The Jains in India are the last direct representatives of the ancient Shramana tradition. People who practice Jainism, an ancient religion of the Indian subcontinent, are collectively referred to as Jains.
Jainism has a fourfold order of muni (male monastics), aryika (female monastics), Śrāvaka (layman) and sravika (laywoman). This order is known as a sangha.[citation needed]. Many Jains are in general caste.
Cultural influence
The Jain have the highest literacy rate in India, 94.1.% compared with the national average of 65.38%. They have the highest female literacy rate, 90.6.% compared with the national average of 54.16%.[1][2]
As per national survey NFHS-4 conducted in 2018 Jains were declared wealthiest of any community with 70% of their population living in top quintiles of wealth.[3]
The sex ratio in the 0-6 age group is the second lowest for Jain (870 females per 1,000 males).
Communities
Jains are found in almost every part of India. There are about 100 different Jain communities in India. They can be divided into five groups based on historical and current residence:
Jainism in East Africa - One of the oldest Jain overseas diaspora. Their number was estimated at 45,000 at the independence of the East African countries in the early 1960s.[6] Most members of the diaspora belonged to Gujarati speaking Halari Visa Oshwal Jain community originally from the Jamnagar area of Saurashtra.[6][7]
The Jain population in India according to 2011 census is 0.54% i.e. 4,451,753 (Males 2,278,097; Females 2,173,656) out of the total population of India 1,210,854,977 (males 623,270,258; females 587,584,719).[8] The tabular representation of Jain population in the major states of India as per 2011 Census data released by the government is:
^Mehta, Makrand (2001). "Gujarati Business Communities in East African Diaspora: Major Historical Trends". Economic and Political Weekly. 36 (20): 1738–1747. JSTOR4410637.
