Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c28: Appendix II. Kākandīnagarī
Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c28
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Appendix II. Kākandīnagarī
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A place called Kakaṇdī or Kākandīnagarī is famous in both the Jain and Buddhist traditions. The Jains regarded the locality as the birth place of the Tīrthaṅkara Suvidhinātha,¹ while the Buddhists regarded it as the home of an ancient sage named Kākanda.² But this place does not appear to have so far been satisfactorily identified.
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¹ Cf. B. C. Bhattacharya, *The Jaina Iconography*, pp. 64-65.
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² G. P. Malasekera, *Dictionary of Pali Proper Names*, Vol. I, p. 558.
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B. C. Bhattacharya suggested its indentification with the city of Kiṣkindhā celebrated in the story of the *Rāmāyaṇa*.³ But the equation of Kākandī and Kiṣkindhā appears to be philologically unsound. Moreover, Kiṣkindhā in the neighbourhood of Pampā (modern Hampi in the Bellary District of Mysore State) is far away from the sphere of activities of the early Buddhists and Jains. B. C. Law, who has ignored Bhattacharya’s suggestion, regards the place as unidentifiable in the present state of our knowledge.⁴ But there is epigraphical evidence to prove that Kākandī, the traditional birth place of Suvidhinātha, was regarded in the medieval period as identical with a place now called Kākan which lies within the jurisdiction of the Sekandra Police Station in the Jamui Sub-Division of the Monghyr District of Bihar.
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³ *Loc. cit.*
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⁴ *Historical Geography of Ancient India*, s.v.
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About the beginning of the year 1951, I copied three epigraphs in the Jain temple at Kākan.⁵ The earliest of the three records is engraved on the pedestal of an image of Pārśvanātha and is dated in V. S. 1504 Phālguna-sudi 9 (February, 1448 A.D.) while the latest is incised on the back of an *āyāgapaṭa* and is dated in V. S. 1933 (1876-77 A.D.). The third inscription, dated V. S. 1822 Vaiśākha-sudi 6 (April 1765 A.D.), is engraved around two foot-marks fixed in front of the image of Pārśvanātha and records the installation of the said foot-marks. It clearly states that they represent the foot-marks of the Tīrthaṅkara Suvidhinātha and that they were installed at Kākandī or Kākandinagarī which was a holy place and was the birth place of the said Tīrthaṅkara. Some repairs are also stated to have been carried out apparently in the temple wherein the foot-marks were installed and one of the inscriptions seems to point to the existence of the temple before the middle of the fifteenth century A.D. Thus the tradition that modern Kākan, where the inscription has been found, is the same as Kākandī or Kākandinagarī, regarded by the Jains as the birth place of the Tīrthaṅkara Suvidhinātha, can be referred atleast to the late medieval period.
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⁵ See *Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy*, 1950-51, Nos. B 2-4.
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The text of the inscription runs as follows:
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ॐ नमः॥ संवत(संवत्) १८२२ वर्षे वैषाष(ख)मासे शुक्लपक्षे षष्ठीतिथौ श्रीसुविधनाथजिनवरव(च)रणकमले शुभे स्थापिते॥ श्रीकाकंदेनगरीजन्म-कल्याणकस्थाने श्रीसंवेन॥ जोगोद्धारं (च*) करापितं(कारितम्)॥ १ चिरं नंदतु तीर्थोयं काकंदीनामको वरः (॥*)
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The *fraternities* of the Middle Ages, which were so numerous and so varied in their objects, were not all of the same origin. Some were religious, some social, some charitable, and some industrial. The religious guilds, or *gilds*, as they were often called, were associations of laymen for the purpose of performing religious duties, such as the maintenance of a chaplain, the celebration of masses, or the support of a hospital. The social guilds were formed for the purpose of mutual aid and good fellowship, and often included in their objects the relief of the poor, the sick, and the aged. The charitable guilds were established for the purpose of supporting hospitals, almshouses, and other institutions of mercy. The industrial guilds, or *craft guilds*, were associations of men engaged in the same trade or industry, and were formed for the purpose of regulating the trade, protecting the interests of the members, and maintaining the quality of their work.
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The craft guilds, which became so powerful in the later Middle Ages, were the successors of the earlier *collegia* of the Roman Empire. The *collegia* were associations of artisans and tradesmen, which were recognized by the state and had a legal existence. When the Roman Empire fell, these associations were largely destroyed, but the idea of association for mutual protection and the regulation of trade survived. In the early Middle Ages, the *gilds* began to reappear, and by the twelfth century they were firmly established in many of the cities of Europe.
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The craft guilds were organized on a democratic basis, and every member had a voice in the management of the guild's affairs. The officers were elected by the members, and the rules and regulations were made by the guild as a whole. The guilds had the power to fix prices, to regulate the hours of labor, and to determine the conditions of apprenticeship. They also had the power to punish members who violated the rules, and to expel those who were guilty of serious offenses. The guilds were thus a powerful force in the economic life of the Middle Ages, and they played an important part in the development of the modern industrial system.
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The decline of the craft guilds began in the sixteenth century, when the rise of the factory system and the growth of international trade made it difficult for the small, local guilds to compete with the larger and more efficient industrial organizations. The guilds were also weakened by the growth of the power of the state, which began to regulate trade and industry directly, and by the rise of the capitalist class, which sought to break the power of the guilds and to establish a system of free competition. By the end of the eighteenth century, the craft guilds had largely disappeared, but their influence lived on in the trade unions and other labor organizations of the modern world.
Linked texts (1)
- Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit