Ajila is a common surname of the Bunt people, the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, t ...

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region in the south west of

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is also the name of the Jain Bunt Dynasty who ruled the principality of

Venur Venur or Venoor is a small village on the banks of the Phalguni river in Belthangady Taluk, Dakshina Kannada of Karnataka, India. It was once the seat of Jainism and the capital of the Ajila Dynasty. It is on the Dharmasthala- Moodabidri-Karkala ...

for several centuries(1154 to 1786 C.E). The most notable of the Ajila kings was Veera Timmannarasa Ajila IV who erected the monolith of

Bahubali Bahubali (), a much revered figure among Jains, was the son of Rishabadeva (the first ''tirthankara'' of Jainism) and the brother of Bharata Chakravartin. He is said to have meditated motionless for a year in a standing posture (''kayotsarg ...

in 1604 C.E.The descendants of the Ajila rulers still survive and inhabit the Aladangady Aramane (Ajila Palace).The succession to the Ajila throne was as per the Bunt custom of matrilineal inheritance ( Aliyasantana). The present head of the Ajila dynasty is Padmaprasad Ajila, fourteenth in line through the matrilineal lineage of Veera Timmannarasa Ajila IV. An inscription in Old Kannada by Veera Timmannarasa Ajila IV unearthed in 2006 reads

References

{{reflist Dynasties of India Jain dynasties Bunt community surnames

See also

References