Introduction

There is much in support of the claim that the beginnings of Jainism and Âjîvikism, two ancient Indian religious traditions, have a lot in common, although the former has remained an integral part of the religious landscape of South Asia till today, whereas the Âjîvikas are no longer present in general memory, except for stray specialists in South Asian religions. Indeed, the Âjîvikas seem to have disappeared from South India as early as the fourteenth century, and there are indications that they had become non-existent in the North several centuries earlier.