ABSTRACT
From the beginning of the seventeenth century, internal trade in north India began to expand rapidly. This chapter attempts to point out some of the Jain sources which yield information on socio-cultural life of the Jains in the Mughal capital of Agra. As a consequence the city of Agra acted as a trend-setter even amongst the Jains in the seventeenth century. We have additional information concerning important members of the Jain community in the city of Agra from these Jain sources. The contemporary Jain writings repeatedly refer to Agra, the Mughal capital. The reason appears to be two-fold. As an imperial capital Agra offered opportunities for trade, unrivalled by any other urban centre in north India. An inscription shows that a Jain, Rupchand whose father Banarsi was a resident of Agra had gone to Surat to worship a Jain saint.
