Jainism and Karnataka Culture

SR No.: 011062
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: S R Sharma
Publisher: Karnataka Historical Research Society Dharwar
Publication Year: 1940
Total Pages: 263
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 9 MB

Page 27

INTRODUCTION
Both Jainism and Karnāțaku Culture are among the least studied aspects of South Indian History. I am not aware of more than a couple of published works on each of these themes. Since the publication of Studies in South Indian Jainism by Messrs. Ramaswami Ayyangar and Sheshagiri Rao, in 1922, there has appeared only one other book dealing with Mediaeval Jainism (with special reference to the Vijayanagara Empire) by Dr. B. A. Saletore, published very recently (1938). Likewise, I have come across only two works on Karnāțaka Culture, namely, Popular Culture in Karnataka by Mr. Masti Venkatesa Iyengar (1937) and Karnātaka Sanskrti (in Kannada) by Mr. N. S. Devudu (1935). Valuable as these contributions are, they have not rendered any further work along similar lines superfluous. Nor is it presumed in the present essay that its subject is capable of being easily exhausted. This is therefore to be judged only as one more effort to study a rich theme from a fresh angle of approach.
It is well to make it clear at the outset that this is neither a complete study of Jainism in Karnāțaka nor a complete study of Karnāțaka Culture, but merely an Introductory Essay attempting to assess the bearing of the former upon the latter and vice versa, with particular reference to a few outstanding aspects. For this purpose it is desirable to survey the History of Karnāțaka from the point of view of the role of Jainism, on the one hand, and the evolution of Karnāțaka Culture, on the other. This has been partly attempted in Section One. The Historical Survey' contained therein does not, therefore, touch upon other problems of either Jaina or Kartāțaka History. The chronology of successive rulers of the various dynasties and their political relations and doings, for instance, have not been dealt with beyond the bounds of strict relevance. A knowledge of the