Nattal Sahu

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]

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, 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.

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]

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

• Agrawal
• Apabhramsha
• Agrasen ki Baoli
• Qutub complex

References

1. Prominent Historical Jain men and Women, Dr. Jyotiprasad Jain, Bharatiya Jananapith, 1975
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