1838.3 Account of the Jain Temple at Badrdsir. 433 



were ever intended to convey any meaning. These coins are of silver* 

 and of the same size and value as the coree, the present current coin 

 of the country : they are known to the natives, in common with others, 

 as Gadhid paisd, a title which only belongs to those bearing the im- 

 press of a donkey, as their name implies ; but the natives of Cutch be- 

 stow this title indiscriminately on all numismatic relics ; the coree of 

 the former Raos of Cutch alone excepted. 



I cannot avoid remarking a very curious coincidence between the 

 situation of the ruins of Badrdnagri, and those of Rdepur, or old 

 Mdndavi, about 36 miles to the westward of the former ; they are 

 about the same distance from the sea, and were both, according to popu- 

 lar tradition, seaport towns and nourishing places ; they are considered 

 to bear the same date as to antiquity, and probably owe their abandon- 

 ment and downfall to the same cause. 



If the least reliance is to be placed on the traditions of the country, 

 the present appearance of these towns would clearly indicate a gradual 

 receding of the sea from the northern shore of the gulf of Cutch. 



The Jain priests, better known in the province by their title of Gorjis, 

 are to be found in small numbers at Mdndavi, Bhooj, and Anjiir, 

 which location may be attributed to these being the great trading places, 

 and banian towns of Cutch. Many of the banians profess the Jain re- 

 ligion, and patronize the Gorjis as their religious instructors. Those of 

 the Gorjis\ (or gurus), who carry the non -destruction of animal life to 

 the greatest possible extent, are to be seen with a piece- of cloth tied 

 over the mouth, and a brush in the left hand, to drive the insects from 

 their path ; they do not wash their clothes for the same reason, and are 

 distinguished by the title of Sddti. The Gorjis, as well as the Sad us y 

 shave the head, and wear no turbans ; they are complete ascetics, pro- 

 fessing celibacy and continence, but if they are not defamed they can 

 lay little claim to the latter virtue, 



Gorji Kantwajeh, before mentioned, is the greatest man of the class 

 in the province, and very wealthy. I have never heard that these men 

 can compete with the brahmins in learning or acquirements, nor is 

 there much to be gained in the course of conversation with them, but 



* They are of the Iudo-Sassanian series as depicted in vol. iv. pi. xlix. figs. 13-15, 

 and vol. vi. pi. xiv. fig. 12. 

 . f The term gdru is applied to those of the sect who are Saniassis, renouncers 

 of the world and its pleasures ; they profess to abstain from pleasure in any form, 

 and are thus distinguished from the Brahmins, who marry and follow the doc- 

 trines of the vedas : the persons above described are these Gurus, (corrupted into 

 Gorjis.) For full particulars of this sect, see the learned papers by Colebrooks 

 iend others, in the 9th vol. of " the Asiatic Researches." 



