The Origin and Culture of Chaturth Jains | Jain Community on Deccan

-Mahavir Sanglikar

Chaturth is the largest caste (endogamous group) in respect of population in Digambar Jain community, and the second largest one in entire Jain community. They overtake Agarwal Jains and Khandelwal Jains in numbers in Digambars and follow Oswals in entire Jain community.

Geographical Spread
Chaturths are concentrated in Southern part of Maharashtra and Northern part of Karnataka, mainly in Sangli, Kolhapur, Belgaum, Solapur, Hubali and Bijapur districts. Beside these districts, they are also found in western Maharashtra and central Karnataka. They are spread over several hundreds of villages in this area. In many villages of their concentration, their density is 40 to 70 percent of the population. Generally such villages are known as ‘Jain Villages’. Most of these villages are in Krishna basin, on the banks of Krishna, Varana, Panchaganga, Doodhganga, Vedganga, Malprabha and other rivers.

Religion
Chaturths are followers of Jainism. As all indigenous south Indian Jains are Digambar Jains, Chaturths also follow the rule. Traditionally they belong to Beespanth, a sub sect of Digambars. They believe in Bhattarak institution. The Jinsen Bhattarak of Nandani Muth is their Chieftain. In last few decades, many chaturths are attracted to Digambar Terapanth. A small number of Chaturths are Veershaiv Lingayats.

Food Habits
A being Jains, the Chaturths are strictly vegetarians. But unlike Gujarati Jains, they are not so strict about eating root vegetables, brinjals etc. However the use of onions and potatoes is very rare.

Bhaakari of Jawar, Soup of Jawar, Pithale, Rice, Aaamati of Tuar Daal, Kheer of rice are some of the common and popular menus in the meals in Chaturth community.

Occupation:
The traditional occupation of Chaturths is cultivation. They are expert and hardworking cultivaters. They take much more crops from their farms than other farmers having same size of land. Sugar Cane and Soya bean are the main crops they cultivate.

They are not big landowners and many families have very small piece of land. It is due to the partition of the lands because of the growing population.

The spread of education has given them more opportunities to work in other fields. So we can see many people from this community working as teachers, engineers, medicos, businessmen, lawyers, skilled workers etc. Teaching is a popular career both in Chaturth men and women.

A considerable number of people from this community also work in Police and Armed Forces. Even women from this community have joined the forces. I know a Chaturth lady who is a Police Officer in New York Police, another one Commissioned Officer in Indian Army. Lot of other Chaturth men and women are working in Maharashtra and Karnataka Police as cops and officers. In armed forces, they are generally seen in Military, while some are in Indian Air Force.

Few families of Chaturths are from lower income group. Many families in villages have no land or have very small land. Generally men and women of this group work as labours in other’s farm or as servants in shops and small business houses.

Milking buffalos is one of the income sources for many Chaturths in villages. In their villages, they have formed Co-Operative milk societies, which collect milk from all over the village and send it to cities.

Origin of Chaturths
The word Chaturth is a Sanskrit word. This is not the original name of this community, as it is not found anywhere in old documents, literature, copper plates and inscriptions. This name has created confusion and many scholars have assumed that the meaning of this word for a community is Shudra (Chaturth= of the fourth Varna= Shudra in the Varna system). But it is a very wrong assumption based on the name, which never existed in older times. In fact, the word Chaturth is a corrupted form of the word Kshatraru. The word Kshatraru is Kannada form of the Sanskrit word Kshatriya or the Prakrit word Chhatri/ Khatri. So it is clear that the name Chaturth is a corrupted form of the word Kshatriya. (Kshatriya>Kshatraru> Chhatar>Chatar>Chatur>Chaturth). It is notable thing that Chaturths traditionally claim that they are Kshatriyas.

In Konkani language, the Kshatriyas are called as Chardo. There is a community called Chardo in Goa and according to some scholars, Chaturths and Chardos are the same people.

It is notable that Chaturths are known as Jains and not as Chaturths in general.

It is notable that the Chaturths are living in Southern part of Maharashtra and Northern part of Karnataka for many centuries. The Nandani Jain Mutt is related to Chaturths. This Mutt was founded by Acharya Jinsen (10th Century). Acharya Jinsen was the Guru of the Rashtrakut King Amoghvarsha.. This region was ruled by various Jain dynasties, namely Kadambs, Rashtrakuts, Ratts, Chalukyas, Kalchuris and Shilahars.

Every Chaturth family has a recorded genealogy, which is preserved by the Helavis, a community that keeps genealogical records of various families in South Maharashtra and north Karnataka. According to the Helavis, their forefathers were told to keep the records of genealogies by King Bijjal, a Jain King of Kalchuri clan. (13th century). These records give lineage of the forefathers of Chaturth families, usually containing record of 20 to 40 generations.

Moreover, most of the Chaturth family names (Surnames) are related to the higher posts in village administration system. Patil is one of the famous family name in this community, which was used for village chieftain. Another family name found in Chaturth is Desai, which was used for the chief of regional group of villages. The main duty of Desais was to collect tax from the villages of his specific area. There are some other such surnames in Chaturths, like Magdum (Record Keeper) Chougule (Assistant of Patil), Khot (Village Chieftain) etc., which show designations. The designation name Patil was given by Deccan Muslim rulers, before that we find the words Gowda, Gaund, Gounda and Gawada for village chieftains. The notable thing is that these words except Gawada are found as suffixes to the first names of men in all genealogies of Chaturth families. The words Gowda, Gaund and Gounda are also found in various Jain inscriptions, even in the inscriptions at Shravanbelagola.

Historical records of Maharashtra and Karnataka show that forefathers of Chaturths were high profile Civil and military officers in the reign of Ratts, Shilahars, Devgiri Yadavs, Adilshahi, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Sambhaji, Rajaram and Shahu Maharaj.

All this suggests that there is no reason to believe that Chaturths are Shudras. It also totally discards the belief that Chaturth means are follower of Chaturyam Dharm (Four ford religion preached by Teerthankar Parshwanath), as the word Chaturth is a latest one for this community, and they never followed Chaturyam dharm, but Panchyam Dharm.

According to some scholars, Pancham was the only caste of Jains in south India, which was later divided into 4 castes namely Chaturths, Panchams, Kasars and Saitwals. This is a wrong statement based on just assumptions. There is no inscriptional, genealogical or literary proof for it. The scholars, who invented this theory, have written that there is no Chaturth caste in Veershaiv Lingayats. This is a false statement as we can see many Chaturths in Veershaiv Lingayats.

The Saitwals find their origin in North India and there are no links between Saitwals and others communities mentioned above. Moreover, some surnames of Saitwals suggest that they are the oldest Jains of Maharashtra. It should be noted that they are not bilinguals and we can call them Pure Marathi people. Their physical features are also different from that of Chaturths and Panchams. On the other hand, although Kasars are some time called as Panchams, their recorded history in Kalika Puran shows that they are not Panchams.

Although there are some similarities between surnames of Chaturths and Panchams, it should be noted that these surnames are designation names and not clan names. Chaturth is purely a cultivator caste, while Pancham is a Merchant caste. Panchams are descendents of Bir Banij, the famous merchant group of Medieval Deccan. Further, in the genealogical records no same origin of Chaturths and Panchams is traced.

Chaturths are Gowdas
In South Karnataka, there is a cultivator community famously known as Gowdas. There are many similarities between these Gowdas and the Chaturths. Most of the Gowdas were following Jainism until recent past. Still now, some sections of these Gowda people are strictly vegetarians and some are following Jainism. Some Gowdas are being reconverted to Jainism. This occurs mainly in the Gangatakar/ Gangadikara and Namdhari subcastes of Gowdas.

The word Gowda is used as a suffix to the first name in Gowda community. On the other hand, as I have written above, we can find the word Gowda, Gaund, Gounda (which have the same meaning) in all the genealogies of Chaturths. These words are still used as suffixes in rural areas in Chaturth community. One of my friends Mr. Rajendra Paygonda Patil residing at Samdoli, a Jain village near Sangli, has a genealogical record of 25 generations of his forefathers. Out of the 61 names found in that genealogy, 58 names have been suffixed by Gowda,Gownda or Gonda. The notable thing is that in first 19 generations, only Gowda suffix is found. After 20th generation only the suffix Gownda or Gonda occurs. I have seen many of the genealogies different Chaturth families and found the suffix Gowda everywhere.

It is notable that Gowdas are known as Vokkaliga Gowdas, and the Chaturths also were known as Vokkaligas a century ago

There are many other similarities between Chaturths and Gowdas. Both the communities are traditionally cultivators. Gowdas are Kannada speaking, and Chaturths too. Although the Chaturths in Maharashtra have adopted Marathi language, they are originally Kannada speakers, and now speak both Kannada and Marathi at home in rural areas. Both the communities have high rank designations in village administration system. The most important thing is that both the communities have similar body structure/ physical features like complexion, height, head size and nasal index.

An interesting thing is that the Jains of Kerala, which are mostly found in Waynad district, are known as Gowdars. They have matrimonial relations with Jain Gowdas of South Karnataka.

So, I am sure that the Gowdas and Chaturths are the same people. Gowdas of North Karnataka are now being known as Chaturths..

Chaturths: Migrations and Settlements
The oldest known migration was from north India to Karnataka, when the Dravidians were migrated towards South India, due to invasion of Vedic Aryans. As the Gowdas and Chaturths are from the same stock, the ancient migration history of Gowdas is applicable to Chaturths also.

A migration of this community to North Karnataka from Moodbidri took place when Jainism declined in Moodbidri region. In this migration, some Jains of this region went to Kostal Karnataka while many others wend to Northern part of Karnataka. They settled on the banks of river Krishna and her tributaries like Varana, Panchganga, Malprabha, Doodhganga, Vedganga etc.

An inscription of Kolhapur Shilahar General Nimbras (13th Century) states that he colonized many villages nearby Kolhapur by inviting staunch Jains to this area. That also was an important migration of Chaturth community.

There was another migration when Basava, a Brahmin Prime Minister of Kaluchiri king Bijjal killed the King. Bijjal was a Jain king ruling from Kalyan in Bidar district of North Karnataka. Basava was founder of Veershaivism. After the assassination of Bijjal, there was a civil war between Jains and Veershaiv Lingayats. At this time many Chaturth families migrated to South Maharashtra (Sangli, Kolhapur) and North Karnataka (Belgavi).

Genealogical records of Chaturth families show that they came in present area from Salbidri, Talikota etc.of Bijapur District. The Helavis (genealogy tellers) say that these families migrated due to conflicts with Adil Shah of Bijapur.

It is a question, that why these people migrated to south Maharashtra and North Karnataka from Salbidri/ Talikot araea. The most probable reason is that there were prior settlements of Jains in this area and the migrants found this area safer to settle. It is notable that Shilahars of Kolhapur, who were follower of Jainism, ruled this area (10th to 13th Century C.E.). The earliest migrations to this area we know are in 13th century when conflicts between Jains and Veershaiv Lingayats took place in Bijapur and Koppal region.

After settling in South Maharashtra and Belgavi district of Karnataka, there were a lot of local migrations when some Chaturth families eventually settled in nearby villages of the same region. Such families adopted the names of their prior villages as surnames.

The latest migrations of Chaturth families are towards Pune, Thane, Mumbai, Nashik, Aurangabad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra, to Panji and Madgaon of Goa and to Bangaluru city of Karnataka. There are migrations also towards district headquarters like Sangli, Kolhapur, Belgaum, Hubli etc. from nearby villages. This is due to less scope in cultivation and availability of more opportunities in various fields in the cities. As there is a high literacy rate in Chaturth community, having professional and technical skills, they are getting more and more opportunities outside their region. A considerable number of Chaturths have migrated even towards United States, Canada, North America, Europe, Australia and other countries of the Globe.

Religious Conversions
In the period of the known history of last 1000 years, many Chaturth families were converted to other faiths.

One of the major conversions of Chaturths was to Veershaivism. Veershaivism got a firm support from people of all creeds in North Karnatka. Many Chaturth families adopted this new faith. We can see many Chaturth families in North Karnataka and southern parts of Kolhapur district of Maharshtra are followers of Veershaivism and are known as Chaturth Lingayats. It is a well-known fact that that many Chaturth Jain families and Chaturth Lingayat families are descendents of same forefathers. The records kept by the Helavis confirm this fact.

It is said that the Jain Bhattaraks of the medieval age were collecting huge money from Jain families in villages. Many Jain families denied paying money. These Bhattaraks expelled such families from Jain community and forced them to become Veershaiv Lingayats.

In Portuguese period, almost all the Chardos (Chaturths) in Goa were converted to Christianity.

In the reign of Adilshah of Bijapur Saltnat, many Chaturth families were forcefully converted to Islam. Some Chaturths adopted Islam for political benefits. All this happened mainly in Bijapur, the Capital of the saltnat.

Some genealogical records show that some Chaturth families got converted to Maratha caste of Hindus.

Names and Surnames
Most of the first names of Chaturth males and females are like the names of common names of the Indian people of this area. But there are some first names, which are found especially in Jain community. Chaturths proudly name their children with such names, which include Mahavir, Bharat, Bahubali, Neminath, Goutam, Rishabh, Shrenik, Rajmati, Rajul, Chelana, Chandana etc. In previous generation, they named their children as Nemgonda, Nemanna, Shantappa, Jinappa, Shrimati, Shripal. Bhupal etc.

We can classify surnames or family names of Chaturth community in four categories.

a. Designation Names: These family names are related to their designations in village administration system. Such family names include Desai (Regional Administrator), Nadgouda (Regional Administrator) Patil (Village chief), Choudhari (village chief), Chougule (assistant of Patil), Magdum (Record Keeper), Khot (), Kulkarni (Record Keeper), Deshpande. Last two surnames are not so common in Chaturth community. Some families have Nayak or Naik as surname. Nayak is a Kannada word for leader and it is also a rank in Army.

Patil overtakes all other surnames in this category in surnames.

I have observed that every Chaturth family of this region is descendent of persons bearing the surname Desai.

b. Village Names as surnames: Many Chaturth family names are derived from village names. The number of such names is very big. Some examples of such family names are: Akkole (from akkol village), Rukade (from Rukadi village), Shedbale (from Shedbal Village), Ankale (from Ankali village), Udgave (from Udgav village), Kumbhojakar (from Kumbhoj village, Chiprikar (from village Chipri), Ankalikar from village Ankali), Nandanikar (from village Nandani) etc.
First Names as Surnames: Some surnames are derived from the first names of the persons from whom the branch of family tree started, i.e. Nemanna, Satyanna, Chimanna, Basannavar, etc.
Surnames by Occupations: Such surnames are very rare in Chaturth community. I found Gavali (Milkmaid), Shetti (Merchant) surname of this types in this community.

c. Some surnames were kept because of some incidents.

d. Some surnames of Chaturths are commonly found in the Marathas (a warrior community of Maharashtra). But in Chaturths such surnames are not so common. Such names include Suryavanshi, Chavan, Salunkhe, Shelar, etc. Some Maratha sub clan names like Navale, Lande, Nakate/Nakhate etc. are also found in Chaturths.

e. Some surnames were kept according to the type of house in which the family lived. Such surnames include Doddamani (Big House), Halimani (Old House), Kattimani (House having a katta), Vasamani (New House) etc.

f. The surname ‘Jain’ is rarely used.

There are no clans or gotras in Chaturth community, so there are no clan/gotra names as surnames. Why there are no clans in this community is a subject of research.

Language
Chaturths are basically Kannada speaking people, but now they are bilinguals. The Chaturths of North Karnataka and South Maharashtra speak both the Marathi and Kannada languages. But usage of Kannada language in Chaturths of Maharashtra is on the way out.

Literacy
There is a highest literacy rate amongst this community. Probably it is 100%. A considerable number of Chaturths are in teaching field. They are primary and high school teachers and even professors in colleges. They have founded hundreds of educational institutions in all over South Maharashtra and North Karnataka. This has benefited this community and others in spreading of literacy.

Customs and Traditions
Marriages: parents of the guy and girl generally arrange Marriages in this community. Uapadye, the priest of the Jain temple, performs the marriages. Just few decades ago, marrying with cross cousins was a common practice, but now it is almost disappeared. They also practiced marriages between the girl and her maternal uncle, until some decades ago. This proves the Dravidian origin of Chaturth community. Such marriages are now out of practice.

In villages, the parents of the girl prefer a guy having land for agriculture, even if the guy has a good job in public or private sector, or he is self employed having his own business house. They generally marry in their own caste, but in cities marriages between Chaturths and other Jain castes, especially Panchams, Saitwals, Kasars, Bogars, Humads, kamboj etc. are taking place.

The first known famous marriage of a Chaturth guy outside chaturth community was arranged in 19xx. The girl was from Pancham community, niece of Annasaheb Latthe, a progressive Jain. Annasaheb Latthe was Prime Minister of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur and founder of Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha.

A small number of marriages occur outside Jain community.

In villages, many marriages are performed under ‘Quick Marriage System’ popularly known as ‘Yaadi Mein Shaadi’. In this system, the guy and some of his close relatives go to see a girl, and if both the guy and girl agree to marry, a quick marriage takes place on the same day or within 2-3 days in presence of limited people, generally close relatives.

After the marriage, the bride comes to the house of the parents of the guy and stays there for five days. An elder woman, who is her close relative, accompanies her. Then the bride returns to her parents and stays there for some days. Generally the groom goes to her house and brings her back.

Birth of Child: The pregnant woman generally goes to her father’s house for first delivery. This tradition is ancient one and we can see it in many communities of ancient India.

Namkaran (Naming): The child is named on 12th day of his/ her birth. The paternal aunt (father’s sister) of the child declares the name.

Karnchhedan: A small hole on the lower part of both the ears of the child is made. The village goldsmith performs this act.

Javal/ aliya: The cutting of hairs of the child for first time is called as ‘Jawal Kadhane’ in Marathi and Aliya in Kannad. This ritual is performed in a small function at home by maternal uncle of the child and the village barber.

Sallekhana: Sallekhana is a tradition in Jain community where seriously sick old persons adopt death by fasting. In Chaturth community, this is a widespread tradition.

Chaturth Women:
Chaturth women are educated, homely, and religious, and bear true Jain spirit. Chaturth women in villages are generally orthodox.

Pilgrimage Centers:
Like most of the other Jain communities, in Chaturth Jains also there is a tradition of visiting various Jain pilgrimage centers. Many Chaturth families, individuals and groups visit the most famous pilgrimage centers namely Sammed Shikharaji in Jharkhand, Shravanbelgola in Karnataka and Girnar in Gujarat. They also visit Mangi Tungi, Gajpanth, Ramtek, Kunthalgiri in Maharashtra and Shasraphani Parshwanath, Babanagar, Hombuj Padmavati, Dharmasthal, Kanakgiri and lot of other places in Karnataka.

In there own area also there are some famous Jain pilgrimage centers, which the Chaturths visits many times. Such places include Bahubali and Nadani in Kolhapur district, Kundal in Sangli district, Nandgiri in Satara district, Stavnidhi and Kuppankothali in Belgavi district, and the Belgavi city fort where an ancient royal Jain temple Kamalbasti is situated.

Socio-Religious Organizations
Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha is the most popular and most famous socio-religious organization of Chaturths and other Digambar Jains in South Maharashtra and North Karnataka. This organization was founded in 1999 and works for educational, social and religious causes.

Chaturths in Freedom Movement:
Chaturth community has done a good job in the freedom movement of India. They were mainly associated with the famous freedom fighter Vasant Dada Patil, who later became Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Other group of Chaturths was associated with Krantiveer Nana Patil and Barde Guruji, who succeeded expelling British people from all the districts of Satara and South Satara (now known as Sangli) in 1942.

Rajmati Birnale, a Chaturth Jain girl from Nana Patil’s group was famous for her activities against British rule.

Chaturths in Co-Operative movement
Co-Operative movement in Western Maharashtra and Noth Karnataka has changed social and economical face of these regions. Contribution of Chaturth community is very important in this movement. The Sangli Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana, now known as Vasantdada Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana is one of the biggest co-operative sugar mill in Asia. It was founded by Vasantdada Patil mainly with help of Chaturth farmers in Jain villages in Sangli district. Chaturths also helped to found many sugar mills in Kolhapur district.

The Awade family, belonging to Chaturth community is well known for their contribution in founding co-operative sugar mills, Yarn mills etc. Shamrao Patil Yadravkar of this community also founded a sugar mill.

In every village where Chaturths are in a sufficient numerical strength, have founded various co-operative societies.

Chaturths in Politics:
Most of the Chaturths are traditionally supporters of Congress Party. But eventually they support other secular parties like Rastravadi Congress Party (NCP), Janata Dal and Independent candidates. As the main occupation of Chaturths is cultivation and they are born cultivators, they always support Farmer’s Organizations in their causes. They rarely support Hindutwa parties like BJP and Shivsena.

As Chaturths are effective minority community in their area, their stand is very important in elections. Most of the times, they succeed to elect the candidates they want. In their area of high density, they succeed to elect their own candidates for assembly and parliament.

They get a considerable representation in Zilha Parishads, Taluka Panchayat Samitis, Municipal Corporations and municipalities of this region. So we can see ZP and Panchayat Samiti presidents, Mayors, ZP members and city corporations from this community.

Famous Personalities:
Chaturths have given many great personalities in religious, social, educational and other fields. Acharya Shantisagar, the first Digambar Jain Acharya of this era was from this community. The famous Jain Acharyas Deshbhooshan and Vidyasagar too are from this community.

The most famous personality from Chaturth community is Karmveer Bhaurao Patil. He was an educationalist and social reformer. He founded Rayat Shikshan Sanstha, which is the biggest educational institution of Asia with hundreds of schools, colleges, hostels and other institutions in rural areas of Western Maharashtra. His great grandfather xxx was the chieftain of Nandani Jain Bhattarak seat. Karmveer Bhaurao Patil was felicitated as Padmbhooshan for his great work by the President of India. A commemorative postage stamp on him was also issued by the postal department of India..

List of notable Chaturths:
Nimbaras: Chief of the army of Shilahar King Bhoj II. Nimbaras was famous for his bravery. He fought and won many battles.
Khangouda Desai: A Sardar of Adilshah of Bijapur, later revolted and joined Shivaji’s army. He became a General of Sambhaji.
Hangandi Desai: He was a famous Maratha Saradar at the time of Peshavas.
Karmveer Bhaurao Patil: Educationalist, Social reformer, founder of Rayat Shikshan Sanstha.
Appasaheb Patil: He was the man who arranged first conference of Dalits. Chhatrapati Sahu Maharaj of Kolhapur was the Chief Guest in this conference. It was attended by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, who was a young guy at that time.
Rajmati Birnale: A revolutionary in freedom movement of India
Baa. Bhu. Patil: Founder of Ratnakar Bank, Jain activist and leader, a lawyer, writer, publisher.
Tatya Keshav Chopde: Noted Marathi writer and historian
Appa Bhau. Magdum: Noted Marathi writer, poet, publisher and social reformer
Annasaheb Bhau Magdum: One of the early students of the great Karmveer Bhaurao Patil, who later became Chief Secretary of Rayat Shikshan Sanstha. He was a mathematician and an educationalist.
Balasaheb Patil: A leader of non-Brahmin movement, journalist, writer and social reformer. He was editor of Satyavadi, a Marathi daily published from Kolhaour.
Rajmati Patil: A Philanthropologist
Kallapaa Anna Awade: A leader of co-operative movement in Maharashtra, ex M.P.
A.B. Jaknur: : A leader of co-operative movement in Karnataka, Politician, Ex-Minister
Indumati Awade: Founder of Asia’s first women’s co-operative yarn mill.
Raju Shetti: Leader of farmers, President of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, elected as a Member of Parliament in 2009 elections.
Sharad Patil: Educationalist, writer and politician
Prakash Awade: Politician, Ex Minister of Maharashtra.
Suresh Patil: Ex Mayor of Sangli city, Businessman, Educationalist
Dhulappa Anna Navale: Freedom fighter, close colleague of Vasant Dada Patil, (Late Chief Minister of Maharashtra), MLA of Maharshtra.
Bhalchandra Vagyani: Justice, writer, President of 18th Marathi Jain Sahitya Sammelan.
Bhuvanedra Kumar: Jain Scholar and Activist from Canada
Subhash Chandra Akkole: Jain Scholar, Marathi writer, the first one who discovered medieval history of Marathi Jain literature.
Dr. Ravsaheb Patil: Noted Marathi writer, speaker and thinker
Mahavir Sanglikar: Noted writer, scholar and thinker
Neelam Mangave: Noted Marathi writer
Harshit Abhiraj: Music Composer, Singer and Film Producer
Bapusaheb Patil: Industrialist
J.F. Patil: Noted Economist
Parshwanath Digrajkar: Musician and Singer, Guru of the famous singer Suresh Wadkar
Major Prakash Patil: Educationalist, Social Worker
Ajit Narade: leader of cultivators
Bapusaheb Magdum: A Communist leader

This research is mainly based on the fieldwork and observations by the writer. The writer himself belongs to this community. The main sources of this research include:

1. Helavi records
2. Discussions with Patils of various Jain villages
3. Discussions with Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha activists
4. Discussions with elderly persons
5. Discussions with elderly and knowledgeable priests of Jain temples in Jain villages


Reference Books:
1.Jain Community: A Social Survey by Dr. Vilas Sangave
2. People of India
3. Jain Aani Hindu by Tatya Keshav Chopade
4. Census of India reports 1881 to 2001
5. All India Digambar Jain Directory 1914
6. Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabhecha Itihas
7. Jain Shilalekh Sangrah Bhag I
8. History of Gounder community
9. The Origin of Gowdas
10. Shilahar Rajwanshacha Itihas: Dr. V.V. Mirashi
11. Kolhapur District Gazetteer 1884
12. District Gazetteer of Belgaum
13. District Gazetteer of Mysore
14. Canadian Studies in Jainism by Dr. Bhuvanendra Kumar
15. The Origin of Gowdas
16. Jain Vadhu Var Parichay Melava Directory 1999, 2001 published by Jain Sahyog, Pune
17. Aanasaheb Latthe biography

See Also:
Jainism in Maharastra
Kolhapur Jains
Jainism in Kolhapur

Origin of Oswals

The origin of Oswal is disputed. There are 3 different schools of thought.
I. Opinion of Jain Acharyas
II. Opinion of Bhats and Charna
III. Opinion of historians

Opinion of Jain Acharyas
According to ‘Upkesh Gachh Pattawali’ Acharya Sri Ratna Prabh Suri did his ‘Chathurmas’ in the Veer Sanwat year 70 at Upkeshpur Pattan and he addressed the king and his people and converted them into Jains. Changing religion is not a big thing but to make a community to follow non-violence from violence was a historical achievement. He preached that Yagya & Havana were all against the Jainism and made all of them mahajan.

New Kingdom of Upkeshpur Pattan (City)
Accordingly to Upkesh Gachh Pattawali, the Raja or King of Srimal Pattan had 2 sons – Utpaldev and Sripunj. One day Utpaldev teased Sripunj, so Sripunj got angry and said, “you are giving me orders as if you have won this kingdom by your own means and power”

Utpaldev immediately realised this and he left the city with his friend Uhad and met Raja Sadhu of Dhelipur (Delhi). With his blessings he built a new city Upkeshpur. As the farming of sugar cane (Ganna) was done on that place, the name of the city was kept as Upkeshpur, which in a short time became famous as Upkeshpur Pattan. The city was about 12 yojans in length and 9 yojans in breadth. Many traders, scholars, Brahmins settled in this new city of Upkeshpur Pattan.

Acharya Ratna Prabh Suri
The city of Raganpur in the state of Vidyadhar was ruled by Raja Mahendra Chud. The queen Mahadevi Laxmi gave birth to a son who was named ‘Ratna Chud Vidhyadhar’. Ratna Chud was a great scholar, very brilliant and had skills in many Vidhyas. One day when he was flying in his ‘Viman’ (plane), it stopped near Mount Abu. On inquiry it was found that Acharya Sri Swamprabh Suri was passing by. Ratna Chud got down from his plane and bowed to the Acharya. From the preaching’s of Acharya he became disciple of Acharya and took ‘Disksha’ in the year Veer Sanwat 52. After getting skilled in various philosophical, intellectual and spiritual rites he became Acharya.

One day Acharya Sri Ratna Prabh Suri was touring near Abu, ‘Chakreshwari Devi’ came and asked Acharya if he could visit Upkeshpur Pattan then the Jain religion could be spread much faster. So the Acharya along with his 500 disciples reached Upkeshpur Pattan.

In Upkeshpur Brahmins were very powerful. They had blessings from the king in doing Havan, yagya etc. So when Acharya came the brahmins did not allow the Acharya to enter the city. So the Acharya and disciples were forced to stay on Lunadri mountain. All saints were under the ritual of ‘Maas Shraman’ (Fasting for a month) so in the evening after evening prayer (Pratikraman) the Acharya ordered to return back in the morning.

At night ‘Chamunda Devi’ came and bowed to Acharya and asked for forgiveness that she had forgotten the message of Chakreshwari Devi because she was busy in dancing. She requested the Acharya that she would create ‘maya’ so that the citizens will welcome Acharya and disciples. However in the morning Acharya announced to his disciples, that saints busy in Ghor Tapasya to stay and the rest to move else where. 465 saints left and 35 remained to continue the fasting and Tapasya.

The daughter, Saubhagya Kumari of Raja Utpaldev got married to Trilok Singh son of the minister Uhad. A snake bite Trilok singh at night when they both were sleeping. So he died. In the morning when the funeral procession was going Chamunda Devi appeared in saints form and told people why they were taking a living man for funeral and disappeared.

Every body discussed and some people told that they had seen similar saints on Lunadri mountain. All went there with the procession, there the Devi again reappeared in saints dress and told that the sadhus have divine powers. If you sprinkle hot water poured on the Acharya toe on the prince body the prince would regain life. This was immediately done and as expected the prince was back to life.

The visit of Acharya Ratna Prabh Suri
The whole city was overjoyed. The Acharya and his disciples were treated with full honour and respect and they entered the city. Crowd was cheering with Jai-Jaikar. Acharya stopped in front of the fort and said to remove luxurious things like carpets etc. than only they can enter. All decoration and luxuries were removed and than Acharya and his disciples entered in the palace. When the king offered jewels etc. to Acharya, he said, “Oh king, we have already left all material things long back and we remain busy in tapasya and prayers to the almighty, we have no pleasures even in seeing these things.“ Everyone was surprised.

When the sermon was given then they found out how better the Jain Religion is. The greater happiness can be found by sacrifice and religious ceremonies. The wealth, prosperity and physical pleasures are worldly desires. They increase sorrow & unhappiness at the end. This road leads to hell. The road to heaven is in sacrifices, donations, Dhyan, meditation etc. Before the birth the child faces 9 months of acute hell. The pain at the time of labor cannot be explained. By the action of sacrifices and meditation all pleasures can be gained.

In the year Veer Sanwat 70 the Acharya did his chaturmas (where Muni stay in a place for 4 months) The Acharya and his disciples broke the fast there and due to his continued preaching and sermons 1500 men and 3000 women became sadhu and Sadhvi and 140,000 people adopted Jainism.

The foundation day of OswalsAccording to Muni Sri Gyan Sunderji the foundation day of Oswals falls on the fourteenth day of Krishna Paksha in the month of Shravan. All Jain-Oswals celebrate this with sacrifice, prayers and meditation.

The KULDEVI of Oswals
The KULDEVI of Oswals is “Maa Jagat Bhawani Sachhiyay Mata”.

There was a big temple of Chamunda Mata in Upkeshpur presently known as Osiya situated near Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The temple was known for chamatkars and therefore everybody prayed to Chamunda Mata. In Navratri buffaloes were butchered. People used to give offerings of flash of buffaloes to please the Devi. The Acharya Shri Ratna Prabh Suri stopped this practice of animal killing. Because of this the goddess got angry and she created pain in the eyes of Sri Acharya. He did not do anything but continued with the suffering, when Devi found out that no reaction has taken place, she was ashamed. She asked forgiveness from the Acharya. Acharya explained that, “You better not allow killing of animals as offering to you, by asking your devotees to offer you flashes of buffaloes or other animals you are doing your own harm. You will have to face all the wrong that are committed in your name, you have been made Goddess because of your good actions but now you will have to face the hell “ The Goddess got enlightened she told Acharya,” from today no more such killings would be allowed in the temple and even red colored flower shall not be offered. I will accept Prasad & Lapsi, my worship will be done by kesar, chandan (Sandal wood) and Dhup (incense sticks). I will be happy as long as people are devoted to lord Mahavira. I will fulfill all the prayers of my devotees.’

Acharya told from today you are Sachhi Mata. From that day Chamunda mata became and known as Sachhiyay Mata.

The Jain Mandir of Lord Mahavira at OsiyaIt is believed and said that Sachhiyay mata was devoted in the Bhakti of lord Mahavira so much so that she decided to build a temple for Lord Mahavira.

The Upkeshpur king had a holy cow. A vary mysterious thing started happening. Everyday in the evening when the cow returns from jungle, she had no milk left. This continued for a while. The person looking after the cows was asked to explain why at particular place cows carried no milk. The shepherd explained that while the cow was roaming in a heightened land the milk flowed out from her automatically in all the four directions, when the milk was finished the cow returned to the herd. Next day also same scene was seen by thousands of people. King Utpal Dev was informed of the incident. Next day the king, the Prime minister & several thousand people gathered and saw the scene. The king narrated the incident to Acharya Sriji and acharya sri ji understood that this was the work of Chamunda Devi. Next day at the auspicious hour, the place was dug up and a deity of lord Mahavira made up of sand was retrieved. In the digging also 9 laks gold coins were also found which were melted and the idol of God Mahavira was covered with gold. Later a temple was built. It is said that the opening Pratistha (the way in which deity is installed) was done by Acharya sriji on Thursday the 5th day of shukla panchami in the year Veer Samvat 70. At the same time Acharya by his Devik powers did Pratistha for another Lord Parshvanath temple in Konarpur, which was miles away from Osiya.

Views/ Philosophy of Bhats and Charans
According to the writing of Bhats and Charans, the Oswal community was founded in year Vikram Sanwat 222. According to historian Mr. Pooran Chand Nahar and Daulat singh Bhati the oswal community came into existence in 222. However Jagga Shah of Abha Nagri made a big procession of Oswals in 222 and Jagga Shah was Oswal. Which means Oswals were in existence even before 222 but they were called Mahajans and not Oswals.

It is believed that before year 222 all Oswals were of Mahajan community. In year 222 there was a big meeting of Mahajans in Khandela (Near Jaipur) in that meeting Mahajans from Osiya (Upkeshpur), Srimal Nagar, Khandela, Pali, Agrova, Pragvat Nagar etc. came and attended. From that day all the Mahajans were named according to their places. Like from Osiya Oswals, from Srimal Srimali, From Khandela Khandelwal, from Pali Palliwal, from Agrova Agarwal and from Pragvat Porwal etc. Therefore in 70 AD Mahajans came in existence and 222 Ad Oswals came in existence.

Historical View
Some of the historians like Sri Pooran Chand Nahar, Dr. Bhandarkar, Agarchand Nahata , Hira Chand Ojha, Jagdish Singh Ghelot, Mohnot, Nensi are of the view that Oswals came in existence during the period between 70 AD and 222 AD.

Dr. Bhandarkar says that Utpaldev once asked for Shelter with Parihar king. The Parihar king gave the permission to re-build Bhelpur Pattan. It is said that shelter which was given is called Oslakiya (means take shelter) which later on was turned as Osiya. This was in 9th century.
According to Sohan Raj Bhansali the Oswals started from 8th century.

Osiya in history
The archeological team found many old samples, statues of olden times in Osiya. In the temple of Osiya there is a deity of Harihar, which is half Shiva & half Vishnu, which is vary ancient. The paintings found in Osiya include Vasudeva with baby Krishna on his head, Krishna fighting with horse, Killing of Putna, Kalidaman, Govardhan dharan, butter stealing etc. from the same comes the interesting images of Balram which seem to represent him as the incarnation of Seshnaga.

In olden days Osiya was a very big town. Osiya’s Telivada was situated 3 miles away in Tinvari village, at 6 miles is Pandit ji ki Dhani (small Village which is Pandit pur), at another 6 miles away village Kshatripura, at 24 miles is Lohavat which was place iron smiths colony of Osiya. There were 108 Jain temples in Osiya.

Present Osiya is situated about 40 KM from Jodhpur, Rajasthan. It is connected by road & train with Jodhpur and Pokharan.

Conclusions
The Bhat, Charans and historians have believed Utpaldev as Parmar after seeing his name in Upkesh gachh Pattawali and concluded that he is the founder of Oswal dynasty, just by finding name of Utpaldev in Parmar dynasty it cannot be concluded that Oswals originated from there.

According to poet Rishab Das book (Hari Vijay Sri Ras) Agar Chand Nahata concludes that Oswals originated in 510 by Sri Ratna Suriji.

According to ‘Mahir Stavan’ and ‘Oswal utpati Vratant’ it is Vikram Sanvat 1011 – 15. Dr. Laxmi Mal Singhvi concluded that Oswal originated in 5th century BC. Mr. Bhansali concluded 8th century .Sri Sukh Sampat Raj Bhandari Concludes Vikram Samvat 508.

According to ‘mathuri vachan 2nd’, Skandal Suri (357-360) stated about Mathura resident Oswal Polak who made description on the Tadpatra and gave to various saints there. Which means Oswals were in existence in Mathura before 4th century.

According to Col. Todd hundreds of people of Kshatriya community settled in Osiya gram and were later called Oswals.

Munsi Devi Prasad has written a book “Rajputane ki khoj”. As per that an idol of Lord Mahavira found in Kota while digging and on that name of Bhaisa Shah and V.S. is written, Bhaisa Shah is of Aditya Nag Gotra. Which proves that Oswals were in existence before V.S. 508.

We can conclude that the Mahajans originated in VS 70 and later were called Oswals or they might have been named as oswals in VS 222.

Origin of Gotra in Oswals

By Mr. C. M. Lodha

Acharya Sri Ratna Prabh Suri in the year Veer Sanvat 70 converted Raja Utpaldev of Upkeshpur Pattan (presently known as Osiya) and his entire kingdom into Jains. According to ‘Jain Jati Mahodaya’ Acharya Sriji named 18 Gotras as follow probably based on their original Gotra or business or status.

Tater
Bafna
Karnavat
Balaha
Morakh
Kulahat
Virhat
Shrishrimal
Shreshthi
Sancheti
Aditya
Nag
Bhuri
Bhadra
Chinchat
Kumat
Didu
Kannojia
Lagushreshti

All above were Mahajans in Osiya. In VS 222 a big Mahajan community gathered in Khandela near Jaipur. At that time all Mahajans of Osiya were named as Oswal and all above Gotra became part of Oswal.

According to Yati Rupchandji “Jain Sampradaya Shiksha” the total Gotras of Oswals were 440 and according to Yati Ramlalji “Mahajan Vansh Muktavali” it was 609. According to myth one Bhat had made a list of 1444 Gotra but it is not available. We have published list of above 2700 gotras and origin of more than 800 gotra.

According to Sri Muni Gyan Sunderji 458 Gotras were made from 18 Gotras.

List of First 18 Gotras and Sub-Gotras
1. TATER:- Tater, ToNdiani, Chomola, Kosia, Dhavda, Chainavat, Talobda, Narvra, SAnghvi, Dungaria, Chaudhari, Ravat, Malavat, Surti, Jorvela, Panchayat, Vinayaka, SaDherao, Nagda, Paka, HArsot, Kelani (22 sub-gotras).

2.BAFNA:- Bafna (Bahufana), Nahata, Bhopala, Bhutia, Bhabhu, Navsara, Gugalia, Dagrecha, Chamakia, Chaudhari, Jangda, Kotecha, Bala, Dhaturia, Lihuvana, Kura, Betala, Salagna, Buchani, Savalia, Tosaria, Gandhi, Kothari, Khokhra, Patwa, Daftari, Godawat, Kucheria, Balia, SAnghvi, Sonawat, Selot, Bhavda, Lagu-Nahata, PanchavAYa, Humia, Tatia, Taga, Lagu-Chamakia, Bohara, Mithadia, Maru, Randhira, Brahmecha, Patalia, Banuda, Takalia, Godha, Garola, Dudhia, Badola, Suktia (52 sub-gotras).

3KARNAVAT:- Karnavat, Bagadia, SAnghvi, Ransot, Aachha, Dadalia, Huna, Kakecha, ThaMbhora, Gundecha, Jijot, Labhani. Sankhla, Bhinmala (14 sub-gotras).

4 BALAHA:- Balaha, Ranka, Banka, Seth, Sethia, Chhavat, Chaudhari, Lala, Bohara, Bhuteda, Kothari, Raka, Depara, Nera, Sukhia, Patot, Pepsara, Dharia, Jadia, Salipura, Chitora, Haka, SAnghvi, Kagda, Kushlot, Falodia,(26 sub-gotras).

5. MORAKH:- Morakh, Pokarna, SAnghvi, Tejara, Lagu-Pokarna, Bandolia, ChuNga, Lagu-ChuNga, GaJa-Chaudhari, Goriwal, Kedara, Batokada, Karchu, KolOg, Shigala, Kothari (16 sub-gotras ).

6. KULAHAT:- Kulahat, Surva, Susani, Pukara, Masania, Khodia, SAnghvi, Lagu-Sukha, Borad, Chaudhari, Surania, Sakhecha, Katara, Hakada, Jalori, Manni, Palakhia, Khumana (18 sub-gotras).

7. VIRHAT:- Virhat, Bhurat, Tuhada, Oswala, Lagu-Bhurat, Gaga, Nopta, SAnghvi, nibolia, Hansa, Dharia, Rajsara, Motia, Chaudhari, Punamia, Sara, Ujot (17 sub-gotras).

8. SHRISHRIMAL:- Shrishrimal, srimal, SAnghvi, Lagu-Sanghvi, Niladia, Kotadia, Zabani, Naharlani, Kesaria, Soni, Khopar, Khajanchi, Danesra, Udhawat, Atkalia, Dhakadia, Bhinmala, Devad, Madalia, Koti, Chandalecha, Sanchora, Karva (23 sub-gotras).

9. SHRESHTHI:- Shreshthi, Singhavat, Bhalla, Rawat, Baid-Mutha, Patwa, Sevadia, Chaudhari, Thanavat, Chittora, Jagawat, Kothari, Bothani, Sanghvi, Popawat, Thakurot, Bakheta, Bijot, Devrajot, Gundia, Balota, Nagori, Sekhani, Lakhani, Bhura, Gandhi, Medatia, Randhira, Palawat, Shurma, (30 sub-gotras).

10. SANCHETI:- Sancheti, Suchinti, Dheladia, Dhamani, Motia, Bimba, Malot, Lalot, Chaudhari, Palani, Lagu-Sancheti, Mantri, Hukamia, Kajara, Hipa, Gandhi, Begania, Kothari, Malkha, Chhachha, Chittoria, Israni, Soni, Marua, Gharghanta, Udecha, Lagu-Chaudhari, Chosaria, Bapawat, Sanghvi, Murgipal, Kilola, Lalot, Khar-Bhandari, Bhojawat, Kati, Jata, Tejani, Sahajani, Sena, Mandirwala, Maltia, Bhopawat, Gunia, (44 sub-gotras).

11.AADITYANAG:- adityanag, Choradia, from choradia à Sodhani, SAnghvi, UDAK, Gasania, MInIyar , Kothari, Nabaria, Saraf, Kamani, Dudhoni, Sipani, Aasani, Sahlot, Lagu-sodhani, Dedani, Rampuria, Dhanani, Molani, Devsayani, Nani, Shravani, Bakad, Makkad, Bhakkad, Layunkad, Sansara, Kobera, Bhatarakia, Pitalia, Falodia, Bohara, Chaudhari, Parakh, from parakh à Bhavsara, Lagu-Parakh, Sanghvi, Dheladia, Jasani, Malhani, Trandak, Tajani, Rupawat, Chaudhari, Nagori, Patania, Chhadot, Mammaiya, Bohara, Khajanchi, Soni, Hadera, Daftari, Tolawat, Rao-Johari, Galani, Golechha, from go;echha à Daultani, Sangani, Sanghvi, Napada, Kajani, Hulla, Mehajawat, Nagada, Chitoda, Chaudhari, Datara, Minagra, Shravansukha (Shamsukha), from shravansukha à Minara, Lola, Bijani, Kesaria, Bala, Kothari, Nandecha, Bhatnera-Chaudhari, from bhatnera chaudhary à Kumpawat, Bhandari, Jimania, Chedavat, Sambharia, Kanuga, Gadhaiya, from gadhaiyaà Gehlot, Lunawat, Ranshobha, Balot, Singhvi, Nopta, Buchha, Sonara, Bhandalia, Karmot, Dalia, Ratanpura (98 sub-gotras).

12.BHURI:- Bhuri, Bhatevra, Udak, Singhi, Chaudhari, Hirania, Machha, Bokadia, Balota, Bosudia, Pitalia, Sinhavat, Jalot, Dosakha, Ladva, Haldiya, Nachani, Murda, Kothari, Patolia, (20 sub-gotras).

13.BHADRA:- Bhadra (Bhardwaz), Samdaria, Hingad, Jogad, Ginga, Khapatia, Chavhera, Balada, Namani, Bhamrani, Dheladia, Sangi, Sadavat, Bhandavat, Chatur, Kothari, Lagu-Samdaria, Lagu-Hingad, Sandha, Chaudhari, Bhati, Surpuria, Patania, Nanecha, Gogad, Kuldhara, Ramani, Nathavat, Fulgara, (29 sub-gotras ).

14.CHINCHAT:- Chinchat, Desarda (Deshlahara), Sanghvi, Thakura, Goslani, Khinvasra, Lagu-Chinchat, Pachora, Purvia, Nasaniya, Naupola, Kothari, Tarawal, Ladsakha, Shah, Aaktara, Posalia, Pujara, Banavat, (19 sub-gotras).

15.KUMAT:- Kumat(Kumbhat), Kajalia, Dhanantari, Suga, Jagavat, Sanghvi, Pungalia, Kathoria, Kapurit, Samaria, Chaukha, Sonigara, Lahora, Lakhani, Makhani, Marvani, Morchia, Chhalia, Malot, Nagori, Lagu-Kumat, (21 sub-gotras).

16.DIDU:- Didu, Rajot, Soslani, Dhapa, Dhirat, Khandia, Yodhha, Bhatia, Bhandari, Samdaria, Sindhuda, Lalan, Kochar, Darva, Bhimavat, Palania, Sikharia, Banka, barbara, gadalia, kanunga (21 sub-gotra).

17.KANNOJIA:- Kannojia, Badbhata, Rakawal, Tolia, Chhachhalia, Ghevaria, Gunglecha, Karva, Gadwani, Karelia, Rada, Mitha, Bhopawat, Jalora, Jamgota, Patwa, Musalia, (17 sub-gotras).
18.LAGU-SHRESHTHI:- Lagu-Shreshthi, Vardhman, Bhomalia, Lunecha, Bohara, Patwa, Singhi, Chittora, Khajanchi, Punot, Godhara, Hada, Kuwalia, Lunna, Nateria, Gorecha, (16 sub-gotras).

In these 18 main gotras there are total 503 sub-gotras. The magazine “Bandhu-Sanesh” printed this list in 1990.

CLASSIFICATION OF GOTRASClassification of Gotras are as per following logic:-

1. As per ORIGINAL CAST
2. As per ACHARYAS
3. As per GACHHA
4. As per FIRST Ancestor
5. As per PLACE
6. AS PER BUSINESS, PROFESSION JOB, SERVICE

1. AS PER ORIGINAL CASTS:-FROM KSHATRYAS:-

1. PANWAR:- Nahar, Bafna, Bardia, Darda, Nahata, Lalwani, Banthia, Barmecha, Kumkum-Chopra, etc.,
2. CHAUHANS:- Lodha, Kataria, Khimasra, Daga, Pithalia, Dugar, Babel, Bhandari, Sankhlecha, Kansatia, Mamaiya, Abeda, Khated, etc.,
3. Parmar:- Karania, Gang, Borad, Singhvi-Didu, etc.,
4. RATHORE:- Chordia, Golechha , Parakh, Chhajed, Zabak, Pokarna, Mohnot, etc.,
5. KHINCHI:- GALDA,6. GAHLOT:- PIPARA, etc
7. SONGARA CHAUHAN:- Doshi, Bagrecha, Subti, etc.,
8. BHATI:- Bhansali, Rakhecha, Pungalia, Aiyaria (Lunavat),
9. GAUD:- Ranka, Banka, etc
10. SIDHA:_Roonwal etc
11. SOLANKI:- Loonkad, Shripati, Dadha, Tilora, etc.,
12. DEORA:- Singhi, Singhvi,
13. DAIYA:- Salecha-Bohara, etc.

Some gotras are from Kshatryas but their original castes are not known. As Bothra, Kankaria, Mukim etc., From BRAHMINS:- Kathotia, Pagaria, Nanvana , Bhadra, Singhvi, Devananda sakhaFrom KAYASTH:- Gfundhar-ChopraFrom VAISHYA:- Pokarna, Bhabhu, Lunia, Rihod, Malu etc.,

2. As per ACHARYAS:-
Shri RATNAPRABH SURI:-First 18 Gotras and their sub-gotras.
Shri VARDHAMAN SURI:- Pipara, Kamani
Shri JINESHWAR SURI:- Shripati, Dhadha, Tilora, Chil-Bhansali, Bhansali
Shri JINCHANDRA SURI:- Shrimal,
Shri ABHEY DEO SURI:- Khetsi, Pagaria, Medatwal
Shri JINVALLABH SURI:-Kankaria, Chopra, Gandhar-Chopra, Kukad-Chopra, Vader, Sand, Singhi, Banthia, Lalwani, Barmecha, Shah, Solanki, Ghemawat, Otavat
Shri JINDUTT SURI:- Patwa, Tatia, Borad, Khimasra, Samdaria, Katotia, Kataria, Ratanpura, Lalwani, Daga, Malu, Bhabhu,Sethi, Sethia, Ranka, Dhoka, Rakhecha, Sanklecha, Pungalia, Choradia, Soni, Lunia, Nabaria, Pitalia, Bothra, Aiyaria, Lunawat, Bafna, Bhansali, Chandalia, Abeda, Khatol, Bhadgatya, Pokarna,
Shri MANIDHARI JINCHANDRA SURI:- Aagharia, Chhajed, Minni, Khajanchi, Mungadi, Shrimal, Salecha, Gang, Dugar, Shekhani,Alawat,
Shri JINKUSHAL SURI:- Babel, Jadia, Daga,
Shri JINCHANDRA SURI:- Pahalia, Pincha,
Shri JINHANSH SURI:- Galda,
Shri JINPRABH SURI:- Lagu-Khandelwal, DiduShri Jinbhadrasuri:- ZabakShri Tarunprabh Suri:- BhutariaShri Aryara Rakshat Suri:- Mahipal, Mithodia, Vader Shri Shanti Suri:- Gugalia, Gulundia
Shri KUSHAL SURI:- Daga,
Shri MANDEO SURI:- Nahar,
Shri UDHYOTAN SURI:- Baradia, Darda, Baldota-Singhvi,
Shri YASHOBHADRA SURI:- Bhandari, Shisodiya
Shri SHIVSEN SURI:- Mohnot,
Shri DHANESHWAR SURI:- Lunkad, Daddha, Tilora
Shri Dharmaghosh Suri:- Dadiyalecha, Devananda-sakha
Shri Namdeo Suri:- Nahar
Shri ChandraPrabh Suri:- Patavat
Shri Bhavdeo Suri:- Pamecha
Shri Kanak Suri:- Bolia
Shri Boppbhatt Suri:- Kosthagar
Shri Mahatma Posalia:- Kochar
Shri JaiSingh Suri:- Gala, Chhajol, Dedhiya, Nagda, Padiya, Peladia, Rathod, Lalan
Shri Ratnaprabh Suri:- Gudka
Shri Yashodeo Suri:- Vangni
Shri Vimal Chandra Suri:- Banda-Mehta
Shri RAVIPRABH SURI:- Lodha,
Shri DEOGUPTA SURI:- Lunawat,
Shri HEM SURI:- Surana,

3. As per GACHHA:-

UPKESH GACHHA:- First 18 gotras mentioned above

KHARTTAR GACHHA:- Kataria, Kankaria, Karnia,Kathotia, Khajanchi, Minni, Khimasra, Gadwani, Bhadgatia, Gelda, Gang, Gothi, Chopra,Gundhar, Kumkum, Choradia, Chhajed, Zabak, Daga, Doshi, Pithalia, Dugar,Dhadia, Tatia, Pagaria, Pokarna, Pipada, Babel, Borad, Bafna, Bothra, Mukim, Bhabhu, Bhansali, Malu, , Rakhecha,Pungalia, Lalwani, Banthia, Barmecha, Ranka, Runwal, Lodha, Lunia, Ayiaria, Lunawat, Kanstia, Mamiya, Salecha, Dhadha, Tilora , Singhi, Aabeda, Kamani, etc.,

SANDER GACHH:- Bhandari,TAPPA GACHHA:- Mohnot, Kochar etc.,KORANT GACHHA:- Sanklecha,Anchal Gachha:- Gala, Gudka, Chhajol, Dedhiya, Nagda, Mahipal, Mithodia

4. AS PER FIRST ANCESTOR :-Lalsingh -LuniaLuna -LunawatHarakhchand- HarkhawatDoongarsi –DoongraniMall –MallawatDasu- DassanniKheta –KhetaniAspal –AssaniMahaldeo –MaluBohith –BothraBachhaji –BachhawatDunga –DagaGonga –GangDudheda –DudheriaBrahmdeo –BrhmechaGada Shah –GadhaiyaLalsingh –LalwaniPilda –PithaliaBhardwaj –BhadraDaulatsingh –DaultaniRoopsingh –RoopaniTejsingh –TejaniMahaldeo –MahlaniJasa –Jasani etc.,

5. AS PER PLACEBhandsal - BhansaliKhivsar - KhinvsaraPipar - PipadaNagour - NagoriMedta - Medatwal/MedatiaPungal - PungaliaKankrot - KankariaSankhwal - SankhlechaRoon - RoonwalZabua - ZabakHala -HalakhandiJalor - JaloriKhatu - KhatolMandor - MandoraSirohi - SirohiaSanchor - SanchoraKuchera -KucheriaChitor -ChitoraFalodi - Falodia

6. AS PER BUSINESS, PROFESSION, JOB, SERVICE ETC.Tel (oil) -TiloraGhee -GhiyaGugal -GugaliaJewellery – JohariBohari - BoharaChaudhrahat- ChaudhariTreasurar - KhajanchiKothar -KothariHakumat - HakimBhandar - BhandariAccounts - MehtaShah, Seth, Sethia Vaidhya, Parakh, Singhvi

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Migration of Jain Community

Jains of Kolhapur 

History of Migration of Jain Community 

History of Gounder Community 

Jains in Tulu Nadu

The Structure of Jain Community

Mrs. N. R. Guseva

As is already indicated, the entire Jain community is divided into two sects-Digambaras and Shvetambaras.

Digambaras in their turn are divided into five subsects-bisapanthi, terapanthi, taranapanthi (or samayapanthi), gumanapanthi and totapanthi.

The difference between them consists mainly in observance or non-observance of one or the other fine point of ritual (thus, bisapanthi present flowers, fruits and sweetmeats to the images of Tirthankars and Terapanthi present only rice), but the first two subsects do not visit the temples of other subsects.

Shvetambaras have three subsects: pujera (or murtipujaka or deravasi or mandirmargi), dhundia (or bistola or sthanakvasi or sadhumargi) and terapanthi.

Pujeras dress up and richly adorn Tirthankars in their temples, their ascetics bind their mouths with white cloth but they can wear yellow dress. The dhundias have not got images of Tirthankars at all, and their ascetics wear only white. Terapanthi is rather a big subsect and strictly observes ascetism. They also do not worship the images of Tirthankars.
The spiritual life of all these subsects is led by the heads-Acharyas. Still petty groups, headed by their mentors-Acharyas-exist in the subsects. These groups are called sanghas and still smaller subgroups-gana, gachcha and sakha-exist in those sanghas. Contradictions and disputes constantly arise amongst them about various questions of ritual. Many groups have their own temples and separate schools for religious education of the young. These schools are called gurukulas or patha shalas.

Every group has its own ascetics. The interesting feature of the internal structure of these groups is the system of mutual control between laymen and ascetics. For breach of rules of conduct or prohibitions, not only the laymen but also the ascetics can be expelled from the community and this practically takes place sometimes in our days too. Even Shripujya (head of ascetics of a given group) can be expelled by its members.

Some such sanghas also arose which strove to even out contradictions inside the community and they elevated this to the level of their programme of religious teaching. Thus, the sangh, known as the yapya, existing in Andhra accepts, as the Shvetambaras do, the truth of canonic books and the possibility of salvation of women also, but like the Digambaras, it upholds the customary ritualistic nudity of body and all the rules prescribed for the ascetics.

As has been already mentioned, division into castes penetrated in the Jain community and the custom of inheriting the profession in each caste (mainly by the north Indian Jains) got partially established. Here it is quite in place to remember the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, which briefly and aptly characterise this process. It is exceedingly interesting and significant that during the stretch of a protracted segment of Indian history, the great people more than once warned against priest-hood and the rigid caste system, and strong movements took place against them. Nevertheless, as though it was predestined, castes slowly developed and almost imperceptibly spread and caught in their pernicious clutches all the spheres of Indian life . The rebels, rising against the old religion and which was in many respects highly distinctive from it, reconciled with the caste system as a result of which, it continues to exist in India almost as a branch of Hinduism.

As distinct from Hinduism, there are no rigid caste prohibitions or prescriptions in Jainism. No caste enjoys privileged position, even though a stratum of Brahmins proper has formed amongst Jains. Judging from the traditions which have come down from word of mouth and the works of Jain literature, a numberless subsects and castes arose mainly in the medieval period, commencing from the 2nd half of the 1st millennium. It is apparent that the historical process of settlement of the Jains in India, conversion of individual groups of population and also the process of adoption of the caste system by the Jain community was reflected in the rise of such petty subgroups in that community.

This idea is confirmed by the fact that the Jain tradition preserves the names of tens of preachers, who supposedly formed those groups and moreover, interpreted canon in various ways and prescribed different religious practices to their groups.

But the makers of the religious canons of Jainism, in no way expressed their own attitudes to castes and did not introudce any prohibitions or prescriptions in this connection.

Some of the castes of Jains are extremely small in number. Thus amongst the Shvetambaras, almost no caste (excluding the five strong castes) has more than 500 members. Amongst both the sects, there are some castes which consist of 10-12 persons each.

Notwithstanding the fact that not all the caste institutions were adopted by the Jains, the ideas about higher and lower position of this or that caste exists all the same. Thus many castes of the Jains are divided into two groups-visa and dasa. Scholars are unable to explain the origin of these groups, but it is certain that these groups are endogamous and that the position of the latter group is lower than that of the former. The members of the latter group are not even allowed to enter the temples in some places, even though untouchability practically does not exist amongst Jains.

Marriages of widows are allowed amongst the castes of visa group, while amongst the castes of dasa group, such marriages are prohibited. It is possible to assume that the dasa caste goes back genetically to those ancient groups of Jains which had their origin in the non-Aryan people, while visas have their origin in groups of Jain-Aryans, which were formed much later.

It is characteristic that marriages of members of visa castes with those of the dasa castes are prohibited, while marriages between the members of visa castes of Digambaras and Shvetambaras and equally between those of the dasa castes of both the sects are not censured.

In several castes of Western India, in which a part of members profess Jainism and another part, Hinduism, Jains as a rule belong to the visa group and Vishnuites belong to the dasa group. It is obvious that here members of higher castes were converted into Jainism in those times, when the rulers patronised this religion (as it happened, for example, in Rajasthan and Gujarat).

Marriages between such Jains and Vishnuites are allowed.

Jain castes, like the Hindu castes, are divided in exogamus group-gotras. Gotras are traced to kin groups and exogamy is observed rigidly to the present day.

Osaval (or osvala), shrimali, poravada (partially Digambaras) of the Shvetambaras castes and agarvala, khandelvala, paravara. Khumbada (partially Shvetambaras) of the Digambara castes are the most numerous ones in northern and western India. In south India, where practically all the local Jains belong to Digambara sect, such fractional division into castes does not exist amongst them. Here there are four big castes-saitavala (this caste is not in Mysore), chaturtha, panchama and bogara or kasara and three small castes-upadhyaya, kamboja and harada.
The Digambaras of the south do not marry and do not practically keep any connection with members of Jaina community living in all the other regions of India. Apparently ancient and deep differences divide this group from other Jains.

An interesting feature of the life of south Indian Jaina community is that here the priests are the high caste Hindus, tracing themselves to ancient Aryans, support patrilineal system of inheritance and while giving daughters in marriage give dowry, but the rest of the Jains have no such institutions. As distinct from priests, the rest of the Jains (so-called laymen) support most ancient customs, which are preserved even to this day by the Dravidian peoples (as by the hill and jungle tribes). Sister's son and not his own children inherit by right the property of the deceased.
Along with these survivals of matriarchal relations, Jains preserve the custom of payment of 'dahej' (bride-price) in monetary form and also in the form of presents and transfer of part of property to the father of the bride in conformity with the marriage contract.

Amongst the priests in the south, marriages of widows are prohibited and amongst the rest of the Jains, they are allowed (with the exception of regions towards the south of the city of Madras).

Marriages between priests and laymen are prohibited.

Each of the four big castes in the south is led by its own spiritual leader (bhattaraka) who, occupying intermediary position between ascetics and laymen, can individually resolve disputes between the members of the caste and expel from it whomsoever he considers it necessary.
The institutions of bhattarakas arose in medival ages amongst the Digambaras of north India and spread our from there wider and wider and flourished in southern regions.

In the course of several centuries, leadership of everyday life of the members of the community and control over their conduct and performance of religious obligations was concentrated in the hands of the bhattarakas. Specially trained students directly helped them.

But in course of time bhattarakas started to claim divine power, and came in conflict with one another, dragging in this enmity the groups, led by them and gradually exhausted their authority. Manifestations of dissatisfaction with the power of bhattaraka began. Thus the subsect of Digambaras viz. terapanthi appeared in the beginning of the eighteenth century in the form of a group, expressing its protest against this dominance.

Side by side with the temple-priests there is a chief village priest-gramopadhyaya in each Jain village. He as well as all the other priests-non-ascetics-can marry. But the head priest of the district-dharmadhikari-is an ascetic and all the priests of this district are subordinate to him.

All the priests and heads of the castes must see whether the members of the community follow the correct mode of life and observe the correct conduct. Great attention is paid to correct conduct, since it must ensure perfection of the soul on its path to salvation. The conduct of ascetics must be perfect-'sakala' and such perfection is not demanded of a layman (the mode of their conduct is called vikala).

Every Jain believes that his life consists of various stages of existence of his bodily envelopes and he must rationally satisfy the requirements of his body in conformity with each stage.

Entering into marriage is fully obligatory for all except ascetics. Marriages of Jains take place according to the selection by the parents, as is common with the members of other religious communities in India.
It was prescribed in ancient times, in conformity with the Jain philosophy, to give the daughter in marriage, soon after attaining puberty, since unproductivity is tantamount to murder and this stands in contrast with the doctrine on non-violence. That is why, child marriage was widespread in the community. Such marriages were stopped comparatively recently, after the Sarda Act in India about instituting criminal proceedings against person guilty of child marriage adopted in 1931 by the British administration was brought strictly in operation.
Special religious ceremonies are performed in connection with various incidents in life. Marriage is the most serious and important step in the life of a Jain and is accompanied by many rites. As distinct from Hindus, Jains do not consider marriage a god-pleasing act but a feature of service to society, since people who do not marry are subjected to all sorts of temptations. They remain childless, which undermines the principles of society's life.

As distinct from Hindus, Jains do not consider that it is preferable to have only sons who are supposed to perform funeral ceremonies, since they do not prescribe sacrificial offerings to the spirits of the ancestors and do not regard the cult of the ancestors as a path towards liberation of the soul.
The Jain canonical books do not support the prescriptions regarding marriage rites. That is why these rites widely depend on local customs.
If Hindu acknowledge eight forms of marriage, described in the 'Laws of Manu' (brahma, daiva, arsha, prajapatya, asura, gandharva, rakshasa and paishacha), the Jains regard only the first four forms as acceptable, because these marriages take place with the consent of the parents of the bridegroom and the bride. The Jains consider remaining four forms of marriage sinful, since the gandharva form of marriage takes place only with mutual consent of the young and the remaining three forms are connected with 'dahej' (bride-price) or with her forceful abduction (rakshasa). However, in ancient times, rakshasa form of marriage was widespread amongst Jains, from which once more one can venture to reflect upon the initial connection of this religion with non-Aryan peoples.
Most often marriages of brahma and prajapatya forms mean handing over of the bride to the bridegroom by her father in the presence of witnesses.

In the south of India, cross-cousin marriage is preferred and the very best form of it is the marriage with the daughter of mothers's brother, while in the north cross-cousin marriages are not recommended and not practised.

Until recently the form of marriage, in which there is exchange of sister was widely prevalent, but with the spread of western education it is almost forgotten, as it is at variance with the interests of girls.
Amongst almost all the families dowry is given for the daughter but among the lower castes of Jains, the asura form-a marriage with 'dahej' (bride-price-this form is often met with also among lower casts of Hindus) is practised.

All marriage negotiations must be confirmed by the panchayat of the caste.

In general outlines the marriage rites of all the Jains are similar.
Usually a month before the marriage, bethrothal takes place. On that day the father of the bride presents gifts to the father of the bridegroom in the presence of witnesses. Soon after this, the father of the bridegroom gives ornaments as gifts to the bride. On the marriage day both the fathers ask all those present whether they agree with the proposed marital union. Then the father of the bride joins the young couple's hands, asking them to observe all the precepts of the faith. As with Hindus, the marriage rite ends with the couple passing seven times round the holy fire and during this time, the couple takes on oath to lead a highly moral life and to be friendly. After completing the last of the seven circles, the marriage is considered to have been performed. This ceremony also indicates that the marriage is indissoluble. Marriage ceremony takes place everywhere in the home of the bride.

Polygamy is not rejected in Jainism but is very rarely found at present. While judging from references to this custom in Jain texts, it can be said that earlier it was much widespread. Usually the reason for bringing a second wife in the house is childlessness of the first wife or lack of vitality of her children. But her consent for her husband's second marriage while she is living is necessary. There are practically no divorces, though the usual right allows divorce, provided either of the couple detects secret defect of the other. Only in the saitavala and bogara castes in the south, divorces can be effected more or less freely.

As a whole, the position of women in the Jain community is never humiliating and although the rules regarding their entry into the nuns' order are stricter than those for men, it is considered all the same that women can even become Tirthankars and preachers of the faith (Digambaras consider that the 19th Tirthankar Malli was a woman).
In the sphere of education, chances for both boys and girls are almost equal, although girls are brought up more as housewives and would-be mothers than as specialists in some sphere of social activity.

It is worth emphasising that widows have the right to inherit husband's property-a fact testifying to the preservation by the Jains of the survivals of the high social position of women. According to Jain law, a widow has a right to inheritance, even though sons are born in marriage (there is no such right in Hinduism) and even the division of children's portions depends on the desire of the widow.

Jain religion prescribes performance of various ceremonies in the course of family life, directed to ensure satisfactory conception, normal development of foetus and satisfactory birth. Not earlier than twelve days after its birth, the child is named and special ceremonies are performed on this occasion. Special rites are also performed on the day on which the child starts to sit, on the day when it is given solid food for the first time, on the first birthday and on the day of commencing learning (at the age of 5). At the age of 8, children pass through the ceremony of dedication in the temple (this rite does not exist in Gujarat) and holy threads are placed through the shoulders of the children. This is also done amongst higher Hindu castes. The completion of learning at the age of 14 to 16 is also observed by special rite. After this, they are ready for marriage.

After having married, every Jain is obliged to think of good earnings, so as to support his family, to support the community, to help monks and to engage in philanthropy. This is considered as one of the reasons for engaging themselves in trade and enterprises.

After fulfilling all the obligations of family life, the head of the family passes through the rite of dedication to asceticism and after leaving home, can lead the mode of life of an ascetic, performing various rites and ceremonies prescribed in the holy book Adi Purana (ninth century A.D.).

For the Digambaras, fulfilment of 53 rites, or passing through 53 stages are prescribed. Death and access to heaven and descent on the earth, are considered such stages, which will enable a Jain to be born as a would-be Tirthankar and to gradually turn into arhata and secure full liberation-Moksha. Shvetambaras, in conformity with the holy book Achharadinakara (beginning of sixteenth century) must pass only 16 such stages, the last amongst which is death.

Digambaras and Shvetambaras burn the bodies of the dead, bathing and then wrapping them in new clothes before burning. The ashes are prescribed to be thrown in water, as in the case with Hindus. The nearest relatives of the dead are considered 'impure' for ten days.

There are no funeral ceremonies amongst the Jains of the north and the south but in Karnatak those ceremonies are performed one month in a year. In general, the Jain law prescribes mourning the death of an ascetic for not more than a minute, of Kshatriya not more than five days, of Brahmin not more than 10 days, of Vaishya not more than 12 days, and of Shudra not more than 15 days.

All these rites are performed in different regions of India with different degree of relativity, since for the most part, these rites were introduced in Jain practice in medieval period and were borrowed mainly from Hinduism.

Jains are liable to expulsion from the community for committing murder, adultery, falsehood, stealing and for amorous affairs with non-Jains.
Jain ascetics must lead the life of a wanderer, not living in one place for more than a month (only in the rainy season they can live in one place up to four months). They must move about only on foot and only during daylight. In the dark period of the day and night they must not walk and must not eat also, because being unable to see, they may crush or swallow some insect .

Amongst Digambaras, ascetics are divided in three classes, anuvrata, mahavrata and nirvana. To be an anuvrata, it is necessary to leave the family, to clean-shave the head, to give up holy thread and live at the temple. An anuvrata must dress himself in clothes of saffron colour and must always carry with him earthen vessel for alms. While moving about, he must sweep the road before him with a bunch of peacock feathers (so as not to crush some insects).

The mahavrata ascetics may wear only loin-cloth. The hair on his head are pulled out from their roots by his pupils. He must eat rice only once in a day on his palm.

The nirvana ascetic must be always nude, eat rice, placed in his palm by somebody and must not move after sunset. His hair is also pulled out from the roots by his pupils (for this custom, even the Buddhists ridiculed Jains, saying that they thus violate their own concept of not subjecting living beings to evil and pain).

Shvetambara ascetics differ in that they wear white dress, bind their mouths with white stripes (according to one explanation, so as not to swallow some insect, according to the others, so as not to profane air with their breath) and carry in their hands whisks on sticks to sweep the road. Monks and nuns must have their hair pulled out.

They must feed themselves on alms. Moreover, they must not ask for alms and wait until given voluntarily (they called this means of collection of alms , 'madhukari'). By this term they mean, they treat themselves like bees, which take very little honey without depriving the flowers of it, and yet finally gather enough quantity for themselves.

Members of Shudra caste cannot be ascetics.

Jainism does not prescribe ceremonial purification from sins, as is done in Hinduism. That is why Jains must avoid sin in the strictest manner. In as much as causing harm to living beings is regarded as the greatest sin, Jains are prescribed strict observance of extreme caution in all their work, especially household work, such as chopping wood, sweeping floor, cleaning vegetables, cleaning hearths etc.

Not only ascetics but many laymen also filter water through cloth, so as not to swallow even the minutest living beings, which may turn out in it and they do not move about with the coming of darkness.

See also:

The Structure of Jain Community (Article by Mahavir Sanglikar, discussing different facts of Jain community)