The Digambars of the Deccan constitute one of the largest populations of Jains in India. They are concentrated in Kolhapur and Sangli districts of southern Maharashtra and in Belgaum district of northern Karnataka. The 1971 census gives a total Jain population in these three contiguous districts of 262,856, marginally higher than the Jain population of greater Bombay. Moreover V. Sangave, using that data, has shown that outside the urban areas of Bombay and Ahmedabad these three districts have by far the highest density of Jains in India (Sangave 1980: 37). When I refer to ‘Jains’ in this chapter they will be southern Digambars unless specifically noted.

I will write chiefly of the period from Independence up until 1985, when I finished fifteen months of fieldwork in the region. In other words, the present tense which I use really refers to a specific historical period, the recent, post-Independence past.

When Jains wish to refer to themselves they often speak of jain samāj. Sometimes the English translation would be ‘Jain society’, or even ‘Jain people’, as when some characteristic, say wealth or farming expertise, is being attributed to Jains. In that sense samāj like English ‘society’, can be relatively colourless and uncomplicated.