Towards A Sociology Of The Jaina Community

Although much research has been done on the literary, religious and philosophical aspects of Jainism, sociological/anthropological research of the Jaina community as well as Jainism continues to remain in incipiency. This paper argues for the Sociology of the Jaina Community by suggesting a few areas of research that deserve priority. These areas are demographic structure, social structure, social change and social stratification, and the Jainas in Diaspora, to name only a few.

Since the time of Mahāvīra, people of different varṇas and jātis, from many areas, have accepted the Jaina religion, making the Jaina society heterogeneous. Thus, the Jainas are a community, or rather a grouping of communities, as well as followers of a religion, and as they originated from different background, they organized themselves into differing groups known as jñāti to facilitate smooth functioning of the society.

1.1 Jainas in India

The Jainas are one of the oldest religious communities of India. Although the origin of Jainism is lost in antiquity, it was revived by Lord Mahāvīra during the sixth century B.C. Jainism as well as Buddhism belongs to the Śramaņa tradition, a tradition that is distinct from the Vedic tradition and is considered even older and indigenous. As a social movement Jainism was opposed to caste system, secondary status of women, and dominance of priestly class {namely Brahmins}, ritual sacrifices, slavery and monarchical basis of polity. In ancient India Jainism was a force to reckon with and had a considerable influence on the various North Indian kingdoms and parts of Mysore and Tamil Nadu in south India.

1.2 Demographic Trends

The Jainas have always been a minority community in India. The current population of Jainas is estimated around 4.4 million. They are heavily concentrated in the western half of India, particularly Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh. About 200,000 Jains are in Diaspora, particularly in East Africa, North America and the U.K. Since the 1881 Census the Jains never constituted more than half a percent of the total population of India. About 80% of the Jaina population is Śvetāmbaras and the rest Digambaras. Close to 75% of them live in urban areas. Other demographic features include very high level of literacy, the lowest infant mortality rate and medium level of sex ratio (946 females per 1,000 males in 1991) compared to 925 for Hindus and 994 for Christians. Since 1981 the Jaina population has been growing very slowly. The decadal growth rate during 1981-91 was only 4.42% compared to 23.17% for the previous decade. Although the decadal growth rate of the Jaina population during 1991-2001 periods was 26.0%, it was more due to ethnic revivalism among the Jainas than due to the fertility factor.

1.3 Minority Status

Presently the Jainas as an affluent minority face two major problems. One of these relate to seeking and maintaining its separate ethnic/religious identity. The 2001 census figures pertaining to the Jainas suggest that ethnic revivalism has been taking place among the Jainas. Thus compared to the 1991 census figures where the Jainas registered only 4% decadal growth rate, in the 2001 census their growth rate was about 26%. This only suggests that more and more of them preferred to be returned as “Jainas” rather than “Hindus”.

Efforts are also being made to seek legal recognition to their minority status. The Jainas have been demanding minority status at the national level for the past few years with representations in the Central Government, National Minority Commission and State Legislatures. The Supreme Court of India had directed the Central Government to take a final decision in this regard by 28th November 2004. In response to the affidavit filed by the Central Government the Supreme Court had also given the ruling that under section 30 of the Constitution of India, the decision about according minority status on the grounds of language or religion can be taken by the respective State Governments and not by the Central Government. Five states namely, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Tamil Nadu have already granted minority status to the Jaina community at state level.

The second problem with which the Jainas have to come to terms is their slow growth rate which had come down to as low as about 4% in the 1991 census and was expected to come down further. Unfortunately, the 2001 census data with over 26% decadal growth rate do not confirm this trend. It is widely believed that this high growth rate of Jains in the 2001 census was due to ethnic revivalism and not due to any change in their fertility behavior. Therefore only the next census report would be able to confirm the slow growth rate trend decisively. Logically, the affluent minorities of the world such as the Jews and the Parsees share the predicament of demographic stagnation and decline in the long run and the Jains appear to follow the same trend.

1.4 Economic Status

The relative affluence among the Jainas has been noted by a number of scholars (Weber 1958; Hardiman 1996; Stevenson 1915). This is so due to the fact that they are mainly engaged in trade, commerce, and professional occupations. Thus according to the 2001 Census, only 18.3% of the Jain population is engaged in “working class” jobs (11.7% cultivators, 3.3% agricultural laborers, 3.3% household industry workers); the rest, that is, 81.7% are in “other” occupations. Not surprisingly, the Jainas have varyingly been described by various scholars as “the Jews of India”, “the middlemen minority”, “the marginal trading community”, “the capitalist without capitalism”, etc. Two contradictory explanations can be offered in this regard. One is the Weberian in terms of the Protestant ethic thesis. Weber maintains that there is “a positive relationship between Jainism and economic motivation”. Weber seems to suggest that although Jainism is spiritualized in the direction of “World renunciation”, some features of inner worldly asceticism are also present in it. These are reflected in such virtues as thriftiness, self-discipline, frugality, abstention, economy of time etc, which eventually promotes savings and accumulation of wealth. The other is the Marxist explanation in which the historically-evolved predominantly petty bourgeois class position of the Jainas vis–a-vis the dependant, impoverished mass of the Indian peasantry and its exploitation by the former can account for the prosperity of the Jainas. Unfortunately hardly any work has been done along these lines although both the perspectives offer a number of hypotheses for systematic studies.

1.5 Social Organization

In spite of being a small community, contestations and confrontations have not been lacking among the Jainas. Thus the Digambara sect displays individualistic prophet-derived and sect-like character in contrast to the Śvetāmbaras Jainism that shows the group-bound, priest-derived and Church-like ambience. Although Jainism does not sanction caste system, for more than a millennium the Jainas have been divided into a number of sects and sub-sects and castes and subcastes. However, the caste system is not as rigid as among the Hindus. The caste system among the Jainas has been transmuted into competitive endogamous status groups.

Social organization of Jainism has also been characterized by the duality of ethic or dual value system (e.g., ascetics and householders, individualism and families, absolutism and relativism, in-group and out-group etc.) and its integration into a single continuum. This duality can be seen at many levels of Jaina philosophy, religion and social life which perhaps helps them in adjusting with the majority community on the one hand and in maintaining their own separate identity on the other. Segmental orientation characterized by out-group conflict is another feature of the Jaina community that obtained over the centuries in order to maintain its distinct religious identity. Although essentially a patriarchal religion, ironically women play an important role in the social reproduction of the Jaina community and its constituent institutions.

Jainas sense of tolerance and peaceful co-existence with other communities can be related to their epistemological doctrine of relative pluralism (nayavada) and which states the manifoldness (anekānta) of reality and knowledge. It states that reality can be comprehended from a number of standpoints, which have been classified into seven types known as saptabhangi naya (sevenfold standpoints). This doctrine is known as syādavāda (doctrine of “may be”). In short, the doctrines of anekānta and syādavāda constitute the distinguishing features of Jainism. These doctrines are very well reflected in the Jainas’ definition and perception of social reality. Not surprisingly, in relation to the wider Hindu society the attitude of the Jainas has been characterized by “unobtrusiveness” and even assimilation.

1.6 Historiography

There is considerable amount of literature on the Jaina philosophy, religion and literature. The social anthropological and sociological studies on the Jaina community, however, continue to remain scarce. Max Weber’s Religion of India (1958) contained only half-a-chapter on Jainism entitled “Heterodox Soteriology of the Cultured Professional Monks” which provides significant sociological insight into the structure and functioning of the Jaina community and religion. However, his work remained virtually unknown to the world until its translation into English in 1950s, meanwhile in the early 1950s an Indian sociologist V. A. Sangave had published a major work on the Jainas that was mainly based on scriptural material and a preliminary sociological survey (1980). Not surprisingly, Weber does not figure in this work.

No sociological/anthropological work on the Jainas was done for more than a decade when Nevaskar (1971) published his book on a comparative study of the Jainas and the Quakers using some of the propositions of the Weberian Protestant Ethic thesis. Again after a considerable gap of time, some scholars at Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard universities began to publish research papers and books based on their fieldwork in India, particularly in Gujarat and Rajasthan. A cursory look at this literature published since the late 1980s suggests that much of it is concerned with the Jain religious themes such as renunciation, worship, rituals and the role of mendicants in the community (Banks 1992; Carrithers 1989; Carrithers and Humphrey 1991; Cort 1991; Dundas 1992; Folkert 1993; Humphrey and Laidlaw 1994; Laidlaw 1995). These developments have inspired some Indian scholars to undertake anthropological/sociological studies of the Jain community (Jain 2004; Jain 1999). Nevertheless, the Jainas remain one of the least researched communities in India.

2.0 Max Weberian Thesis

Max Weber was the first sociologist to have sociologically studied the major religions of India. These studies are contained in his book “The Religion of India” (1958). Max Weber maintains that the Jains are an exclusive merchant sect (sick) and that there is apparently “a positive relationship between Jainism and economic motivation which is otherwise quite foreign in Hinduism”. Weber seems to suggest that although Jainism is spiritualized in the direction of world renunciation, some features of inner worldly asceticism are also present in it. To begin with, it can be observed that the twin doctrines of “predestination” and the “calling” implied in Protestantism are only indirectly present in Jainism but they must be understood in the light of Karma, and not in relation to God. Many aspects of rational conduct promoting savings such as thriftiness, self-discipline, frugality and abstention as part of this worldly asceticism, however, are directly present in Jainism.

In Jainism salvation does not depend upon the grace of God, for as an “atheist” religion, it denies the existence of God as the creator of the universe. Instead, it places singular emphasis on individualism in the sense that every soul can attain perfection - its true dharma (nature), i.e., perfect wisdom, unlimited perception, infinite power and unbounded happiness, etc. What hinders it from doing so is its increasing bondage with karmic matter. In Jainism Karmas function automatically; one is responsible for one’s thoughts, words and acts. No one, not even the God, can intervene in this routine. In order to stop the influx of karmas one is required to have right faith, right knowledge and right conduct - the three gems of the commandment of Jaina asceticism. It is not sufficient to stop the influence of bad karmas and destroy the accumulated ones; it is also necessary to earn good karmas. Therefore, a Jaina must always be on his guard, apprehensive of sin. According to R. Williams, the author of Jaina Yoga, a Jaina “works hard, conforms to conventions, obeys constituted authority, leads a frugal and unostentatious life and carefully calculates the consequences of every step he takes”.  This strong religious and ethical foundation offers a well-rounded commercial ethic. Limitation of desire and self-discipline are important qualities for a successful businessman in the long run. One of the five basic vows for a layman, the self- prescribed limitation of possession (parigraha parimāna vrata) is perhaps directly responsible for cultivating these qualities. S. Stevenson in her book “The Heart of Jainism” writes “the Jaina has shrewdly realized that the true way of increasing our wealth is by curbing our desires, when we remember that the Jaina creed has forced its holders to become a commercial people, we can see the special value this vow of limitation might have, if it were really lived up to.”

More direct attempt at savings of time as well as money by the Jainas can be seen in the absence of expensive rituals among them that, by way of comparison, are absolutely essential for traditional Hindus. The death ceremony is a case in point. Among the Jainas the mortal remains of the dead are not necessarily taken to the confluence of the sacred rivers or to the places of pilgrimage; instead they are consigned to a local river, lake, and pond or even in the bushes. According to sociologist V. A. Sangave, “Jains neither perform Śrādha ceremony nor give dāna or gifts to Brahmins (1980: 345). The pindadāna or the custom of offering rice balls to the dead has no sanction in Jainism, and the custom of giving death feasts is also on the decline”.

Perhaps the Jainas were also the first among those who adopted short marriage ceremonies (instead of the traditional ones lasting for several days) and group marriages for the poorer sections of their community. At the individual level the prescribed simple way of life, particularly abstinence from intoxicants, meat, honey, etc. further helped in having considerable savings. Thus to quote Weber: “As with the Puritans, the strict methodical nature of their prescribed way of life was favorable to accumulation of wealth”.

3.0 Conceptual Framework

Any sociological study of the Jainas, or for that mater, any other minority community in India cannot be studied in isolation. Socio-economic developments, changes in the value system, social structural changes, demographic changes, and community’s role in politics -- all or any of these aspects about the Jainas can be studied only in the wider context of the Indian society, and that too in a historical perspective.

The Indian Society of the past two hundred years or so can be conceptualized not in terms of caste, tribe or peasantry but in terms of a socio-economic formation that can be termed as “dependent peripheral capitalism”. This “neo-Marxist” conceptualization” of the Indian society presupposes the articulation of various modes of production in the manner that capitalism always distorted and dominated the other modes of production, multiplicity of classes corresponding to the various modes of production, relative autonomy of the superstructure and the interventionist role of the state. The notion of class fractions or class segments and corresponding economic interests are also an important element in this model of peripheral capitalist socio-economic formation.

In this model the Jainas can be conceptualized not as a trading community but as segments of the trading and commercial petty bourgeoisie whose class interest and class behavior easily explains their relatively high level of economic prosperity. A very high degree of individualism, dual value system, Protestant ethic-like elements present in Jaina religion, high level of urbanization and literacy, and progressive occupational specialization over the centuries as traders, moneylenders, bankers etc. - all tended to add to the prosperity and relative modernization of the Jain community. This prosperity is also reflected in the emerging demographic trends among the Jains, whereby the birth rate has registered a sharp decline in the 1991 census of India.

4.0 Jains in diaspora

Diaspora generally refers to any migrant population group settled abroad but maintaining close links with its homeland. Modern organized Diasporas constitute trans-state triadic networks involving ethnic diasporas, their host countries and homelands, and as such they have significant ramifications for international relations, international politics and other activities. The ties diasporic communities maintain through visits, marriages, remittances, and trade networks, transfer of technology and skills and political lobbying for the homeland are some other aspects of diasporic activities.

Like the Jews, Chinese and other major World Diasporas, the Indian Diaspora too provide an interesting case study of all these activities. The modern Indian Diaspora is about two hundred years old; largely a creation of British Colonialism in India and some other countries of Asia, Africa, Oceania and the West Indies. This is evident by the fact that the vast majority of Indians migrated only to the British colonies (two major exceptions being Surinam and the Re-Union Island).

Whereas the expanding capitalist plantation economies in the overseas British Colonies created a great demand for labor and other manpower groups, in India a combination of the following factors led to the exodus of Indians abroad: A decline of the handicraft industry, an increase in land revenue, famines in the second half of the nineteenth century, mass illiteracy and sluggish and enclavist industrialization.

Historically, five distinctive patterns of Indian emigration can be identified: 1. indentured labour emigration, 2. kangani/maistry labour emigration, 3. “passage” or “free” emigration of trading castes and classes, 4. “brain drain” type emigration and 5. manpower migration to West Asia/Middle East. Since the Jainas are not known to have migrated abroad as labourers, in this presentation we are mainly concerned with the last three forms of emigration. In other words, the Jainas emigrated mostly in relation to trade, business or commerce or as professionals and semi-professionals. As “passage” or free migrants they migrated to South Africa, Eastern African countries (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) and Fiji and Hong Kong. In the post-independence period Jains also migrated to Britain, Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and to many European countries. In recent times, they have also been migrating to oil rich Persian Gulf countries. The various Jaina diasporic communities in different parts of the world are briefly described in the following pages.

4.1 West Asia

“The ancient Jaina canonical text - the Sūtrakrtāńga makes reference to the Jainas influence on the Persian King Karusha and the prince Aradak of ancient Persia in circa 558 B.C., i.e. over 2,500 years ago”. A medieval text Jagaducarita narrates the life and work of a Jaina merchant Jagadu who owned ships and had maintained a trade post at Ormuz and carried out trade with Persia. Whether such ancient and medieval period migration of Jainas led to the formation of significant diasporic communities is not known. What is known with some certainty is the fact that as early as in 1549 Ormuz had a small colony of the Jainas and Hindus who were described “as complete vegetarians and worshippers of cows”. Historical records of the Jaina rulers from south-western coastal regions of India show that they not only established a sea route but also transhipped their commodities. These Jaina officers and merchants thus made large gifts of precious stones and Jaina images to their temples back in their country, and these precious gifts are now vaulted at the Jaina matha in Moodbidri, an important Jaina town from historic times to the present, situated at about thirty miles the Arabian sea coast” (Kumar 1996: 49).

A very small number of Jainas have also been migrating to the West Asian countries, particularly to countries and territories in the Persian Gulf/ Red Sea region since the second half of the nineteenth century when the region came under the British influence and/or administration and economic opportunities were made available in pearl financing and general trade. Aden, Muscat and Dubai were particularly important in this regard. Subsequent to oil price hike during the 1970s the Jainas have been migrating in significant numbers to the Gulf countries. In the United Arab Emirates alone some five to eight hundred families/individuals were reported to have been living. Due to restrictions on non-Islamic religions in these countries, there are no organized religious activities in most Gulf countries. Besides the Gulf countries, a small number of Jainas have also migrated to Yemen, Sudan and Ethiopia.

International trade in gems and diamonds has led some Jainas to settle in Israel as well as Belgium, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S.A. “Jaina diamond traders have won major export awards both in India and Israel. Jaina scholars are welcomed in these places and these unique niche business communities are actively involved in philanthropic work” (Shah 1998).

4.2 East Africa

Although India’s trade relations with East Africa go back to antiquity, the sizeable Indian and particularly the Jaina Diaspora could emerge only after the consolidation of British colonial rule in East Africa. Thus a beginning was made in 1899 when two Jainas migrated to settle in Mombasa. Their descendents can still be found in, Kenya (Shah 1977: 371). The Jains as a community in East Africa grew slowly during the inter-war period, and rather rapidly after the Second World War. In 1930 there were about 2,000 Jains in East Africa: about 1,000 in Nairobi, 500 in Mombasa, 100 in Dar-es-Salaam, and the rest elsewhere. By the late 1940s their total number was estimated at 7,400: 6,000 in Kenya, 1,000 in Tanzania and 400 in Uganda (Mangat 1969: 142). “In 1963 the total for East Africa was estimated at 32,000, with a possible 25,000 in Kenya (including 8,000 in Nairobi and 4,000 in Mombasa). The group in Uganda was rather small with a few families in Kampala and some scattered in the smaller townships. In Tanganyika, as well as scattered settlers, there were an estimated 850 Jainas in Dar-es-Salaam, and 850 in Zanzibar” (Shah 1977: 372).

Almost all the Jainas in East Africa have been Shwetambars originating from Western India, particularly Saurashtra, Gujarat, Kutch and Maharashtra. These can be further divided into two main groups: (1) the Visa Oswals, also known as Halari Jains; and (2) the Kutchi Jains. “In Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, the majority of Jains were Visa oswals, and it was only in Zanzibar that approximately half of the community were Kutchi Jains and the other half Sthānakavāsis” (Shah 1977: 372). A great majority of Jainas had been Dukanwalas or traders, settled in urban areas. With the advancement in education in the East African countries in due course of time some of their descendents also diversified into other vocations.

4.3 U. K.

Very few Jainas immigrated into England either from India or East Africa until the mid-1960s. Since the late 1960s a number of Jains began to migrate to the U. K. individually under the Commonwealth Immigrants Quota System. About the same time Jainas from East Africa also began to settle in England, particularly following the introduction of the Voucher System by the British Government. The policy of Africanization followed by the newly independent East African states and the expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972 was the major push factors for the Jainas as well to get out of East Africa. By the mid-1970s there were at least 20,000 Jains in Britain: 5,000 from India and 15,000 (as “twice migrants”) from East Africa (Shah 1977: 371).

By the mid-1990s there were 30,000 Jainas in the U. K.: 25,000 in London, 1,000 in Leicester, 500 in Manchester and 500 in Birmingham. Jainas’ socio-cultural and religious needs were looked after by about thirty associations. Of these the following three were the most important: Jaina Samaj Europe, the Oswal Association of the United Kingdom and the Navnat Vanik Association (U.K.).

“The Jaina Samaj Europe has established a Jaina Centre in the city of Leicester. This centre is a major symbol of Jaina unity, the first centre of its kind to embody co-operation among Jaina groups by including in one building a Svetāmbaras temple, a Digambara temple, a Guru Gautama mandira, a Sthānakavāsis upāsraya and a Srimad Rājacandra mandira. Its fine Jaina architecture, including elaborate interior and exterior carvings, has made it a major tourist attraction and place of pilgrimage for Jainas. The Jaina Samāja in Europe has published books and a journal on Jainism. Jainas are seeking to widen their activities through the creation of ‘inter-faith’ links such as the Jaina-Christian Association, the Jain-Jewish Association and the Leicestershire Ahimsa Society for the Care of Nature” (Shah 1998: 80).

A Jaina Academy was founded in 1991 which has been offering an undergraduate course in Jaina philosophy and religion from De Montfort University in Leicester. The Academy is also associated with an educational and research center at Bombay University. Presently, the Jaina population in the U.K. is estimated at around 50,000.

4.4 U.S.A.

Sri Virchand R. Gandhi is credited as the first Jaina visitor to North America when he attended the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1893. The next Jaina to have visited the U.S. was Barrister Champatrai Jain. He addressed the World Fellowship of Faiths in Chicago on 30th August 1933. A third name often mentioned in this context is that of Sri J.L.Jaini of the World Jain Mission of Aliganj, Etah, India, who had traveled to the U.S., the U.K., Germany and some other countries.

Until 1950s there was no Jaina diasporic community worth the name in the U.S. From 1960s onwards a large number of professionals, academics and students began to settle in North America. In the mid-1960s the Jain population in the U.S. was estimated at about 20,000; a majority of them being Gujaratis “A statistical profile of the Jaina community given in the 1986 Directory of Jainas shows that the majority of the respondents were either engineers (33.1%) or in the medical field (19.8%); even though Jainas are known as businessmen in India, a small percentage (12.1%) are self-employed in the United States” (Williams 1988: 64). By 1990s the population of Jainas in the U.S. had increased to about 50,000 and presently it is estimated at 100,000. Most Jainas in the U.S. live in nine states. These are (in order of population density) New York, California, New Jersey, Michigan, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland and Massachusetts.

By the mid-1990s there were 55 Jaina socio-cultural associations/societies/centers in the U.S. catering to a wide variety of community needs. Today their number has gone well over 110. To further co-ordinate the activities of these associations the Federation of Jain Associations in North America was formed in 1981 “which had more than 6,000 participants in their ninth biannual convention in 1997” (Shah 1998: 82).

4.5 Canada

In the case of Canada it is difficult to say who migrated first to Canada and when. In all probability the first Jainas must have migrated to Canada after India’s independence, particularly from the 1950s onwards. Since then a large number of Jainas have migrated to Canada first under the Quota system and subsequently under the Point system. These were joined by a small number of East African Jaina refugees who were expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin Dada in 1972. In the early 1990s the Jaina population of Canada was estimated at about 10,000 (Kumar 1996). According to the same source all Canadian provinces except Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and North West Territories, had Jain residents. Ontario was the host to the majority of Jains followed by Quebec and British Columbia. This trend of geographical distribution still holds good. As in the U.S., in Canada too a majority of Jains reside in urban and industrial centers and happen to be professionals.

Census	Number of Jains (in 000s)	Percentage of total population	Decadal   percent change    in    the number of Jains
1881	1,222	0.49	-
1891	1,417	0.51	15.94
1901	1,334	0.47	-5.83
1911	1,248	0.41	-6.47
1921	1,177	0.39	-5.26
1931	1,251	0.37	6.28
1941	1,440	0.37	15.81
1951	1,618	0.45	11.67
1961	2,027	0.46	25.17
1971	2,605	0.47	28.48
1981*	3,193	0.48	23.17
1991**	3,352	0.40	4.42
2001	4,225	0.40	26.0

*	Excluding Assam where, census was not held in 1981 owing to disturbed conditions.
**	Excluding Jammu & Kashmir where 1991 census was not held.

1. Kingsley Davis, Population of India & Pakistan, Russell & Russell, New York, 1951, pp. 178-179
2. Census of India, 1961, Paper No. 1 of 1963, Religion, R.G. Office, New Delhi, 1963, pp. ii-viii.
3. Census of Indian, 1971, Paper No. 2 of 1972, Religion, R. G. Office, New Delhi, 1972, pp.2-5.
4. Census of India, 1981, Paper No. 4 of 1984, Household Population by Religion of Head of Household, R.G, Office, New Delhi, 1984, p. 26 (figures amended as per Errata issued subsequently by this office).
5. Census of India, 1991, Paper No, 1 of 1995, Religion, R.G. Office, New Delhi, 1995.
6. Census of India 2001, First Report of Religion Data. R.G. Office, New Delhi, 2005.

 

India/States/Union territories	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001
India	2,027281	2,604,6	3,206,03	3,352,706	4,225,053
Jammu & Kashmir	1,427	1,150	1,576	*	2,518
Himachal Pradesh	95	626	1,046	1,206	1,408
Punjab	48,754	21,383	27,049	20,763	39,276
Chandigharh	**	1,016	1,889	1,531	2,592
Uttaranchal	$	$	$	7,870	9,294
Haryana	**	31,173	35,482	35,296	57,167
Delhi	29,595	50,513	73,917	94,672	155,122
Rajasthan	409,417	513,54	8624,317	562,806	650,493
Uttar Pradesh	122,108	124,72	8141,549	168,389	207,111
Bihar	17,598	25,185	27,613	11,332	16,085
Sikkim	19	-	108	40	183
Arunachal Pradesh	14	39	42	64	216
Nagaland	263	627	1,153	1,202	2,093
Manipur	778	1,408	975	1,337	1,461
Mizoram	***	-	11	4	179
Tripura	195	375	297	301	477
Meghalaya	***	268	542	445	772
Assam	9,468	12,917	*	20,645	23,957
West Bengal	26,940	32,203	38,663	34,355	55,223
Jharkhand	$$$	$$$	$$$	11,717	16,301
Orissa	2,295	6,521	6,642	6,302	9,154
Chhattisgarh	$$	$$	$$	43,213	56,103
Madhya Pradesh	247,927	345,21	444,960	447,111	545,446
Gujarat	409,754	451,57	467,768	491,331	525,305
Daman & Diu	+	223	140	212	268
Dadra & Nagar Haveli	120	303	372	529	864
Maharashtra	485,672	703,66	939,392	965,840	1,031,843
Andhra Pradesh	9,012	16,108	18,642	26,564	41,846
Karnataka	174,366	218,86	297,974	326,114	412,659
Goa	68	333	462	487	820
Lakshadweep	-	-	-	-	-
Kerala	2,967	3,336	3,605	3,641	4,528

1. The Census 2001 Population figures for India and Manipur exclude those of Mao Maram, Paomata and Pural sub-divisions of Senapati district of Manipur.
2. In 1991 figures for Uttranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have been recasted as per the Jurisdiction in 2001 census.
3. All religious communities include ‘Religion not stated’.
4. Population figures for 1961 are as per ‘Social and Culture Tables’ part-II-C (i), Census of India 1971, 1981 as per ‘Religion’- Paper 2 of 1972, Census of India 1971, 1981 as per ‘Household population by religion of head of household’-paper 4 of 1984, Census of India 1981 and 1991 as per ‘Religion’ - Part IV - B (ii) Census of India 1991

*	No Census conducted,
**	Included under Punjab,
***	Included under Assam,
$	Included under Uttar Pradesh,
$$	Included under Madhya Pradesh
$$$	Included under Bihar,
+	Included under Goa.
++	India figures for 1971 excludes population of Sikkim that is 209, 843 as per ‘Household population by Religion of Head of the Household, Paper 3 of 1985, Series 19, Sikkim.

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