that equal protection would be given to both sects. Another inscription
records an amicable agreement regulating the worship of a lingam in a
Jain temple at Halebid. Many others, chiefly recording grants of land,
testify to the prosperity of Jainism in the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar
and in the region of Mt Abu in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries[276]. The great Emperor Akbar himself came under the influence
of Jainism and received instruction from three Jain teachers from 1578
to 1597.

Persecution and still more the steady pressure and absorptive power of
Hinduism have reduced the proportions of the sect, and the last census
estimated it at one million and a third. It is probable, however, that
many Jains returned themselves as Hindus, and that their numbers are
really greater. More than two-fifths of them are found in Bombay,
Rajputana, and Central India. Elsewhere they are generally distributed
but only in small numbers. They observe caste, at least in some
districts, and generally belong to the Baniyas. They include many
wealthy merchants who expend large sums on the construction and
maintenance of temples, houses for wandering ascetics and homes for
cattle. Their respect and care for animal life are remarkable. Wherever
Jains gain influence beasts are not slaughtered or sacrificed, and when
old or injured are often kept in hospitals or asylums, as, for instance,
at Ahmadabad[277]. Their ascetics take stringent precautions to avoid
killing the smallest creature: they strain their drinking water, sweep
the ground before them with a broom as they walk and wear a veil over
their mouths. Even in the shops of the laity lamps are carefully
screened to prevent insects from burning themselves.

The principal divisions are the Digambara and Svetambara as above
described and an offshoot of the latter called Dhundia[278] who refuse
to use images in worship and are remarkable even among Jains for their
aversion to taking life. In Central India the Digambaras are about half
the total number; in Baroda and Bombay the Svetambaras are stronger. In
Central India the Jains are said to be sharply distinguished from Hindus
but in other parts they intermarry with Vaishnavas and while respecting
their own ascetics as religious teachers, employ the services of
Brahmans in their ceremonies.

4

The Jains have a copious and in part ancient literature. The oldest
works are found in the canon (or Siddhanta) of the Svetambaras,