Preface

The present study on Jainism in ancient Bengal is an endeavoured to bring out the historicity of Jainism in the said study area with the analysis of archaeological materials retrieved from different parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh.

The reasons behind selecting such a study are the following:

i) according to ancient Jain texts Mahāvira along with his disciple travelled the impassable forest and the pathless country of 'Lāḍha' (Rāḍha) in and around sixth century BCE, however, the proliferation of Jain art historical elements in this region found in around eight/nine centuries to the thirteen/fourteen centuries CE. So it is really interesting to search the process of the development of Jainism in ancient Bengal with the help of the scattered Jain sculptural and architectural remains along the length and breadth of the study area.

ii) The almost sudden appearance of the monumental structural and sculptural remains associated with the Jain ideology during the early medieval period and the absence of such remains (whether Buddhist, Brahmanical or Jaina) of the earlier period instigate us to search for logical explanations to interpret the same.

iii) The huge Jain images and temple architecture which are documented from the study area must be studied on the basis of the art and architectural style and process of development and other different elements related to the art activities.

The present dissertation is therefore a humble attempt to bring together and make an in depth analytical study of the Jain antiquities to trace the history of Jainism from earliest the time to fourteen century CE in the present study area. For this, several earlier works of different scholars have been studied and it is observed that most of them have taken into account only the earliest phase and then shifted their attention to North India, Western India and the Deccan, simply assuming that owing to some peculiar conditions, Jainism could not survive here in ancient Bengal. Later on other works, related to the Jain antiquities of ancient Bengal, investigating the individual sculptural specimens, a temple or group of temples, have often ignored not only the archaeological context of their findings but also made comparative stylistic study with reference to other contemporary Jain remains found at other sites. Often, while reporting the Jain images of any sites, they have placed them within the early medieval/medieval time bracket without suggesting the stages of art and iconographic stylistic development in the Jain images. In the present discourse I have tried to make a comprehensive study about the several aspects associated with the growth and development of Jainism in ancient Bengal

The present work on ‘Jainism in ancient Bengal: A Study in Archaeology, Art and Iconography’ is divided into seven chapters.

Chapter I is introductory in nature and it deals with the general background of Jainism and a study has been made on historiography of Jainism in broad spectrum. Studies on Jainism began quite early and approach to the study changed from time to time. Historians of each age have their own problems of history and their own way to interpret documents, old and new. This chapter introduces the reader with the changing perspective of Jainology and brings to focus the need to study Jainism in ancient Bengal afresh.

Chapter II deals with the geographical setting of ancient Bengal and its relation with the growth and development of Jainism in the present study region.

Chapter III deals with the general history of Jainism in ancient Bengal, starting from the ancient days down to the early medieval period. A back ground knowledge of penetration and development of Jainism in Bengal will help to understand the corelation between macro and micro regions in Bengal.

Chapter IV is related to the actual survey of different Jain sites/settlements as well as the ‘find spots’ in different districts of ancient Bengal.

Chapter V explains about the various contexts and content of the different Jain architectural and sculptural remains documented from the study area. This chapter also includes a detailed study of architectural features of the extent Jain temple from the study area.

Chapter VI deals with iconographic details of the documented Jain images recorded different areas of ancient Bengal.

Chapter VII contains the Summary and Observations of the present work.

Diacritical markings have been used to a maximum. The use of diacritics has been inevitable since most of this work deals with the iconographical as well as epigraphic sources. I have assumed that modern names of towns, cities, localities, different caste groups and communities are in sufficiently current usage and do not, therefore, require any diacritical definition. Diacritical markings have been restricted to the names of the different Jain deities, their attributes, epigraphic records and ancient texts.

In spite of all honest attempts, a few printing mistake have crept in the text for which sincere apologies are being sought to the examiners.