Hemachandra

At the Chaulukya court

Hemachandra, born at Dhandhuka and initiated young into a Svetambara order, became the leading intellectual figure at the court of Jayasimha Siddharaja and then of Kumarapala at Anahilapataka, modern Patan. Under his influence Kumarapala is recorded as having adopted Jain observance and issued edicts restricting animal slaughter across the kingdom — an unusual instance of a Jain teacher shaping state policy.

The extent of the king's conversion has been debated, since the sources are Jain and interested, but the ordinances themselves and the temple building of the period are well attested.

The works

His output is exceptionally wide. The Siddhahemashabdanushasana is a Sanskrit and Prakrit grammar composed at Jayasimha's request, and remains a standard reference for Prakrit. The Abhidhanacintamani is a Sanskrit lexicon; the Kavyanushasana treats poetics; the Pramanamimamsa treats logic. The Trishashtishalakapurushacharitra narrates the lives of sixty-three great figures of Jain universal history, and its appendix, the Parishishtaparvan, is a source for the early history of the Jain community.

Assessment

He was given the title Kalikalasarvajna, the omniscient one of the dark age — hyperbole, but indicative. Hemachandra is the clearest instance of the Jain scholarly tradition operating at the centre of regional political power, and his grammar and lexicon were used well beyond Jain circles. Much of what is known of Jain Gujarat in this period comes through his writing or through the patronage networks he worked within.