Other lordship · The Chaulukya kingdom of Gujarat · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Jain houses of Patan

The Jain merchant houses of Anahilapataka are the credit of the state: the families (Porvad, Shrimali, Oswal) who lend to the crown and give ministers to it, and their libraries (bhandars), where the palm-leaf copies made in Hemachandra's time are still being added to.

A king who loses these houses cannot pay an army whatever his revenue rolls say. Their patronage reaches Shatrunjaya, Girnar and Abu, and they are not tied to the Chaulukya house: the same families serve the Vaghelas after it.

Who he is

Name
not named for 1200
Title
Heads of the Shvetambara Jain houses of Anahilapataka
Since
not pinned
Born
not pinned
Confidence
low

We found no source naming a Jain minister in office on 1 January 1200. The Chaulukya article says only that Chaulukya ministers built the Dilwara temples and that Kumarapala was the last great royal patron of Jainism. Vastupala and Tejahpala become ministers under Viradhavala from about 1219 (not dated in the Vaghela page we read), so in 1200 they hold no office. The campaign board adds Hemachandra (died 1173), Jinapati Suri as an eyewitness of the 1197 sack (confirmed by Majumdar via Wikipedia), and Bahad's rebuilding at Shatrunjaya about 1157.

What it holds

  • The Jain quarter of Anahilapataka and its libraries
  • The trusts of Shatrunjaya, Girnar and Abu, which they endow
  • Credit to the crown

How it was acquired

By Kumarapala's patronage after about 1160 (Hemachandra's advice), per the campaign board.

Allies and rivals

Patrons of the Shvetambara sects (the Kharatara-gachchha, whose monk Jinapati Suri saw the 1197 sack); rivals in learning to the Nagar and Audichya Brahmins.

How things stand that morning

Shaken by 1197 (Jinapati Suri's eyewitness) but whole; the bhandars are the first thing a conqueror would burn and the last thing the court would name.

Wealth

Credit and trade; no figure from any source.

Threats

  • A second sack
  • A king who favours the Brahmins

Places of note

  • The Jain quarter of Anahilapataka: Shvetambara merchant quarter and manuscript libraries (bhandars)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: General statements from the Chaulukya and Bhima II pages and the campaign board; no document of 1200.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: The ground inside the city is not fixed.

Primary sources for Chaulukya Gujarat

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.

1 more in the sources library for Northern India.

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia, 'Bhima II' (summarising A. K. Majumdar, The Chaulukyas of Gujarat, 1956)
  2. Wikipedia, 'Chaulukya dynasty' (summarising Majumdar 1956 and Dasharatha Sharma, Early Chauhan Dynasties, 1959)
  3. OMNIA board notes for the 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.