190 Notes on a Tour in Mmtnhhoom. [No. 3, 



occupied this country first, shews that the Jains are a very ancient 

 sect. Their antiquity has been doubted in consequence of the modern 

 appearance of their known temples, but those I have been describing 

 as existing in Maunbhoom, are doubtless of great antiquity. In the 

 regions that I have shewn were at one time a great seat of this sect, 

 some colonies still remain. In 1863 I halted at a place called Jumpra, 

 12 miles from Poorulea, and was visited by some villagers who struck 

 me as having a very respectable and intelligent appearance. They 

 called themselves Sarawaks, and they prided themselves on the fact 

 that under our Government not one of their community had ever been 

 convicted of a heinous crime. They are represented as having great 

 scruples against taking life. They must not eat till they have seen 

 the sun, and they venerate Parswanath. There are several colonies 

 of the same people in Chota-Nagpore proper, but they have not been 

 there for more than seven generations, and they all say they originally 

 came from Paehete. Contrasted with the Moondah or Cole race, they 

 are distinguished by their fairer complexions, regular features and 

 a peculiarity of wearing the hair in a knob rather high on the 

 back of the head. They are enterprising, and generally manage to 

 combine trade with agricultural pursuits, doing business both as farmers 

 and money-lenders. The train of " Mahabira" is represented as con- 

 sisting of £: Sadhs," Sfamanas and others, and lastly of ' Srawaks,' the 

 laity and the most numerous class of all. The whole of the Jains are 

 divided into " Yatis" and " Srawakas," clerical and lay, and as their 

 gochas or family divisions include Agurwals, and Oswals, and Parswanath 

 or Mount Samneya is revered by a numerous body of the wealthiest 

 people in India. From Central India, thousands of these classes annu- 

 ally visit the hill, and their reverence for it is so great, that a pilgrim 

 to the shrines must attend to no call of nature whilst his feet are on 

 the mountain. 



I must now turn to the antiquities of the Brahminical type which 

 tradition ascribes, why I know not, to Vikramadit. The zemindar of 

 one of the Maunbhoom jungle mehals, commonly called the Rajah of 

 Patkome, claims to be a lineal descendant of some Vikramadit, and 

 every third rajah of the line takes that name. The name of the 

 present rajah is Sutrogonadyt, his father was Vikramadit, and bis 

 grandson will bear the same name, the son's name is Udayadit. It 



