Jain Digambara and Shvetambara merchant communities and scholars live in the towns of the middle country.
Asadhara, the Jain layman and poet, writes at Dhara. Deogarh on the Betwa has Jain temples of the ninth to twelfth centuries; Ahar (Aharji) and Madanpur are Chandela-age Jain places; Chanderi and Gwalior have Jain communities (the great rock sculptures of Gwalior are fifteenth-century). These communities run the money trade of the region and bridge the kingdoms; they are not an armed power.
Who holds it
- Name
- Asadhara at Dhara; others not known
- Title
- Jain scholars and merchant councils
- Since
- Asadhara came to Dhara in Vindhyavarman's time
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Asadhara's own colophons, as reported in the Paramara pages.
What it holds
- Temples and libraries
- Merchant guild lending (not itemised)
Allies and rivals
Patrons: the Paramara and Chandela courts and Jain ministers.
How things stand that morning
Prosperous and protected by the kings of Dhara and Mahoba.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Scattered inscriptions and colophons; no study read.
On the map: A point.
Primary sources for Paramaras of Malwa
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.
- The Nasirid Generations: a General History of the Muslim Dynasties, Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (1259 to 1260, at Delhi). The Ghurid court's own history, by a man born in 1193 whose family served the sultans of Ghur and Ghazna. Read online
- Epigraphia Indica: inscriptions of the Chandelas, Paramaras, Gahadavalas, Chaulukyas, Senas and Eastern Gangas, Various (edited for the Archaeological Survey of India by J. Burgess, E. Hultzsch, F. Kielhorn, Sten Konow, F. W. Thomas and successors) (inscriptions of the 1180s to 1210s; the series ran from 1892). The main record series for the Hindu kingdoms of northern India around 1200. Read online
- Historical Inscriptions of Gujarat, Various (the Chaulukya and Vaghela chanceries), edited by G. V. Acharya (inscriptions of the 10th to 14th centuries; edited 1933 to 1942). The standard corpus of Gujarat's inscriptions. Read online
- Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era, Various, edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 7th to 13th centuries; edited 1955). Collects every known record of the Kalachuris of Tripuri (Dahala) and of Ratnapura (south Kosala), with text, translation and a long historical introduction. Read online
- Inscriptions of the Paramaras, Chandellas, Kachchhapaghatas and two minor dynasties, Various, edited by H. V. Trivedi (inscriptions of the 9th to 14th centuries; edited 1978 to 1991). The collected records of the Paramaras of Malwa (parts 1 and 2) and of the Chandelas of Jejakabhukti (part 3), re-edited from Epigraphia Indica and earlier journals with new finds.
- 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
- The Wishing-Stone of Narratives, Merutunga (a Jain monk of the Nagendra gaccha) (1305 (Vikrama 1361) at Vadhvan in Gujarat). A Jain collection of historical anecdotes about the kings of Gujarat and Malwa, a century after 1200. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.