Nattal Sahu
Encyclopedia
Nattal Sahu of Yoginipur (now Mehrauli
Mehrauli
Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in the South West district of Delhi in India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is located close to Gurgaon.-History:...

, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

) is the earliest known Agrawal
Agrawal
Agrawal or Agarwal is a large and influential community in India. Agrawals are Kshatriya by birth of the Solar Dynasty but after the adoption of Vanika dharma by king Agrasena, Agrawals started dealing in business...

 merchant-prince, who lived during the reign Tomara king, Anangapal. His life's account is described in Apabhramsha
Apabhramsha
Apabhraṃśa is a term used by Sanskrit grammarians since Patañjali to refer to dialects that deviate from the norm of Sanskrit grammar. The term in Sanskrit literally means "corrupt" or "non-grammatical language". It is used as a cover term for the dialects forming the transition between the late...

 text Pasanaha Cariu (Parshvanath Caritra) of poet Vibudh Shridhar
Vibudh Shridhar
Vibudh Shridhar or Vibudha Shridhara was an accomplished Apabhramsha writer and poet in North India. He is the first known Agrawal author...

, written in Vikrama Samvat
Samvat
Samvat is any of the various Hindu calendars. In India, there are several calendars in use:* Vikrama Samvat: lunar months, solar sidereal years* Shaka Samvat : lunar months, solar sidereal years* Shaka Samvat : solar tropical...

 1189 (1132 CE) .

Nattal's father was Sahu Joja. He had two older brothers Raghav and Sodhal.

Nattal was the chief of the Jains
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...

 of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

. He controlled a commercial empire spread through Anga, Vanga (Bengal), Kalinga, Karnataka, Nepal, Bhot (Tibet), Panchal, Chedi, Gauda, Thakka (Punjab), Kerala, Marahatta (Maharashtra), Bhadanaka (Bayana), Magadh, Gurjar, Sorath (Saurashtra)and Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

 . He was also a minister in the court of Tomar Anangapala.

Poet Vibudh Shridhar
Vibudh Shridhar
Vibudh Shridhar or Vibudha Shridhara was an accomplished Apabhramsha writer and poet in North India. He is the first known Agrawal author...

, who was also an Agrawal
Agrawal
Agrawal or Agarwal is a large and influential community in India. Agrawals are Kshatriya by birth of the Solar Dynasty but after the adoption of Vanika dharma by king Agrasena, Agrawals started dealing in business...

, had migrated from Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

 to Delhi. Nattala, as a patron, urged him to write the Pasanaha Cariu. Shridhara finished the composition in Vikrama Samvat 1189 (1132 CE), and thus became the first known Agrawal author. He describes his patron thus:

सिरि अयरवाल कुल कमल मित्तु,

सुधम्म कम्म पवियण्य-वित्तु

siri ayaravaala kula kamala mittu,

sudhamma kamma paviyaNya-vittu

Nattala Sahu had built a beautiful temple of Lord Adinath
Rishabha (Jain tirthankar)
In Jainism, R̥ṣabha or Ādinātha , also known as the "Lord of Kesariya") was the first of the 24 Tīrthaṅkaras. According to Jain beliefs, R̥ṣabha founded the Ikshvaku dynasty and was the first Tīrthaṅkara of the present age...

. He had the idol installed with an elaborate ceremony:

जैनं चैत्यमकारि सुन्दरतरं जैनीं प्रतिष्ठां तथा|

स श्रीमान्विदितः सदैव जयतात्पृथ्वीतले नट्टलः||

jainaM chaityamakaari sundarataraM jainii.n pratishhThaa.n tathaa|

sa shreemaanviditaH sadaiv jayataatpR^ithviitale naTTalaH||

It is believed that fragments of this temple were used for the Quwwat-al-Islam mosque near Qutab Minar.
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