The Digambara Jain caves at Ellora (Chhota Kailash, Indra Sabha, Jagannatha Sabha and others, twenty-three excavations in five caves by Pereira's count) were begun in the late eighth century and worked into the thirteenth; the Yadavas built a number of them and the last ones, and the work flourished under Simhana from about 1200 (Ellora Caves article, read).
The article gives a Parshvanatha image on Charana hill dated 1234 and a donor inscription of 1235; the article says Jain activity at Ellora ended only after Islamic rule arrived in the late thirteenth century. Jain merchants and ministers are a strong part of the Deccan towns; the Silaharas and Rattas are Jain patrons in the south of the kingdom.
Who holds it
- Title
- The Digambara community and its teachers
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No head is named in any source we read.
What it holds
- The Jain caves and their lay endowments
How things stand that morning
Active; the caves are still being cut.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The Ellora Caves article (read) gives the dates; the community's size and its teachers are not given.
Primary sources for Yadava kingdom (Devagiri)
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Corpus of Inscriptions in the Telingana Districts, Various (Kakatiya chancery and temple scribes), edited by P. Sreenivasachar (inscriptions of the 10th to 15th centuries; edited 1940 to 1942). The Kakatiyas of Orugallu (Warangal) are known for 1200 almost entirely from inscriptions, and this Hyderabad Archaeological Series corpus is the main printed collection. Read online
- Epigraphia Carnatica: inscriptions of the Mysore country, Various (Hoysala chancery and temple scribes), edited by B. Lewis Rice and R. Narasimhachar (inscriptions of the 4th to 19th centuries; the series ran from 1886 to 1905, revised from 1972). The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II (reigning 1173 to 1220) is documented almost wholly by the inscriptions in this series, arranged by district and taluk with full English translations. Read online
- Inscriptions of the Silaharas, Various (Silahara chanceries), edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 9th to 13th centuries; edited 1977). Collects the records of the three Silahara houses: North Konkan (Thana), South Konkan, and Kolhapur.
- Sanskrit and Old Canarese Inscriptions relating to the Yadava Kings of Devagiri, Various (Yadava chancery), edited by J. F. Fleet (inscriptions of the 12th and 13th centuries; edited 1876). The first collected edition of the Yadava (Seuna) records, with texts and translations, from the Indian Antiquary. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia: Ellora Caves (read this session)
- Wikipedia: Seuna (Yadava) dynasty (read this session)
- Wikipedia: Ratta dynasty (read this session)
- OMNIA board notes for this place (a lead only, checked against the sources above)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.