Introduction
Before the treasures of the Jaina Bhandaras were partially made avail able to scholars, almost nothing was known about the history of painting in Western India roughly from 1100 A.D. to 1550 A.D. The history of these Jaina Jiana-Bhandaras is closely associated with the progress and conservation of learning in Western India. Their foundation is attributed to a big famine which occurred in the fifth century, as a result of which most of the Jaina monks died and the sacred lore of the Jainas suffered considerably. Therefore, in order to save the Jaina lore from complete extine-tion, some steps had to be taken. A council under the presidentship of Devarddhigani was summoned in circa 453 A.D. at Valabhi and with the consent of the monks assembled there, the Jaina canon was committed to writing. Not much is known about the progress of book writing in the following centuries, but there is every possibility that the Jnana-Bhandaras were founded and these became the custodians of the sacred literature. However, one thing is certain that by the tenth century Jaina monks had realised the educational value of the Jnana-Bhandaras. Their founders took great pains to explain to the intelligentsia the importance of the religious and secular texts which had been accumulating for over five hundred years. Such foundations encouraged the Jaina bankers and laymen to order copies of the sacred texts and present them to the monks who in turn deposited them in the Jnana-Bhandaras for the benefit of the posterity. In order to encourage this movement Jüdna-püjäs were held from time to time and this kept up the interest of laymen in learning. In this connection may be mentioned the names of Siddharaja Jayasimha and Kumarapala, the renowned rulers of Gujarat Jayasimha (1093-1143 AD) is said to have employed about thres hundred scribes to copy out sut books un religious and escular matters for the Imperial Library It is further observed that he got several copies of different works made and distributed them to scholars all over India Kumarapsi (1143-1172 A.D. is said to have established twenty-one Jana-Bhandaras He employed seven hundred scribes and some of the manuscripts are said to have been written in gold The example of these two Solanki rulers was fol. lowed by several great Jaina ministers including Vastupala and Tejapain. The two brothers became interested in learning and in Jääna-thandents on the advice of their teachers Vijayasenasuri and Udayaprabhasuri. They are said to have established three big libraries at a cost of several millions of rupees. Pethad Shah (Skt. Prthvidhara), a minister of Paramara Jayasimha at Mandu-gadh (Mandapadurga) in VS. 1320 (-1263 A.D.) founded Jiang Bhandaras in seven cities including Broach, Devagiri, Mandu and Abu Though the Jaina Jñana-Bhandaras (literally, treasures or storehouses of knowledge) were basically sectarian in nature, it is remarkable that the Jainas did not mind preserving in them books belonging to different faiths for ready reference and criticism. They also collected and preserved manuscripts of the works of the great poets of India including Kalidasa, which, as their colophons say, were written by and for the Jainas This shows that the Jaina monks in the middle ages were not narrow-minded sectarians, but fully realised the importance of libraries preserving the literature of all the faiths. Thus they Prabhavaka-Carita (Singhi Series No. 13, Bombay, 1940) Hemacandrasuri-Praban dha, verses 103-109. A similar tradition is also noted in another Jaina work entitled Kumarapala-pratibodha (G. O. Series, Vol. 14). Kumarapala-pratibodha, pp. 96-97. Also see, Upadeśatarangini, p. 140. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa of Jinaprabhasuri (Singhi Series No. 10, Santiniketan, 1934), section entitled Vastupala-Samkirtana. According to Upadeśatarangini (quoted by M. D. Desai) in Jama Sahityano Samkşipta Itihasa (in Gujarati, Bombay, 1933), pp. 404-405. Also see L. B. Gandhi, Aitihasika Lekhasamgraha (in Gujarati, Baroda, 1963), pp. 416, 514, 540 for an account of Pethad.
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