Jainism Overview

Jainism, religion of India concentrated largely in Gujarāt and Rājasthān, in parts of Mumbai (formerly Bombay), and in the state of Karnātaka (Mysore), as well as in the larger cities of the Indian peninsula. The Jains totaled about 4 million in the late 1990s, but they exert an influence in the predominantly Hindu community far out of proportion to their numbers; they are mainly traders, and their wealth and authority have made their comparatively small sect one of the most important of living Indian religions.