India, in the 21st century, is leaping ahead to be recognised as one of the promising countries that will contribute to the domains of education, research and the world's sustainable development. When any country aims to progress towards a better future, lessons from History are considered an important source of inspiration and something that the people would take pride in. After years of India's struggle for independence from colonial rule, 'History' and "Multiple Histories' became the focal point of textbooks, newspapers, journals and academia. 'Writing' History was now being challenged with 'Rewriting' History and later with 'Interpreting' History. The subject being considered static was now understood as a dynamic academic enquiry, which not only required aspects of data collection, classification and analysis on the lines of the Natural Sciences, but also a combination of tools and methodologies from both-Sciences and Humanities. A linear structure of History was now being viewed as Multiple Histories', a domain which was intrinsically multi-disciplinary in its approach. Various sources of historical writing have been known to scholars, including literary, archaeological, oral and others. Despite this, not all scholars adapt to using a multi. trajectory of academic trends, this write-up focuses on the theme of Jain Heritage and draws on the necessity of a multi-disciplinary understanding of Jain Heritage. Jainism, a religious tradition that has thrived in the Indian subcontinent for centuries, has made significant contributions to philosophy, epistemology, literature, grammar, logic, history, the overall understanding of society in various domains, including art and culture, Unfortunately, this tradition had to undergo considerable criticism from scholars before it was finally accepted as an independent religious tradition. Generally, when systematic academic writings on the Orient were initiated, specifically those focused on India, colonisers gave priority to texts to understand what India was really like. This approach of textual understanding of a living tradition had many reservations and limitations. Texts are an important source of understanding the society of the time in its varied aspects; archaeological material, does not preserve to its fullest extent and may have its own limitations too. Initially, the vast corpus of the Jain textual tradition was not open to outsiders. Slowly, some interactions occurred, which led scholars to gain access to select Jain canonical texts. These were considered the only sources for understanding Jainism, and an attempt was made to write about the Jains and their tradition. It was later that similar textual studies led to the academic acceptance of the existence of Jainism as a distinct religious tradition. While all this was happening in the other world, the Jains firmly believed and still believe in their infinite timelines and their enduring religious tradition. Thus, we come across various ways of understanding the Jain tradition-one from the outsider's perspective of colonisers, outsider's perspective of Indian scholars who were not personally adherents of Jainism, the Jain monastic and lay community, the scholars who were adherents of Jainism but had a critical evaluative understanding of Jainism and finally the ones who have developed a holistic multi-disciplinary approach on academic studies on Jainism. Having said this, one might wonder if uch a categorisation is correct, if it is even needed, or if it is simply bias that we are promoting. E. H. Carr in his What is History? Comprehensive Understanding of Jain Heritage 3 (1961) has made it evident that there are various ways in which a Historian is influenced by their surroundings. This categorisation is not in the form of a watertight division, but is based on general patterns and research trends observed over a period of time. The first few decades of studies on Jainism, especially in the 19th century, focused on the Jain canonical texts, their readings, translations and critical editions, wherever possible. At times, rare manuscripts were edited and published. In the 19th and 20th centuries, printed and published data initially paved the way, despite opposition from within the community itself. The texts are not fossilised in nature; they are bound to have undergone several interpolations over time for a multitude of reasons. Drawing on mere texts as the primary source for studies on Jainism, attempts were made to write about the Jains, their literature, monastic order and overall history. Hermann Jacobi (1884; 1895) was probably the towering figure who created a separate academic space for Jain Studies, overall, for the first time arguing that Jainism had its own independent existence. Some other critical text-based studies were done in the West. A colonial perspective becomes clear when one reads S. Stevenson's (1915) work, where, although an attempt at understanding Jainism has been made, it is occasionally coloured by an unempathetic, misunderstood outsider's view. It was a little later that Paul Dundas, in his The Jains (1992), highlighted that Jainism, being a living tradition, cannot be fully understood through its past texts alone. His writings presented a comprehensive use of texts, archaeological materials, and, importantly, an anthropological study of the present community. In the lines of Social Anthropological understanding of Jainism, there are scholars such as John E. Cort (1998; 2010), Padmanabh S. Jaini (1979) and Peter Flügel (2021; 2022) who showed that canonical literature of a particular sect cannot form the sole core of Jain Studies and built their researches on the multi-disciplinary frameworks while actively engaging with the living tradition. The perspective shifted from that of an outsider to one that was more inclusive, unbiased, empathetic and holistic.

Shrikant Ganvir (PhD) teaches Ancient Indian History and Culture at the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed to be University), Pune. He is the coordinator of the Bhagwan Shitalnath Chair for Jain Archaeology. He is a visiting faculty at the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Savitribai Phule Pune University and the Course Coordinator for the UGC-SWAYAM MOOC online course on Buddhist Tourism. He co-directed excavations at Nagardhan (Maharashtra), Phanigiri and Chada (Telangana). Не со-edited Telangana through the Ages: Perspectives from Early and Medieval Periods (2019), Cultural Heritage of South Asia and Beyond: Recent Perspective (2020), A Preliminary Report of the Excavations at Nagardhan 2015-16 (2020) and Revisiting the Cultural Heritage of South Asia: Emerging Trends (2025). His research areas include the Archaeology of Religions, South Asian Art, Architecture and Iconography, and the religious paradigms of the Deccan.

Jainism, a tradition renowned for its profound philosophy of ahimsa and anekantavada, has left a lasting imprint on the culture of the Indian subcontinent through its diverse forms of art and heritage. This volume aims to provide a multidisciplinary understanding of Jainism through its history, art, narratives, and religious dynamics, as reflected in the material culture and textual tradition. It will not only enrich the reader with an insight into the vast heritage that the Jain tradition has safeguarded for centuries, but it will also catalyse making enthusiasts aware of its historical importance and relevance to present-day society. The volume thus echoes the message of the Tirthankaras as inscribed in stone, paper, or even the memories of the people.