Description
Manohar Jains in India Historical Essays by Surendra Gopal
Jains have a long recorded history. While studying the history of India it is necessary to study the history of different Indian communities. Though small in number, Jains are very important in the economic and social life of the country.Jain history becomes more important when we find that the community anticipated new commercial practices adopted by European trading countries from the sixteenth century onwards. It seems that while they gave up some of the traditions and practices in the country, their traditional social and cultural practices continued as before.Two Jain names stand out in history; they are Veerji Vora, in the seventeenth century and Jagat Seth of Bengal in the eighteenth century. A succession of Jagat Seth interacted with high government officials and were very influential in their time as this volume brings out.This volume contributes significantly to the study of merchant communities and colonial history in South Asia.About the AuthorSurendra Gopal served as Lecturer, Reader and Professor in History Department, Patna University between 1958 and 1996. Along with teaching he carried out significant research work. The result has been more than 100 research papers and eight books. His latest book is Mapping Bihar: From medieval to Modern Times (2018).Dr. Gopal has collected data for his works from English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Russian sources.PrefaceJainism has continuously flourished in India like Hinduism since ancient times. Buddhism flourished, when the twenty-fourth Jain Tirthankara, Mahavir was born. From then onwards Jainism has had a continuous history.Jains have preserved their languages and memorialized their contribution to Philosophy, Ethics, Mathematics, e