Jaiswal Jains are one of the Jain

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

of northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. They are mainly located in the

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

region. The term "Jaiswal" indicated as being residents of a place named Jayas or Jais. Some authors have identified Jais with

Jais Jais, also spelled Jayas, is a city with a municipal board in Amethi district (formerly in Raebareli district) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Geography Jais is located at . It has an average elevation of 101 metres (331 fee ...

in Raebareli district. A legend identifies it as

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

. However there are documented mentions of Jaiswal Jains prior to the settlement of Jaisalmer. The famous Dubkund Jain inscription of 1088 AD is the earliest mention of the Jayas town. The

Apabhraṃśa Apabhraṃśa (, , Prakrit: ) is a term used by '' vaiyākaraṇāḥ'' (native grammarians) since Patañjali to refer to languages spoken in North India before the rise of the modern languages. In Indology, it is used as an umbrella term for ...

Jain poet Lakshmana composed the '' Jinadatta Charitra'' in sam. 1275 and Anuvaya Rayana Payiiva in sam. 1313, both at Tihuangiri near

Bayana Bayana is a historical town and the headquarters of Bayana tehsil in the Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, India. Hindaun City is the nearest city to Bayana at just away. Bayana is also known as the "City of Bansasur". It was the site of the ...

. Thus the place Jayas must have been in the vicinity of Gwalior region. Several of the cave temples on the sides of the Gwalior Fort hill have inscriptions mentioning that they were constructed by Jaiswals. Some of the patrons of poet

Raidhu Raidhu (IAST: Raidhū; 1393–1489) was an Apabhramsha poet from Gwalior, and an important figure in the Digambara Jain community. He supervised the pratishtha consecration ceremony of many—perhaps most—of the Jain idols carved on the hill ...

in Gwalior were Jaiswal.

Prominent Jaiswal Jains

* Poet Bulakhichand, author of Vachankosha in sam. 1707Kavivar Bulakhichand, Kasturchand Kasliwal, 1983, p. 3-115 * Dr. Nemichandra Shastri Jyotishacharya 1922-1974 *

Ravindra Jain Ravindra Jain (28 February 1944 – 9 October 2015) was an Indian music composer, lyricist and playback singer. He started his career in the early 1970s by composing for several hit movies. His notable works include '' Chor Machaye Shor'' (19 ...

, poet and music director

External links

* Reports By India Archaeological Survey, Archaeological Survey of India, v.20 1882-188

page 99

References

{{Social groups of Maharashtra Social groups of Rajasthan Jain communities People from Amethi district

Prominent Jaiswal Jains

External links

See also

References