Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c6.177

c6.177

The earliest known specimens of Western Indian miniatures are found in the illustrated manuscript of the *Niśīthachūrṇi* in the collection of the Sanghavinā Pāḍānā Bhaṇḍār, Pāṭan. The colophon bears the date of 1157 Vikramasamvat (1100 A.D.) and tells that the book was written by one Deva Prasāda at Bhṛgukachchha (modern Broach) in the reign of Jayasimha,² who ruled Gujarāt from 1094 to 1143 A.D. The illustrations are generally decorative roundels filled up with floral and geometrical patterns (Figs. 13-14)³. There are also a few figure drawings. In Fig. 14, an elephant rider within a roundel is depicted. In the same figure, two lightly clad women, holding garlands and probably representing the *Apsarases*, are depicted on the lower margin.