Jain
The tīrthaṅkaras, the Digambara and Śvetāmbara traditions, ahiṃsā and anekāntavāda.
People
- AjatashatruAjatashatru was a king of Magadha's Haryanka dynasty, traditionally dated to about 492–460 BC…
- BahubaliBahubali is a figure of Jain tradition, a son of the first tirthankara, remembered for renoun…
- BhadrabahuBhadrabahu was a Jain teacher of the early period, remembered as the last to know the full ca…
- HemachandraHemachandra was a Jain scholar-monk of twelfth-century Gujarat, adviser to the Chaulukya king…
- KharavelaKharavela was a king of Kalinga, known almost entirely from the Hathigumpha inscription, whic…
- KundakundaKundakunda was a Digambara Jain philosopher whose Prakrit works on the soul, and their distin…
- MahaviraMahavira was the twenty-fourth and last tirthankara of the present cycle in Jain tradition, a…
- NeminathaNeminatha is the twenty-second tirthankara of Jain tradition, whose narrative connects the Ja…
- ParshvanathaParshvanatha was the twenty-third tirthankara of Jain tradition, and the earliest for whom hi…
- RishabhanathaRishabhanatha is the first tirthankara of the present cycle in Jain tradition, credited with…
- SthulabhadraSthulabhadra was a Jain teacher who, tradition holds, convened the council at Pataliputra tha…
- UmasvatiUmasvati was the Jain philosopher who composed the Tattvartha Sutra, the systematic summary o…
Dynasties & States
- AlupasThe Alupas ruled the Tulu-speaking coast of Karnataka for a thousand years as feudatories of…
- AṅgaAṅga was a mahājanapada east of Magadha with its capital at Campā, and the first of the great…
- AvantiAvanti was a mahājanapada of the Malwa plateau ruled from Ujjayinī, the strongest of Magadha'…
- Āy dynastyThe Āys were a dynasty of the far south of Kerala, beginning as Sangam-age hill chieftains an…
- Bāṇa kingdomThe Bāṇas were a long-lived feudatory dynasty of the country where Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and…
- Bhañja dynastiesThe Bhañjas were a family of dynasties in the interior uplands of Odisha, ruling from the eig…
- Bhāṭīs of JaisalmerThe Bhāṭīs founded Jaisalmer in 1156 on a ridge in the Thar desert and ruled it until 1949, t…
- Chāhamānas of JālorThe Chāhamānas of Jālor ruled southwestern Rajasthan from the twelfth century until Alauddin…
- Chāhamānas of NaḍḍūlaThe Chāhamānas of Naḍḍūla were a branch of the Śākambharī house that ruled part of Marwar fro…
- Chāhamānas of RanthamboreThe Chāhamānas of Ranthambore were founded by Pṛthvīrāja III's son after the fall of Ajmer, a…
- Chāhamānas of ŚākambharīThe Chāhamānas of Śākambharī were the leading Rajput dynasty of eastern Rajasthan, and their…
- Chalukyas of BādāmiThe Chalukyas of Bādāmi ruled the Deccan for two centuries from 543 CE, checked Harṣa at the…
- Chandela dynastyThe Chandelas ruled Bundelkhand from the ninth to the fourteenth century and built the temple…
- Chaulukya dynasty of GujaratThe Chaulukyas ruled Gujarat from Patan for three centuries from 942 CE, the period in which…
- Chāvḍā dynastyThe Chāvḍās ruled northern Gujarat before the Chaulukyas, and their king Vanarāja founded Aṇa…
- Chudasamas of SaurashtraThe Chudasamas ruled Sorath in southern Saurashtra from Junagadh for six centuries, until the…
- Early CherasThe early Cheras ruled the Malabar coast and the western Tamil country in the Sangam age, and…
- Eastern Chalukyas of VengiThe Eastern Chalukyas ruled coastal Andhra for five and a half centuries from 624 CE, and und…
- Guhilas of MedapāṭaThe Guhilas ruled Medapāṭa — Mewar — from about the seventh century, holding Chittor until Al…
- Gujarat SultanateThe Gujarat Sultanate ruled the western seaboard from 1407 to 1573, founded Ahmedabad, and de…
- Gurjara-Pratihāra EmpireThe Gurjara-Pratihāras ruled northern India from Kannauj for two centuries from the mid-eight…
- Guttas of GuttavolalThe Guttas were a feudatory family of the Dharwad country in northern Karnataka, claiming des…
- Hoysala dynastyThe Hoysalas ruled southern Karnataka from the eleventh to the fourteenth century and built a…
- Kacchapaghāta dynastyThe Kacchapaghātas ruled the Gwalior region between the tenth and twelfth centuries, and buil…
- Kadamba dynastyThe Kadambas of Banavāsi were the first indigenous dynasty of Karnataka, founded in the fourt…
- Kadambas of GoaThe Kadambas of Goa ruled the Konkan coast from the tenth to the fourteenth century, and thei…
- Kadambas of HangalThe Kadambas of Hangal ruled northern Karnataka as Western Chalukya feudatories from the tent…
- Kākatīya dynastyThe Kākatīyas ruled the Telugu country from Warangal for a century and a half, were governed…
- KaḷabhrasThe Kaḷabhras were a power that displaced the Tamil kingdoms for some three centuries after t…
- MagadhaMagadha was an ancient kingdom of the eastern Gangetic plain, centered on present-day Bihar,…
- Mahāmeghavāhana dynastyThe Mahāmeghavāhanas were the dynasty that restored Kalinga after its devastation by Aśoka, a…
- Maitraka dynastyThe Maitrakas ruled Saurashtra and Gujarat for three centuries from Vallabhī, a city whose Bu…
- MallaThe Mallas were a clan people of eastern Uttar Pradesh, organised as two gaṇa-saṅghas around…
- Maurya EmpireThe Maurya Empire was the first state to rule most of the Indian subcontinent, founded by Can…
- Mūṣika dynastyThe Mūṣikas ruled north Malabar from Ezhimala from the Sangam age onward, and are the subject…
- Nanda dynastyThe Nandas were the dynasty that ruled Magadha immediately before the Mauryas, remembered for…
- Nikumbha dynastyThe Nikumbhas were a minor dynasty attested in the Alwar country of Rajasthan and later in Kh…
- NolambasThe Nolambas ruled Nolambavāḍi, the dry country on the Karnataka–Andhra border, from the eigh…
- The Northern SatrapsThe Northern Satraps were Śaka governors who ruled at Mathurā in the first centuries BCE and…
- Pallava dynastyThe Pallavas ruled the northern Tamil country from Kāñcīpuram for six centuries, fought the C…
- Pandya dynastyThe Pandya dynasty was an ancient Tamil dynasty centered on Madurai in southern Tamil Nadu, w…
- Paramāra dynasty of MalwaThe Paramāras ruled Malwa from Dhārā for five centuries, and their king Bhoja was the most ce…
- Paramāras of ArbudaThe Paramāras of Arbuda ruled the Mount Abu country from Chandrāvatī, and it was under their…
- Paramāras of Bhīnmāl and JālorThe Paramāras of Bhīnmāl and Jālor were a minor branch of the family holding southwestern Raj…
- Paramāras of VāgaḍaThe Paramāras of Vāgaḍa were a branch of the Malwa house that ruled the hill country between…
- Rashtrakuta dynastyThe Rashtrakuta dynasty was an imperial power that dominated the Deccan and much of central I…
- Rattas of SaundattiThe Rattas ruled the Belgaum country of northern Karnataka from the ninth to the thirteenth c…
- Seuṇa Yādavas of DevagiriThe Seuṇa Yādavas ruled the Marathi-speaking Deccan from the hill fortress of Devagiri for ov…
- ŚilāhārasThe Śilāhāras ruled the Konkan coast and the Kolhapur country in three branches for five cent…
- Sindas of YelburgaThe Sindas were a feudatory family of northern Karnataka under the Western Chalukyas, ruling…
- Śiśunāga dynastyThe Śiśunāgas were a Magadhan dynasty of the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, credited with th…
- Tomaras of DelhiThe Tomaras ruled the Delhi region before the Chauhans, and are credited with founding the se…
- Tomaras of GwaliorThe Tomaras ruled Gwalior for a century and a quarter from 1394, and under Mān Singh Tomar th…
- Vāghela dynastyThe Vāghelas were the last Hindu dynasty of Gujarat, ruling from Patan for sixty years until…
- Vajji confederacyThe Vajji confederacy was a league of clans in north Bihar governed by an assembly at Vaiśālī…
- Vēḷir chieftainciesThe Vēḷir were the chieftains of the Tamil country who ruled the hill and forest tracts betwe…
- Vijayanagara EmpireVijayanagara was the last great empire of southern India, founded on the Tungabhadra in 1336,…
- Western Chalukyas of KalyāṇiThe Western Chalukyas ruled the Deccan from Kalyāṇi between 973 and 1189 CE, fought the Chola…
- Western Ganga dynastyThe Western Gangas ruled southern Karnataka for some six centuries from about 350 CE, and the…
- Yajvapāla dynastyThe Yajvapālas ruled the Narwar country of central India in the second half of the thirteenth…
Places & Regions
Sites & Monuments
- Dilwara TemplesThe Dilwara temples are a group of Jain temples on Mount Abu in Rajasthan, built between the…
- Ellora Jain cavesThe Jain caves at Ellora, numbered 30 to 34, are rock-cut temples of the ninth and tenth cent…
- KhajurahoKhajuraho is a group of Hindu and Jain temples in present-day Madhya Pradesh, built by the Ch…
- PalitanaPalitana in Gujarat is the site of Shatrunjaya hill, which carries several hundred Jain templ…
- Qutub MinarThe Qutub Minar is a 73-metre brick minaret begun in Delhi in 1192-93 by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, f…
- RanakpurRanakpur is a Jain temple complex in Rajasthan, built in the fifteenth century, whose princip…
- ShravanabelagolaShravanabelagola is a Jain pilgrimage centre in Karnataka, dominated by the colossal image of…
- Udayagiri and KhandagiriUdayagiri and Khandagiri are two hills near Bhubaneswar in Odisha honeycombed with rock-cut c…
Texts
- Jain AgamasThe Jain Agamas are the scriptural canon of the Svetambara order, held to derive from the tea…
- Kalpa SutraThe Kalpa Sutra is a Svetambara Jain text giving the lives of the tirthankaras and the rules…
- Namokar MantraThe Namokar Mantra is the central Jain invocation, offering salutation to five classes of spi…
- PaumacariyaThe Paumacariya is Vimalasūri's Prakrit retelling of the Rāmāyaṇa from a Jain standpoint, in…
- Tattvartha SutraThe Tattvartha Sutra is a concise Sanskrit summary of Jain doctrine composed by Umasvati, and…
Concepts
- AhimsaAhimsa is the principle of non-harm to living beings, central to Jain ethics and important in…
- AnekantavadaAnekantavada is the Jain doctrine that reality has many aspects, that any single statement ab…
- DigambaraThe Digambara are one of the two principal Jain orders, holding that a fully advanced mendica…
- Jain cosmologyJain cosmology describes an uncreated, eternal universe of fixed shape, occupied by graded wo…
- Jain karmaIn Jain doctrine karma is not a moral principle but a subtle physical substance that adheres…
- JainismJainism is an Indian religion holding that every living thing possesses an eternal soul bound…
- Jiva and ajivaJiva and ajiva are the two fundamental categories of Jain ontology, the sentient and the inse…
- Kevala jnanaKevala jnana is the state of complete and unobstructed knowledge in Jain doctrine, attained w…
- ShramanaShramana was the general term for the wandering renouncers of early India who rejected Vedic…
- SvetambaraThe Svetambara are one of the two principal Jain orders, whose mendicants wear white cloth, w…
- SwastikaThe swastika is an equilateral hooked cross, one of the oldest continuously used symbols in h…
- SyadvadaSyadvada is the Jain method of qualifying every assertion with the particle syat, "in some re…
- TirthankaraA tirthankara is, in Jain belief, a liberated teacher who establishes the ford across the oce…
- YogaYoga is a body of Indian spiritual and physical disciplines, rooted in Vedic ritual and Upani…
Events
Art & Architecture
Practice & Festival
- DiwaliDiwali, or Deepavali ("row of lamps"), is a five-day festival of lights observed by Hindus, J…
- The five vowsThe five vows of Jainism — non-violence, truth, non-stealing, chastity and non-possession — a…
- MahamastakabhishekaThe Mahamastakabhisheka is the anointing of the colossal Jain image of Bahubali at Shravanabe…
- ParyushanaParyushana is the principal Jain festival, an annual period of fasting, study, confession and…
- SallekhanaSallekhana is the Jain practice of voluntarily fasting to death when death is otherwise near,…