(Research) Jain Population/Community in Bundelkhand by Prof. Prakash C. Jain, JNU

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Jain Population in Bundelkhand

                                                 by Prof. Prakash C. Jain

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Bundelkhand generally comprises of the seven districts of Uttar Pradesh, namely Lalitpur, Jhansi, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Banda and Chitrakoot, and six districts of Madhya Pradesh: Sagar, Damoh, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Panna, and Datia. The cultural influence of the region however extends up to the cities of Gwalior, Bhopal and Jabalpur. Bundelkhand gets its name from Bundela Rajputs who ruled the region from the early 16th century until 1950. Prior to that, from 10th to 15th century, the Chandel Rajputs were the predominant rulers of the area. During the Chandel period, Bundelkhand was home to a flourishing Jain community. It was also during this period that the famous temple city of Khajuraho was built between the mid-10th and mid-11th centuries. The presence of Jainism, especially Digambar Jainism has been historically significant in the area. A number of Jain pilgrimage places are located in Bundelkhand. Many prominent traditional Digambar Jain scholars (Pandits) of the 20th century belong to this region.

In Bundelkhand the Jains with less than one percent of the total population of the region constitute the third largest religious community after the Hindus (93.17%) and Muslims (5.58%). They are mainly involved in whole-sale and retail trading, banking and mahajani, and various professions, and as such they have been vitally integrated into the regional economy for centuries. The overwhelming majority of Jains in Bundelkhand are the followers of Terapanthi Digambar Jainism, and a tiny minority of them belongs to Taaranpanth who are also known as Samaiyas. The region’s Jain community is divided into the following important Jain castes: Parwar, Golapurav, Golalare, and Samaiya. The 2011 census data suggest that there were about 150,000 Jains in the region whose district-wise distribution is presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Bundelkhand: Distribution and Decadal growth of Jain population by district, 2001-2011

State/District	District Population, 2011	Jain Population, 2001	Jain Population, 2011	Proportion of Jain Population, 2011	Decadal Growth Rate, 2001-2011 (%)
M.P. Bundelkhand
Sagar	2,378,458	59,931	62,992	42.39	5.11
Damoh	1,264,219	23,818	25,005	16.83	4.98
Tikamgarh	1,445,166	14,604	15,569	10.48	6.61
Chhatarpur	1,762,375	9,766	10.409	07.00	6.58
Panna	1,016,530	4,534	4,734	3.19	4.41
Datia	786,754	499	453	00.30	-9.22
Sub-Total		113,152	119,162	80.19	5.30
U.P. Bundelkhand
Lalitpur	1,221,592	19,797	20,390	13.72	3.00
Jhansi	1,998,603	7,620	7,328	04.93	-3.83
Banda	1,799,410	884	916	00.62	3.62
Chitrakoot	991,730	283	285	00.19	0.71
Jalaun	1,689,974	344	256	00.17	-25.58
Mahoba	875,958	223	234	00.16	4.93
Hamirpur	1,104,285	48	41	00.03	-14.58
Sub-Total		29,199	29,450	19.82	0.86
Total	18,335,044	142,351	148,612	100.00	4.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Dheeraj Jain (2017).

Table 2: District-wise distribution of Jain population of Bundelkhand by rural/urban residence, gender and sex and child sex ratios, 2011

District	Rural	Urban	Male	Female	Sex Ratio	Child Sex Ratio
M.P. Bundelkhand
Sagar	18,678	44,314	32,691	30,301	927	966
Damoh	12,523	12,482	13,180	11,825	897	917
Tikamgarh	5,215	10,354	8,156	7,413	909	896
Chhatarpur	3,867	6,542	5,450	4,959	910	1046
Panna	2,484	2,250	2,479	2,255	910	991
Datiya	342	111	223	230	1,031	722
Sub-Total	43,109	76,053	62,179	56,983	931	923
U.P. Bundelkhand
Lalitpur	6,026	14,364	10,636	9,754	917	879
Jhansi	908	6,420	3,798	3,530	929	884
Banda	795	121	483	433	896	1000
Chitrakoot	239	46	141	144	1021	1308
Jalaun	75	181	141	115	816	538
Mahoba	57	177	133	101	759	769
Hamirpur	22	19	24	17	708	1333
Sub-Total	8,122	21,328	15,356	14,094	864	959
Total	51,231	97,381	77,535	71,077	898	941

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Dheeraj Jain (2017).

Table 3: Jain population of Bundelkhand: Literacy and work participation rates (%) by gender, 2011

District	Literacy Rate			Work Participation Rate
	Person	Male	Female	Person	Male	Female
M.P.-Bundelkhand
Sagar	96.80	98.1	95.39	33.65	55.39	10.2
Damoh	98.41	97.49	93.10	36.17	56.68	13.32
Tikamgarh	95.16	97.56	92.53	33.53	52.56	12.59
Chhatarpur	94.66	97.31	91.70	33.77	54.07	11.45
Panna	96.40	98.88	93.99	34.43	56.31	10.38
Datia	94.31	96.59	92.17	47.02	60.54	33.91
Sub-Total	95.45	97.65	93.15	36.42	55.92	15.30
U.P.-Bundelkhand
Lalitpur	96.21	97.97	94.31	34.32	54.49	12.32
Jhansi	96.68	98.38	94.25	33.58	54.87	10.68
Banda	96.73	98.86	94.33	32.42	54.66	7.62
Chitrakoot	92.94	97.66	88.19	36.84	44.68	29.17
Jalaun	91.95	96.09	87.04	31.64	51.77	6.96
Mahoba	89.57	92.50	85.71	32.48	48.12	11.88
Hamirpur	91.18	90.48	92.31	19.51	29.17	5.88
Sub-Total	93.68	95.99	90.96	31.54	48.25	12.07
Total	94.56	96.82	92.05	33.98	52.08	13.68

Source: Dheeraj Jain (2017).

The data in Table 1 clearly reveal that in the 2011 census only 148,612 individuals   were enumerated as the followers of Jainism in Bundelkhand. This figure amounts to about 0.88% of the total population of Bundelkhand (18.5 million in 2011). In Bundelkhand, the Sagar district hosts the largest number of Jains followed by Damoh, Lalitpur, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, and Jhansi. Further on, much of the Jain population of Bundelkhand (about 80%) resided in the MP-Bundelkhand. The data in the Table 1 further suggest that with the exception of Lalitpur and Jhansi districts, the Jain population in the other U.P.-Bundelkhand districts, namely Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Jalaun and Mahoba is miniscule – adding up to only 1,732 individuals in 2011 census. 

The Jain population of Bundelkhand constituted about 3.4% of the total Jain population in India which was enumerated at about 4.5 million in 2011 (Jain, Prakash C. 2019: Chapter 7). Of these 52% were male and 48% female. The level of urbanisation is 66% which is significantly lower than the Jain national average of 80%. The sex ratio in the Jain population of Bundelkhand is 898 which is much lower than the Jain national figure of 954 females per 1,000 males (See Table 2). The sex ratio for 0-6 age group, also called child sex ratio which is 941 females per 1,000 males appears to be much higher compared to the national Jain average of 887.  Both these demographic indicators however seem to have been distorted mainly because of the very small population base of Jains in at least the six districts of the region, namely Banda, Chitrakoot, Jalaun, Mahoba, Hamirpur and Datia. Thus for example, if we take into account the rest of the districts of Bundelkhand, then the sex ratio averages to 914 – still on the lower side of the national average of 954.
Data from a sociological study of the Jains of Bundelkhand conducted by this author also suggest the small size family norm of 4-5 members (Jain, Prakash C. 2015). Age of marriage also appears to have gone up by a few years in recent decades. Our field work data also suggest a considerable number of boys beyond marriageable age remaining unmarried, particularly in villages and towns due to skewed sex ratio and other sociological factors.  At the same time, late, inter-caste and inter-religion marriages are also on the rise. 

Table 3 provides data about the level of literacy and work participation rates among the Jain of Bundelkhand. Both these demographic indicators appear to be satisfactory and in tune with the national level indicators of the Jain population. Literacy (94.18%) and education among the Jains of Bundelkhand have certainly gone up which is reflected in increased number of them working/getting employed as professionals in public as well as private sectors within the region and outside it. The work participation rate for Jain males in Bundelkhand is about 34 (52.08 for males and 13.68 for females).
There appears to be a fair amount of out-migration of Jains, particularly of highly educated professionals from Bundelkhand as many of them happen to be getting education outside the region and thereby easily getting suitable jobs there itself. Thus a significant number of Bundelkhandi Jains have been living in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Jaipur, National Capital Region of Delhi, and many more towns and cities in India. Even if some of these Jains are willing to come back to their native places, the region is not developed enough to provide them suitable employment. A number of Bundelkhandi Jains have also settled abroad, particularly in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Gulf countries.

To sum up, about 150,000 Jain population of Bundelkhand is unevenly distributed across the 13 districts of the region – about 95% of it living in only six districts, namely Sagar, Damoh, Lalitpur, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur and Jhansi. Among the major demographic indicators, the skewed sex ratio has been the most problematic in that the shortage of marriageable-age girls has forced a considerable number of boys either to remain unmarried or opt for inter-religion marriage. Fortunately, the child sex ratio since the 2001 census has been improving as evident from the 2011 census data. Increased access to higher education has also been prompting many Jains not only to go for professional occupations, but also to migrate outside the region in search of better employment opportunities. 

References

• Jain, Dheeraj (2017) Population of Jains in India (A Perspective from the Census 2011). New Delhi: International School for Jain Studies.
• Jain, Prakash C. (2011) Jains in India and Abroad: A Sociological Introduction. New Delhi: International School for Jain Studies
• Jain, Prakash C. (2015) Socio-Economic Change among the Jains of the Bundelkhand Region: A Sociological Study. New Delhi: Indian Council of Social Science Research (Mimeographed). (To be published shortly as a book under the title Jain Community of Bundelkhand: Socio-Economic and Cultural Changes by Shipra Publications, Delhi).
• Jain, Prakash C. (2019) Studies in Jain Population and Demography. Jaipur & Delhi: Rawat Publications.

About the Author :

Prakash C. Jain, Ph.D. (Sociology, Carleton University) is currently Project Director of Population and Sociological Studies at International School for Jain Studies, New Delhi. Prior to this he was a Senior Fellow of ICSSR (2013-15) and UGC-Emeritus Fellow (2015-17) at the Centre for Comparative Politics & Political Theory, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Until his superannuation in December 2011, Professor Jain served JNU for over 25 years as Professor of West Asian Studies. 

The author was born and brought up in Saidpur village of Lalitpur district, Bundelkhand.

Prof. Jain is the author of Racial Discrimination against Overseas Indians: A Class Analysis (1990), Indians in South Africa: Political Economy of Race Relations (1999), Population and Society in West Asia (2001), Non-Resident Indian Entrepreneurs in the United Arab Emirates (2010) and Jains in India and Abroad: A Sociological Introduction (2011). He has also edited/co-edited books on Iran, Saudi Arabia, Indian Diaspora, and the Jain community which include Indian Diaspora in West Asia: A Reader (2007), Indian Trade Diaspora in the Arabian Peninsula (2013), Social Consciousness in Jainism (2014) and South Asian Migration to Gulf Countries (2016). His latest publication is an anthology titled Studies in Jain Population and Demography (2019).