Jainism in Pakistan explained

Jainism in Pakistan (Urdu: {{Nastaliq|پاکستان میں جین مت) has an extensive heritage and history, with several ancient Jain shrines scattered across the country.^[1] Baba Dharam Dass was a holy man whose tomb is located near the bank of a creek called (Deoka, Deokay, or Degh) near Chawinda Phatic, behind the agricultural main office in Pasrur, near the city of Sialkot in Punjab, Pakistan. Another prominent Jain monk of the region was Vijayanandsuri of Gujranwala, whose samadhi (memorial shrine) still stands in the city.

Demographics

See main article: Bhabra.

The presence of Pakistani Jains in modern Pakistan is unclear. Prior to 1947, there were Punjabi, Marwadi and Gujarati communities of Jains in the Punjab and Sindh regions. All of them migrated to India during the partition in 1947, thus ending the thousands of years of presence of jainism in the region.

Bhabra (or Bhabhra) is an ancient merchant community from Punjab which mainly follows Jainism.^{[2] [3]}

The original home region of the Bhabras is now in Pakistan. While practically all the Bhabras have left Pakistan, many cities still have sections named after Bhabras.

• Sialkot: All the Jains here were Bhabra and mainly lived in Sialkot and Pasrur. The Serai Bhabrian and Bhabrian Wala localities are named after them. There were several Jain temples here before partition of India.^[4]
• Pasrur: Pasrur was developed by a Jain zamindar who was granted land by Raja Maan Singh. Baba Dharam Dass belonged to the zamindar family who was murdered on a trading visit.^[5]
• Gujranwala: Two old Jain libraries managed by Lala Karam Chand Bhabra were present here which were visited by Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar.^[6]
• Lahore: There were Jain temples at localities still called Thari Bhabrian and Gali Bhabrian.^[7]
• Rawalpindi: Bhabra Bazar is named after them.
• Mianwali: A well known cast still present in majority there nowadays.

Some also lived in Sindh.^[8]

Geographical distribution

Colonial era

The total population of the region that composes contemporary Pakistan was approximately 29,643,600 according to the final census prior to partition in 1941. With the exception of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, all administrative divisions in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined total population of 27,266,001, for an overall response rate of 92.0 percent. Similar to the contemporary era, where censuses do not collect religious data in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan, the total number of responses for religion is slightly smaller than the total population, as detailed in the table breakdown below.

Administrative
division! colspan="4"

1941 census
Jain Population	Jain Percentage	Total Responses	Total Population
Punjab[9]	9,520		17,350,103	17,350,103
Sindh[10]	3,687		4,840,795	4,840,795
Balochistan[11]	7		857,835	857,835
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[12]	1		3,038,067	5,415,666
AJK[13]	0		1,073,154	1,073,154
Gilgit–Baltistan	0		116,047	116,047
Pakistan	13,215		27,266,001	29,643,600

Punjab

District or Princely State! colspan="2"

1881[14] [15] [16] [17]	1901[18] [19]		1911[20] [21]		1921[22]		1931[23]		1941
Sialkot District	1,388		2,008		2,029		2,147		2,236		3,250
Rawalpindi District	1,033		1,068		1,028		954		1,077		1,337
Lahore District	970		1,047		1,139		1,209		1,450		1,951
Gujranwala District	577		932		950		754		1,071		1,445
Bahawalpur State	254		0		15		1		12		351
Jhelum District	58		151		163		195		209		159
Multan District	47		134		394		28		440		552
Muzaffargarh District	11		0		1		6		0		0
Shahpur District	9		2		5		3		14		13
Jhang District	4		0		4		7		0		5
Montgomery District	1		8		13		12		38		49
Gujrat District	0		11		48		4		32		10
Dera Ghazi Khan District	0		143		23		296		125		106
Shakargarh Tehsil	0		0		0		0		0		0
Mianwali District			35		31		0		20		23
Lyallpur District			23		125		231		95		35
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract			0		0		0		0		0
Attock District					9		5		2		13
Sheikhupura District							78		100		221
Total Jains	4,352		5,562		5,977		5,930		6,921		9,520
Total Population	7,942,399		10,427,765		11,104,585		11,888,985		14,040,798		17,350,103

Sindh

District or Princely State! colspan="2"

1881[24]	1891[25]		1901[26]		1911[27]		1921[28]		1931[29]		1941
Tharparkar District	1,038		823		657		524		268		320		212
Hyderabad District	144		0		119		171		82		187		217
Karachi District	9		99		126		650		1,118		629		3,215
Shikarpur District	0		1		0
Upper Sind Frontier District	0		0		19		0		49		4		0
Khairpur State	0		0		0		0		0		0		0
Sukkur District							3		16		2		0
Larkana District							1		0		1		0
Nawabshah District									1		1		0
Dadu District													43
Total Jains	1,191		923		921		1,349		1,534		1,144		3,687
Total Population	2,542,976		3,003,711		3,410,223		3,737,223		3,472,508		4,114,253		4,840,795

Jain temples

Punjab

• Jain temple, Thari Bhabrian Lahore City.
• Jain Digambar Temple, Old Anarkali Jain Mandir Chawk:^[30] This temple was destroyed in the riots of 1992.^[31] an Islamic school was run from the former temple. 31.5614°N 74.3081°W.^{[32] [33]} it was completely demolished in 2016, to make for construction of Lahore Metro and a Public Square.

Sindh

See also: Nagarparkar Jain Temples and Gori Temple, Nagarparkar.

• Nagar Bazaar temple is present in the main bazar of the Nangar Parkar town. The structure of the temple, including the shikhar and the torana gateway is completely intact. It was apparently in use until the independence of Pakistan in 1947, and perhaps for some years even after that. There is also a ruined temple outside of the town.
• Bhodesar Jain mandir, 7.2 km from Nagar, was the region's capital during Sodha rule. Remains of three temples, are present. In 1897, two of them were being used as cattle stalls and the third had holes in the back. The oldest temple, was built in the classical style with stones without any mortar, built around 9th century. It is built on a high platform and reached by a series of steps carved into the rock. It has beautifully carved huge stone columns and other structural elements. The remaining walls are unstable and partially collapsed. Parts of the building had been dismantled by the locals who used the bricks to construct their homes. It is perhaps the most spectacular of the monuments in Sindh. The two other Jain temples are said to have been built in 1375 CE and 1449 CE built of kanjur and redstone, with fine carvings and corbelled domes.
• Karoonjar Jain mandir is at the base of the mountain.
• Virvah Jain mandir, are a number of ruins of Jain temples here. One of the temples had 27 devakulikas in it. The ruins of legendary Parinagar are nearby. One of the temples is in good preservation.
• Virvah Gori mandir is 14 miles from Viravah. The legendary temple with 52 subsidiary shrines was built in AD 1375–6. It is dedicated to Jain tirthankar Gori Parshvanatha.
• Jain Shwetamber Temple with Shikhar, Ranchore Line, Karachi^[34]
• Jain Shwetamber Temple, Hyderabad, Sindh^[34]

Notable people

Prominent pre-partition Jains from Pakistan:

• Baba Dharam Dass
• Vijayanandsuri

External links

• List of Jain Temples in Pakistan
• Baba Dharam Dass Tomb in Pasrur

Notes and References

1. News: Khalid . Haroon . 4 September 2016 . Sacred geography: Why Hindus, Buddhist, Jains, Sikhs should object to Pakistan being called hell . Dawn . 4 September 2016.
2. Final Report of Revised Settlement, Hoshiarpur District, 1879-84 By J. A. L. Montgomery, p. 35
3. Census of India, 1901 By India Census Commissioner, Sir Herbert Hope Risley, p. 137-140
4. Gazetteer of the Sialkot District, 1920 - Page 51
5. http://www.pasrur.info/JainDeoka.htm Baba Dharam Dass Tomb in Pasrur
6. The two Jain Libraries at Gujranwala by Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar in A Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Library of the Deccan College, by Deccan College Library, Franz Kielhorn- 1884 -- Page 12
7. Web site: jainrelicsinpakistan - abafna . Abafna.googlepages.com . 2012-04-20 . 26 December 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181226143711/https://sites.google.com/site/abafna/jainrelicsinpakistan%20 . dead .
8. A gazetteer of the province of Sindh by Albert William Hughes - 1876, - Page 224
9. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab . saoa.crl.28215541 . 20 October 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1941 . 6 . 2 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221002225000/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215541 . live . 42.
10. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 12, Sind . saoa.crl.28215545 . 20 October 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1941 . 12 . 29 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230129064845/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215545 . live . 28.
11. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 14, Baluchistan . saoa.crl.28215993 . 20 October 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1942 . 14 . 29 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230129064900/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215993 . live . 13–18.
12. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 10, North-West Frontier Province . saoa.crl.28215543 . 20 October 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1941 . 10 . 29 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230129064219/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215543 . live . 22.
13. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 22, Jammu & Kashmir . saoa.crl.28215644 . 20 October 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1941 . 22 . 29 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230129070759/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215644 . live . 337–352.
14. Web site: Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. I. . saoa.crl.25057656 . 20 October 2024 . 1881 .
15. Web site: Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. II. . saoa.crl.25057657 . 20 October 2024 . 1881 . 14 .
16. Web site: Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. III. . saoa.crl.25057658 . 20 October 2024 . 1881 . 14 .
17. Web site: Gazetteers Of Gurdaspur District, 1883-84 . 20 October 2024 . 1884.
18. Web site: Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province. ]. saoa.crl.25363739 . 20 October 2024 . 1901 . 34.
19. Web site: Punjab District Gazetteers Gurdaspur District Vol.21 Statistical Tables . 20 October 2024 . 1913 . 62.
20. Web site: Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables. . saoa.crl.25393788 . 20 October 2024 . 1911 . 27.
21. Web site: Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II . 20 October 2024 . 1911 . Kaul, Harikishan . 27.
22. Web site: Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables. . saoa.crl.25430165 . 20 October 2024 . 1921 . 29.
23. Web site: Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables. . saoa.crl.25793242 . 20 October 2024 . 1931 . 277.
24. Web site: Census of India, 1891. Operations and results in the Presidency of Bombay, including Sind . saoa.crl.25057678 . 16 November 2024 . 1881 . 3 . 1 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240601224518/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25057678 . live .
25. Web site: Census of India, 1891. Vol. VIII, Bombay and its feudatories. Part II, Imperial tables . saoa.crl.25352815 . 16 November 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1891 . 8.
26. Web site: Census of India 1901. Vols. 9-11, Bombay. . saoa.crl.25366895 . 12 May 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1901 . 9.
27. Web site: Census of India 1911. Vol. 7, Bombay. Pt. 2, Imperial tables. . saoa.crl.25393770 . 12 May 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1911 . 7.
28. Web site: Census of India 1921. Vol. 8, Bombay Presidency. Pt. 2, Tables : imperial and provincial. . saoa.crl.25394131 . 6 May 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1921 . 8.
29. Web site: Census of India 1931. Vol. 8, Bombay. Pt. 2, Statistical tables. . saoa.crl.25797128 . 5 May 2024 . India Census Commissioner . 1931 . 8.
30. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C06%5C01%5Cstory_1-6-2007_pg13_6 TEPA to remodel roads leading to Jain Mandir Chowk
31. News: Demolishing history in Pakistan . BBC News . Aamir . Ghauri . 5 December 2002.
32. http://wikimapia.org/#y=31561389&x=74308056&z=18&l=0&m=h&v=2 Wikimapia
33. http://jainsamaj.org/temples/pakistan.htm LIST OF JAIN TEMPLES IN PAKISTAN
34. http://www.jainworld.com/jaintemples/pakistan_temples.asp List of Jain temples in Pakistan