dog who would not like to go back with his master who could not but leave him there. The animal, faithful by nature, daily performed the duty of watching the threshold of the Shaikh who on his par, assigned daily diet for the animal guard who would escort the daily visitors to their homes, besides guarding the cattle also in village Utelia, the Jagir of the Shaikh. The Mirqat (Book of Conversations) narrates the story of a cow presented by some devotee to the Shaikh who offered it to some other person who was guilty of selling it away to the butcher. Somehow this cow, got released from the butcher's house, came back crying to the Shaikh's Khanqah (hospice) followed by the butcher himself who had come running to take away the quadruped which the Shaikh won't allow. Paying for her to the butcher, he admitted her to his own cattle herd. One day the Shaikh observed a dove grazing in the courtyard of his 'Jama-at Khana' (Assembly House) and, taking a fancy for the pigeon- like creature, arranged for scattering grain daily in the same place to which it would come with other companions of its kind to feed on the corn seeds. The Mirqat has it also that the Shaikh would not slaughter the animal of the canonical sacrifice with own hands nor would he bear the sight of the bloody deed. For the sake of the discharge of religious obligation; he preferred to pay the animal price in cash (to the poor?) or Maulana Muhammad Abul Qasim²⁰ would perform the actual deed. (MS pp. 22-23; trans. pp. 89-91).

The Shaikh, a great observer of patience and humility was meekness personified and was never seen to have lost his temper. Being a Sufi, he believed in universal brotherhood (which corresponded with canonical Jainism) and had cordial relations with non-Muslim families (perhaps with the non-mentioned Jainas also)  and got the chance for exchange of thought with yogis and Brahmans. A non-believer in untouchability, he accepted the challenge in his youth with the son of a cobbler (chamar) for a wrestling bout with him. The Hindu community (presumably including Jainas) behaved with Sufi saints with respect and esteem and treated the Shaikh himself with affection and hospitality. In his mid life, big and small of both sexes on his way to Hajj pilgrimage in 1389 A.D. e.g. a Hindu lady lodging him in her house during the absence of male members of the family and Rai Madalik of a village spending lavishly for his treatment. At the next stage, his host was a poor woman. The trader (bania) class in particular had close contact with him. (For details vide Mirqat MSS: A.S.B. Calcutta and P.M.S. Library, Ahmedabad; Urdu tr. and 'Malfuzat Literature', Dr. Z.A. Desai's Lecture in English, Khunda Bakhsh Library, Patna).

Jogis whenever they met the Shaikh, showed readiness to teach alchemy, the art of turning ordinary metal into gold but the Shaikh always parried the offer with the words, "For dervish (Muslim sadhu) contentment and lack of worldly desire itself was gold". (Ibid-53 - 55, 103 - 04, 111, 196-98, 209 tr.)

Verily the unique personality of Shaikh Ahmad Khattu as a non-injuring Sufi, trained by Babu Ishaq²⁰ (d. 1374) was a spiritual force to reckon with during the period between the 14th and 15th centuries which may be called the Age when Indian Sufism, grown to an All India movement in the 14th century, had developed close contact with the Jaina trading community, unnoticed and unsung, except in the mention of such names of Jaina shravaks in the grantha prashastis as Durgah Malla, Darwes (Darwesh) Sekhu²¹ and Auliya Sah indicative of their familiar close contact with the pirs or saints more of the Chishtiya.²² Order in closest nearness to the India populace as compared to Suhrawardiya (Punjab - Sindh), and Firdausiya (Bihar) Orders and Shattariya (Malwa) or Qadiriya which latter had only recently arrived during the reign of Sikandar Lodhi of Agra. Simultaneously with the Jaina community, we also come across such Sufi oriented names among Rajput children as Shaikha or Shekha aftet 'Shaikh for a boy which means old man or pir as called in Rajasthan i.e. a saint Shekha which gave the name of Shekhawati to a part of that province or State (now Fathpur - Jhunjhunu and Sikar) and for the matter of that the name of the celebrated Mertiya Rajput poetess girl 'Miran', the devotee of Krishna, married in the Sisodiya family of Mewar whose inspiring Bhakti verses are devotedly read, sung and taught in the Northern India Hindi states of today; Miran Shah is the name of a renowned Sufi Saint of the Mughul period, given to the girl by her Mertiya Rajput parents to express their faith on and devotion for a great Sufi mystic.²³

Our composite culture of the 20th century is thus partly indebted to the Jaina - Hindu Muslim reapproachment during the period of 1200 - 1800 A.D. to which competent scholars have turned for study during the period after Independence out of necessity for which there is lack of space in this article. So we now turn to the aspect of Jainism called Jaina - Sultanate Relations.

Jaina - Sultanate Relations

With the conquest of Northern India by Muhammad bin Sam alias Shihabuudin Ghori, the first reaction was the migration Digambara of saints and scholars like Ashadhar of Mandalgarh who came to Dhara and settled in Nalchha, the gateway to Mando (not Mandu), built a temple of Neminath and resumed his scholarly activities.

The culmination of the Sufi orientation on Jainism will come when we take up the careers of Lonka Sah in Gujarat (15th century) and Taran Taran in Bundelkhand-Malwa, differing with the orthodox acharyas and denying the trace of image worship in agam literature.

Our composite culture of the 20th century is thus partly indebted to the Jaina-Hindu Muslim reapproachment during the period of 1200-1800 A.D. to which competent shcolars have turned for study during the period after Independence out of necessity for which there is lack of space in this article. So we now turn to the aspect of Jainism called Jaina-Sultanate Relations.

Jaina-Sultanate Relations

With the conquest of Northern India by Muhammad bin Sam alias Shihabuudin Ghori, the first reaction was the migration Digambara of saints and scholars like Ashadhar of Mandalgarh who came to Dhara and settled in Nalchha, the gateway to Mando (not Mandu), built a temple of Neminath and resumed his scholarly activities.

The culmination of the Sufi orientation on Jainism will come when we take up the careers of Lonka Sah in Gujarat (15th century) and Taran Taran in Bundelkhand-Malwa, differing with the orthodox acharyas and denying the trace of image worship in agam literature.

Migrating from Rajasthan to Malwa, Ashadhara seems to have come at an early age, along with his family first to Dhara during the reign of Vijayavarma, at a great centre of Sanskrit learning where he was called "Kalidasa of the Kaliyuga". Verily the loss of Rajasthan was the (unexpected) gain of Malwa where the Rajaguru of king Arjunadeva honoured himself as the chief disciple of Ashadhara namely, Digambara Muni Madan Kirti alias Bala-Sarasvati! Ashadhara now decided, for reasons unknown, to shift to Nalchha, another Jaina centre under the Paramara rulers, where he compiled two out of the three works extent today, namely Sagaradharmamrita (1228 A.D.), Anagardharamamrita (1239 A.D.) and Jinayagya Kalpa (1243) which are regarded as monuments of Jaina scholarship.²⁴

As we know from Persian histories, particularly from the Taj-ul Ma-asir of Hasan Nizami, the conquest of Ajmer and Delhi was followed by an easterly horizontal expansion of the Turkish 1218. Empire, when in 1196 A.D., Muhammad bin Sam (Shihabuddin Ghori) led an invasion against a prosperous Jaina centre called Tribhuvanagiri or Tahangarh (near Bayana) (Hirji 572) where we come across the Jaina poet Lakshmana or Lakhu, the author of Jinadatta Charita,²⁵ who had to leave his home town, like Ashadhara (above), and wandering here and there he found refuge with one Shridhara Purwar in his house at Bilrampur (Eta District, Uttar Pradesh) where he made himself comfortable until he again migrated to Raibaddiya (Raibha), the capital of the Chauhan principality now called Rapri on the bank of Jamuna, then ruled by Raja Ahavamalla and there he composed his second book Anuvayarayanapaeeva in 1256 A.D. under the patronage of the Chauhan's Chief Minister, Krishnaditya of the 'Lamechu' gotra family of ancestral Nagar Sethis.

As for the Jaina traders of Tahangarh, who had fled for life and property, they were recalled along with big resourceful merchants from different places by the Turkish Governor, Bahauddin Tughril, appointed by Sultan Muhammad Ghori for the rehabilitation of the deserted place which was in the best interests of both parties, the (new) rulers and the (old) ruled.²⁵ People were invited to come from Khorasan, outside India, and this ancient place, governed by Tughril  who led his raids to the east as far as Kalinjar, was once again returned to normal life in the second half of the thirteenth century and the first half of the fourteenth century when many a Jaina Muni  and acharya settled down there. It was here that Vinayachandra, the grand-disciple of Udayamuni of the Mathur Sangha and disciple of Bhattarak Balachand Muni composed his 'Chunari Ras', sitting in the garden of Raja Ajayapala nephew of Raja Kumarapala and also his 'Nirjhara Panchami Katharas in the talahti (at the foot) of the Tribhuvana ridge. This shows that at Tahangarh the process of reapproachment had shown satisfactory result as elsewhere in Ajmer and Delhi as we shall see presently.

Let us now scrutinize the pattawalis of Delhi to see if we can get a glimpse of Jaina activities in the erstwhile Tomara capital of Delhi, now the Metropolis of the Turkish Empire spreading horizontally to Bengal in the East through the Ganga-Jamuna valley. Rajavalis and genealogies recently come to light are supported by the unique Guruvavali of Kharataragachchha of 1248 A.D., according to which Jina Chandra Suri of the Kharataragachchha, disciple of Jinadatta Suri was welcomed in a village, near Delhi, not only by the Shravaka populace of the Jaina community but the reigning king, Raja Madanpala Tomara, received him along with his officials with military honour (1166). After hearing the sermon of the great Suri, Madanpala  requested him to grace his capital Dhilli. The function of the Suri's entry into the City was celebrated with great eclat, the ruler himself walking in the course of the grand reception, hand in hand with the saint. The Suriji accepted the desire of the king to hold his chaturmas (rainy camp) there and also his demise took place there itself. His stupa is extant today in the vicinity of the Qutb Minar (Tower of Victory) where the Sufi saint, Qutb Sahib of the Minar and Qawwali fame too lies buried in the village of Mehrauli close by. The stupa is a place of pilgrimage for the last hundreds of years.²⁶

Such was the Jaina background in Dhilli when, only three decades later, it was given to Aibak to occupy the Tomara capital, after the conquest of Ajmer, and later make it the headquarters of his own Empire, shifted from Ghazni, after the death of Sultan Muhammad Ghori (1206). Aibak, who was now the Sultan of the Delhi Empire, died after four years (1210) to be succeeded by Iltutmish in whose reign Delhi developed into a real Metropolis of an Empire which was destined to cover almost the entire expanse of a sub-continent, for the first time after the lapse of one millennium and a half since the reign of a great supporter of ahimsa, in theory and practice whose father, Chandragupta was the royal companion of Bahubali to the South. The spiritual flag of 'non-injury' was to be kept aloft by the two-fold effort of the Suris  on one hand and the Sufis on the other-a right at least for three centuries, 13th to 15th which may be called the Golden Age of Jaino-Sufi Movement.

Sultan Shamsuddin, a great supporter of Sufism, whether Suhrawardiya or Chishtiya, in spite of his raids against the Rajputs, could not make much headway against them but he died after leaving the Empire on strong foundations which were further consolidated by Ghayasuddin Balban who was averse to campaigning against the Rajputs thanks to the danger of the Changez Khani Mughuls (Mongols) whose ferocious behaviour in Central Asia was driving many a displaced ruling Chief to his protection in Delhi. A whole century passed between Muhammad Ghori and Sultan Kaiqubad when before the advent of 'Khilchi Imperialism' when new conquests  to round up, the Empire and a policy of toleration, proselytization, fraternization employment and promotion to the highest posts in the Turkish heirachy towards the antyaja class of untouchables²⁷ in Indian society, went hand in hand. Among Sufis, it was the Age of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya and Hazrat Amir Khusrau, the Poet Laureate whose patriotism (desh-bhakti) has been best expressed in his well-know and much-quoted hemstitch in which he calls himself a 'Hindustan-i Turk' and gives preference to 'Hindvi' against Persian which was his spoken and written language in which he excelled many a poet of Iran and Turan.²⁸ As for the Rajput adversaries of Alauddin, the great resister, Hammira Chauhan of Ranthambhor, not only inspired Jaina-Hindu generations by his sustained effort not only to protect his hearth and home but also his honour by refusing to give his daughter to wife except on his dead body only to earn the popular epithet of 'Hathi' (Obstinate) by declining to surrender his Muhammadan refugees who had rebelled against Alexander II, as the Khilchi emperor styled himself. No wonder, therefore, that Nayachandra Suri, giving up the old themes for his versifying talent, adopted the 'national hero' of Ranthambhor for his celebrated 'Hammira Mahakavya "to purify the mind of the Ruling Community by the delineation of Hammiradeva's character as far superior to that of Rajas who had gone before him." Alauddin and Hammira, Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Khusrau and after the lapse of a century: Nayachandra and Virama Tomara are the representatives of the medieval period, each in his own sphere of which the latter twins we shall take up in the section on Gwalior Jainism. Here we start with the Khilchi campaign against Gujarat (129) under Alap Khan resulting in the ouster of the unpopular, if not hated, Karna Ghelo (the Mad) the last Vaghela potentate of Gujarat.

Gujarat, untouched by the arms of Mahmud Ghaznavi, had been sought to be conquered by Muhammad Ghori unsuccessfully. This prize among the Rajput States, was the richest among them and Alauddin may have started his career of conquest for its riches which he coveted of having squandered away as a parricide, the fabulous riches of Devagiri (Deccan) which he had acquired as a Prince Governor of Kara before getting his aged uncle murdered on the waters of the Ganga between Kara and Manikpur, mid-stream. His achievements have been commendably described in the Nabhinandana-Jinoddhara Prabandha composed in V. 1393 (1330)A.D.)

Alauddin Khilchi is known, perhaps for the first time among Delhi Sultans, to have employed Jaina talent of Gujarat for administrative purposes for example Thakkur Pheru who was his Mint Master the celebrated author of Dravya Pariksha a book on mineralogy and Malik Kafur, the Parwari slave who rose to be his 'Malik Naib' or Vicegerent and Conqueror of the Deccan, notwithstanding the Chanakyalike machinations of the tantrik Brahmana of Varanasi, namely Raghavachetana, an anti-Jaina visitor to the court of Alauddin and also of Muhammad Tughluq, for the matter of that. This trend of a campaigner and conqueror like Alauddin towards the Jaina capitalists, must have been prompted by his need of capital for the maintenance of his Standing Army which was partly met by his economic measures. Let us now, therefore turn to the events following this conquest of Jaina-dominated Gujarat which first brought the Jaina laity into close and intimate contact with the new ruling authorities in Anhilawara-Pattan as well as Delhi.

The story starts with the damages done to a Jaina image in 1311, repaired by Samar Singh, an Oswal Svetambara of Pattan after his contact with Alauddin. Samar Singh led a sangha also from Pattan to Sorath escorted by Jamadars of Turkish authorities and on return reception. Thus things had changed in the second decade after the Khilchi conquest. But when damage was done to the Shatrunjay temple of Palitana in 1313 the permission of Alap Khan, the Governor of Gujarat was not only given readily but it was accompanied by a handsome donation-casket of jewels with farman from him. Samar Singh on his part, did the work of repairs with great pomp and ceremony, long and lavish in 1315.

Jaina Srimala mechants had spread almost all over North India. They led successfully a huge congregation (sangha) of pilgrims tarvelling with as many as three hundred carts to a distant temple at Phalaudi in Marwar (1314). As to Digambaras, besides Mahasena from the South whose profound learning and asceticism had impressed him immensely, Alauddin had Purnchandra close to him and others too.

Samar Singh was called by Qutbuddin Mubarak Khilchi to Delhi and made his vyavahari (banker). In 1318, Thakkur Achala Singh of Nagaur secured a firman from Q. Mubarak and organised a sangha yatra to Hastinapur, Kanyanayana, Mathura etc. under the leadership of Jinachandra Suri (1248-1319) joined by Pheru also. When they reached Tilpat near Delhi an acharya of the rival Drammakapuriya sect complained to the Sultan that Jinachandra was using a parasol and a golden throne (exclusive privilege of the Sultan). The Sultan summoned the Suri found no substance in the complaint ordered the imprisonment of the rival complainant. Jinachandra, however, pleading with the authorities, secured his release with the help of Pheru. The next ruler, Ghayasuddin Tughluq treated Samar Singh as his 'son' an deputed him to Telangana (Andhra Pradesh) where his successor, Muhammad Tughluq, calling him 'brother' made him Governor of Telangana. In this capacity, Samar Singh proved very helpful to local Hindus, prevailing upon both the Tughluq Sultans to release hundreds of prisoners of war including Vira Ballala, who obtained permission to return home as a ruler of Pandyadesha after his pretty long detention. Samar Singh is credited with the building of many Jaina temples in Urangalapura (now Warangal), the capital of Telugudesha. He is supposed to have breathed his last sometime before 1337A.D. Samar Singh was entitled by the Sultan as Raja sansathapanacharya for his intercession on behalf of Vira Bhalla. Kakka Suri composed his Nabhinand Jinnoddhara prabhandha in V. 1393 (1336 A.D.) of which the chief topic is the installation of the Jaina Tirthankara, Adinatha by Samar Singh.

Appendix

Chilla of the Sufis and Penance

Chilla of the Sufis is equivalent to the Christian Lent (period of fasting and penitence) for forty days. (Chilla=40 days) during which they retreat either to a cell or to a mosque or retire unto themselves fasting and praying (besides canonical prayers called salat or namaz), reciting the Quran or invocations or counting beads in a rosary.

A latter day Sufi of the Chishti Order, would not only take vegetarian diet during the period of Chilla but abstain from all animal food (tark-i haiwanat) like milk, curd, skimmed milk, butter ghee, eggs etc. so much so that salt from the Sambhar lake, banned for him, will have to be replaced by the Lahori salt, called Sendha namak. The penitent undergoing the fast (Chilla-kash) would see to it that the fuel, wooden or dung, used for preparing his breakfast during the period should not be worm-eaten so as to avoid killing tiny moths or insects.

Shaikh Usman Haruni, the preceptor of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, is said to have discouraged meat-eating and the Khwaja's own junior disciple, Sufi Hameeduddin Nagauri alias Peer Tarikeen, as recorded in his malfuzat (sayings), had willed that in case anybody offered food for the recompense of his soul after his death, it should not be meat. This self-denial led to the banning of meat during the 'urs' anniversary of the saint which is observed till today.

The beliefs, teachings and practices of the Indo-Muslims mystics, during the golden age of the thirteenth-fourteenth century may be identified as follows with special reference to the Chistis :

(1)          Pure Monotheism unmixed with the deification of Allah's creatures - as old as the Rigveda.

(2)          Faith in His Holiness Prophet Muhammad as the last Messenger of God (not an Avatar) and acknowledgement of all Prophets before him.

(3)          Absolute obedience to the Shaikh or Pir (preceptor).

(4)          Embracing poverty, offering charity to the poor and needy and working for public welfare without distinction (Khidmat-i Khalq).

(5)          Avoidance of politics, having nothing to do with the ruling class except when ordered to do something not opposed to the sacred law (shariat); accepting neither jagir nor official post.

(6)          Organization through 'Khanqah' (hospice).

(7)          Preaching and writing through the spoken language - Hindavi, Rajasthani, Hindi Punjabi or Sindhi etc.

(8)          Religious toleration of all faiths, Jainism or Hinduism.

(9)          Sama or qauwali (Sufi music) in praise of Allah, the Divine Beloved.

Penance :

Classical example of Penance during the period of Chilla performed by Shaikh Ahmad Khattu of the fourteenth Century, in Khatu (Nagaur), sometime after the demise of his preceptor and adoptive father, Babu Ishaq of the Maghribi Silsila is furnished by the Book of his Malfuzat (Conversations). "During this period of 'qurantine', Shaikh Ahmad's entire possession was forty pieces of dried 'Khurma' (date palm) and a pitcherful of water. After the fortieth day fell the Eid day (776-1374) when the Governor or the Deputy Governor of Khatu (presumably Malik Qutbuddin Najm) broke open the door of his room, wrapped the 'semi-alive' Shaikh with ready-ginned cotton to be able to carry him to the Eidgah mosque for prayers (namaz) in this precarious condition when, after the namaz, people rushed to him for shake-hand (musafiha) so much so that the Shaikh was hard put to it to save himself from being mobbed and reach back home unhurt." (Nagaur through the Ages, pp 133-34 - printed copy unpublished).

 

Jinaprabha Suri

From a distinguished Jaina householder we switch on to a great Svetambara monk, again from Gujarat, the centre of Jaina activities during this period and also the centre of gravity for the Turkish Sultans. Both the shravakas and the sadhus jointly worked in the interests of Jainism and its glory. We have traced the pattawali of the Kharataras of the Svetambara sampradaya in Gujarat, Rajasthan up to Jinapati Suri (d. 1277 = 1220 A.D.) in the first section of this article beginning from Jineshwara Suri, the first Kharatara, to the founder of the vidhimarga, Abhayadeva Suri “(One of the greatest scholars of the Jina world)” Jinavallabha (d. 1169 = 1112 A.D.) and Jinadatta, Suri, alias Dadaji, “a great organiser”, until the death of Jinapati Suri (d. 1277 = 1220 A.D.) during the reign of Sultan Iltutmish. Jinapala wrote the Kharataragachchha pattavali which is the source of our knowldege for the line of succession of these saints up to the year of grace, c. 1336.

Alauddin Khilchi was a thorough despotic monarch, not interested in religious matters and we hear little or nothing about the condition of Jainism during his reign except that there was harldy any outstanding Digambara acharya in North India while the guile of the Brahmana Ragho Chetan who had great influence on the Sultan, against the naked Jaina saints, led to instigation against them. The Digambara Jainas, it is said ran to South India and induced Acharya Mahasena to come over to Delhi and counter the sinister hostility of the non-Jaina adversary which he did to come over to Delhi and counter the sinister hostility of the non-Jaina adversary which he did through religious discussion to the satisfaction of Alauddin who was much impressed by the profound learning and asceticism of Mahasena. Alauddin had a Digambara Jaina friend in Purnachandra Agarwal of Delhi who performed the pilgrimage of Girnar, being the Nagar Seth of the Sultan. Madhava Sen and Prabha Chandra, founders of Kashtha Sangh and Nandi Sangh respectively are said to have been honoured by Alauddin. In other words Delhi had maintained its identity as a Digambara centre since the days of the Tomara rulers in the pre-Turkish age. The nudity of the Jaina saints of the Digambaras, which had specially attracted the attention of the Turkish rulers, had been diluted, it is said, by the weakening doctrine of ‘apawad’ against ‘utsarga’, brought into practice first by Basanta Kirti, who had allowed himself to enter the harem of Sultan Muhammad Ghori, thanks to the curiosity shown by his begum for the “naked fakir,” by the use, for the first time, of matted drapery to cover his nakedness with a view to ward off the emergency.

So much for the Digambaras of Delhi. The Svetambaras of Gujarat, however, left them behind by their forward policy with regard to their relations with the Turkish rulers as we have seen in the case of Samar Singh of Pattan. Now it was the turn of Jinaprabhasuri to regale the Sultans by his song verses and ingratiate himself into their good books when, succeeding to the patta of Jinasinhasuri, he made his appearance as a wandering saint in the Delhi region (1284 A.D.) and started his career of composing a series of stotras (panegyrics) and other kavyas with his extraordinary erudition and poetic talent demonstrated through Sanskrit, Prakrit, spoken dialect and even Persian as seen in the case of the Persian hymn quoted by us earlier. In 1319 A.D. he was observed participating in a sangha started by Devaraja of Delhi. He had amused the romantic  Emperor, Qutbuddin Khilchi to such an extent that the young Sultan, enamoured by (his charming verses) called him every now and then to his Court. But the royal offerings of village and/or elephant etc. was turned down by the Suri. It is also a recorded fact that Samar Singh had performed his pilgrimage to Mathura and Hastinapur with the sangha as well as Jinaprabhasuri under royal firman.

Contacts with Muhammad Tughluq

In 1328, when Suriji was tarrying in Shahpura (Delhi),  the philosopher - Sultan Muhammad Tughluq when he enquired about  him in his Learned Assembly and he was called “the most distinguished divine” by the astronomer, Dharadhara, the Suri was invited to the royal court honourably. Suriji met the Sultan in the evening. The Sultan, seating the literator very close to him and after exchange of enquiry about welfare and returning blessings, private conversation lasted till midnight !

At this late hour in the night, the Suri could not but stay there. The Sultan called the Suri to him early in the morning again and offered one thousand cows, a lump sum, excellent garden, a hundred garments, a hundred blankets and (scents like) agar, sandal and camphor etc. which he declined to accept but out of regard for the honour of the Emperor, he appropriated a small quantity of ordinary things like blankets cum clothes.

The Emperor, after convening a debate - assembly with scholars from many countries mounted Jinaprabhasuri on a stately elephant²⁹ and Jinadevasuri, his disciple on another, equally superior, with the accompaniment of varied royal muscial instruments and sent both of them to the poshadhshala. The bards were singing eulogies (all the way long) with officials of high rank along with subjects of the four varnas keeping company. The sangha (procession), animated with great happiness, resounded the heaven with the sound of victory (Jayadhwani). The shravakas performed the entry celebration (pravesh-mahotsava) with eclat and gave to mendicants plentiful charity.

Now arose the question of sangha escort and guarding of tirthas to be broached with the Sultan. The familiarity with them after this introductory visit of the Suri based on his learning, was on the increase day by day. The friman came in due course for the protection of Svetambara Order, copies of which were despatched to the four quarters.’ This firman was followed by another for the protection of places of pilgrimage whose copies were like wise supplied to the tirthas in question - Satrunjaya, Girnar, Phalabadhi (Phalaudhi) etc.

On another occasion in the same year (1328 A.D.), the Emperor released many prisoners from captivity on the teachings of Suriji. A cruel officer of the ‘Alavi’ family in Hansi had detained sadhus in prison, broken the stone image of Parshvanatha of Kanyanayana³⁰ and loading another intact “miraculous” sculpture of Mahavira, established there by Jinapati Suri as early as 1176 A.D., brought it to Delhi at a time when the Emperor was away in Deogiri (Daulatabad). So he deposited the sculpture in the Shahi Treasury of Tughluqabad where it remained in Turkish custody for fifteen months.

The Suri Maharaj came to the Royal Court on a rainy day with feet soiled with mud rainy day. The Sultan got his feet wiped with a costly piece of cloth.³¹ Out came the saintly blessing “in verse” offhand which were explained to the Emperor. These poetic blessings, so showered extempore on the Sultan, moved his heart to a marvelous extent. Taking advantage of the opportunity, and explaining to him the story of the Mahavira image, the saint requested him to restore the sculputre to the Jaina Samaja which the Emperor (readily) accepted. Not only that. As the Vidhi marga-prapa would have us believe, the Sultan got the image fetched to the Raj-Sabha on the shoulders of the leading Maliks for his ‘darshan’ and entrusted it to the Suri. The Jaina sangha, regaled by the recovery of the sculpture, collectively with eclat, got it mounted on a sukhasana (palanquin) and consecrated it in the Jaina temple of Malik Tajuddin Serai.³²

The Sultan, providing all kinds of facilities for the movements of Suriji who, permitting Jinadeva Suri (his disciple) to tarry in Delhi with foruteen sadhus, himslef proceeded to Deogiri where the local sangha performed the praveshotasava (entry celebration). From Deogiri he went to Pratishthanapur (Paithan) and returned (1330 A.D). Showing the Shahi firman in original), the Suri protected those temples which may have been in danger of being harmed at the juncture when the entire Muhammadan population of Tughluqian Delhi had been ordered by the experimentalist imperial despot to be  transported to Deogiri, his new capital which he renamed Daulatabad (City of Good Fortune). So the Suri, not only took the precaution in defence, but stayed there for three long years, subjecting to frustration such pre-eminent (religious) disputants who dared to challenge him for debate. Not only that. He taught original Jaina Shastras to the Jainas there.

As for Delhi, Jinadeva Suri was not sitting idle. He met the Emperor in the imperial cantonment (Shahi Chhaoni) who, showing him all honour, assigned a serai (mansion) for the residence of the Jaina Sangha, which was named, “Sultan Sarai’ where the Emperor caused the construction of paushadha shala and Jaina temple and permitted four hundred shravakas to populate it. The above Mahavira image of Kanyanayana was now consecrated here and both Shvetambars and Digambaras and others started the worship of this idol thanks to the liberal and tolerant policy of Muhammad Tughluq amounting to Jaina patronage in his Metropolis.

Once, in the course of participation in an intellectual gathering in his Court with the literati the Sultan was confronted with some doubt on same point pertaining to philosophical idelology not removable by the divines present in the assembly. He, all of a sudden, remembered Jinaprabhasuri. “If that Suri were present in the Raj-Sabha today”, said he, “our doubt may have been resolved. Verily his learning is unfathomable.” Tajul Mulk, who had arrived from Daulatabad, bending his head in kurnish³³ submitted that, “that saint presently is in Daulatabad but the climate of that place does not suit him and he has become much emaciated.” Hearing this, His Majesty ordered that Malik to immediately go to the Secretariat, get a fir