Nattal Sahu

Nattal Sahu of Yoginipur (now Mehrauli, Delhi) is the earliest known Agrawal Jain merchant-prince, who lived during the reign Tomara king, Anangapal. His life's account is described in Apabhramsha text Pasanaha Cariu (Parshvanath Caritra) of poet Vibudh Shridhar, written in 1132 CE.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Nattal's father was Sahu Joja.^[4] He had two older brothers Raghav and Sodhal. Nattal was the chief of the Jains of Delhi.^[5] He controlled a commercial empire spread through Anga, Vanga (Bengal), Kalinga (Odisha), Karnataka, Nepal, Bhot (Tibet), Panchal, Chedi, Gauda, Thakka (Punjab), Kerala, Marahatta (Maharashtra), Bhadanaka (Bayana), Magadh, Gurjar, Sorath (Saurashtra) and Haryana.^[6] He was also a minister in the court of Anangapal.

Poet Vibudh Shridhar, who was also an Agrawal Jain, had migrated from Haryana to Delhi. Nattala, as a patron, urged him to write the Pasanaha Cariu. Shridhara finished the composition in Vikrama Samvat 1189 (1132 CE), and thus became the first known Jain author. He describes his patron thus:^[7]

सिरि अयरवाल कुल कमल मित्तु,
सुधम्म कम्म पवियण्य-वित्तु

siri ayaravaala kula kamala mittu,

sudhamma kamma paviyaNya-vittu

Nattala Sahu had built a beautiful temple of Lord Adinath. He had the idol installed with an elaborate ceremony:

जैनं चैत्यमकारि सुन्दरतरं जैनीं प्रतिष्ठां तथा|
स श्रीमान्विदितः सदैव जयतात्पृथ्वीतले नट्टलः||

jainaM chaityamakaari sundarataraM jainii.n pratishhThaa.n tathaa|
sa shreemaanviditaH sadaiv jayataatpR^ithviitale naTTalaH||

It is believed that fragments of this temple were used for the Quwwat-al-Islam mosque near Qutab Minar.^[2]

References

^ Prominent Historical Jain men and Women, Dr. Jyotiprasad Jain, Bharatiya Jnanpith, 1975.
^ ^a ^b Paramananda Jain Shastri, Agrawalon ka Jain Samskrti mein Yogadan, Anekanta Oct. 1966, p. 277-281.
^ "An Early Attestation of the Toponym Ḍhillī", by Richard J. Cohen, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1989, p. 513-519.
^ Tirthankar Mahavir Aur Unki Acharya Parampara, Volume IV, Dr. Nemichandra Shastri, Acharya Shantisagara Chhani Granthmala, 1975.
^ Vaddhamana Cariu, Edited/translated by Prof. Dr. Rajaram Jain, Bharatiya Jnanpith, New Delhi, 1975.
^ Jain Dharma Ka Prachin Itihas, Vol II, Parmanand Shastri, Gajendra Publications, Delhi, 1980.
^ The Pasnahacariu of Sridhar, An Introduction, Edition and Translation of the Forty Four Sandhis, Richard Cohen, PhD Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1979.

[1] Prominent Historical Jain men and Women, Dr. Jyotiprasad Jain, Bharatiya Jnanpith, 1975.

[Paramananda_Jain_Shastri_1966,_p._277-281-2] Paramananda Jain Shastri, Agrawalon ka Jain Samskrti mein Yogadan, Anekanta Oct. 1966, p. 277-281.

[3] "An Early Attestation of the Toponym Ḍhillī", by Richard J. Cohen, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1989, p. 513-519.

[4] Tirthankar Mahavir Aur Unki Acharya Parampara, Volume IV, Dr. Nemichandra Shastri, Acharya Shantisagara Chhani Granthmala, 1975.

[5] Vaddhamana Cariu, Edited/translated by Prof. Dr. Rajaram Jain, Bharatiya Jnanpith, New Delhi, 1975.

[6] Jain Dharma Ka Prachin Itihas, Vol II, Parmanand Shastri, Gajendra Publications, Delhi, 1980.

[7] The Pasnahacariu of Sridhar, An Introduction, Edition and Translation of the Forty Four Sandhis, Richard Cohen, PhD Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1979.

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See also

References