Nattal Sahu

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Jain Temple columns reused in the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at Qutb complex Qutb Complex Pillars.JPG
Jain Temple columns reused in the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at Qutb complex

Nattal Sahu (नट्टल साहु) of Yoginipur (now Mehrauli, Delhi) is the earliest known Agrawal 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 Vikrama Samvat 1189 (1132 CE). [1] [2] [3]

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Delhi Megacity and union territory of India, containing the national capital

Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east. The NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres (573 sq mi). According to the 2011 census, Delhi's city proper population was over 11 million, the second-highest in India after Mumbai, while the whole NCT's population was about 16.8 million. Delhi's urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundaries and include the neighboring satellite cities of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Sonipat, Ghaziabad and Noida in an area now called Central National Capital Region (CNCR) and had an estimated 2016 population of over 26 million people, making it the world's second-largest urban area according to United Nations. As of 2016, recent estimates of the metro economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the most or second-most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second-wealthiest city in India after Mumbai, with a nominal economy of $110 billion for the entire Union Territory, and is home to 18 billionaires and 23,000 millionaires.

Agrawal is a community, native to the Indian subcontinent, found throughout northern India, including in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh. Before the partition of India in 1947, people of the community were also found in the modern-day Punjab province of Pakistan.

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 Tomar Anangapala.

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Poet Vibudh Shridhar, who was also an Agrawal, 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 Agrawal author. He describes his patron thus: [7]

Vibudh Shridhar or Vibudha Shridhara was an accomplished Apabhramsha writer and poet in North India. He is the first known Agrawal author. His Pasanaha Chariu provides the first reference to the Agrawal community and the first historical reference to the legend of the origin of the name Dhilli for Delhi.

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]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Prominent Historical Jain men and Women, Dr. Jyotiprasad Jain, Bharatiya Jananapith, 1975
  2. 1 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 Jnanapitha, 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 Pennsyslvania, 1979
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