Jain Remains of Ancient Bengal
by Shubha Majumder | 2017 | 147,217 words
This page relates ‘Jainism in ancient Bengal according to the travel account of Xuanzang’ of the study on the Jain Remains of Ancient Bengal based on the fields of Geography, Archaeology, Art and Iconography. Jainism represents a way of life incorporating non-violence and approaches religion from humanitarian viewpoint. Ancient Bengal comprises modern West Bengal and the Republic of Bangladesh, Eastern India. Here, Jainism was allowed to flourish from the pre-Christian times up until the 10th century CE, along with Buddhism.
Jainism in ancient Bengal according to the travel account of Xuanzang
There was a general tendency among the earlier scholars to believe (Gupta 1993-94: 219-20) that Jainism had almost disappeared from ancient Bengal after the seventh century CE or post-Gupta period and the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang’s travel account was the last evidence regarding the popularity of Jainism in ancient Bengal. However, several recent discoveries confirm that Jainism did not disappear from Bengal after seventh century CE and that it strongly flourished in the Rāḍha region of ancient Bengal up to twelfth-thirteenth century CE.
According to Xuanzang’s travel account we know that Jainism retained its hold in Bengal during the seventh century CE. Xuanzang, who visited this region about 638 CE, describes Jainism as the dominant religion in two of the most important regions, one in north (Puṇḍravardhana) and the other in southeastern (Samataṭa) Bengal.
While assessing the religious condition of Puṇḍravardhana and Samataṭa, he observed:
“There were twenty Buddhist Monasteries and above 3000 Brethren by whom the “Great and Little Vehicles” were followed: the DevaTemples were 100 in number, and the followers of the various sects lived pell-mell, the Digambara Nirgranths being very numerous” (1961: 184).
Referring to Samataṭa or Lower Bengal to the east of the Ganges the pilgrim observes:
“It had more than 30 Buddhist Monasteries….There were 100 Deva Temples, the various sects lived pell-mell, and the Digambara Nirgranthas were very numerous” (ibid.: 187).
On the basis of Xuanzang’s report it should be assumed that during the post-Gupta period Digambara Jain Nirgranths were more numerous then the followers of Buddhism and Brahmanical religious ideologies in north and south-eastern Bengal[1]. On this basis we may assume that during that time Jainism flourished as a result of constant support of the Puṇḍravardhanīya and Tāmraliptika Śākhās.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
In this context it should be mentioned that the Śvetāmbara Jainas were popular in the norther Indian including the Mathura region while Digambara sect was flourished in the eastern Indian including the ancient Bengal. P.C. Bagchi (1971: 410-1, fn.3) suggests that it is probably due to the amalgamation of the Ājīvikas with the Jainas.