{{Infobox Former Country | conventional_long_name = Ajila Empire | common_name = Ajila Empire (Dynasty) | era = | year_start = {{c.|1154 CE}} | year_end = {{c.|1786 CE}} | status = Empire | p1 = | s1 = | religion = Jainism | capital = Venur }}
'''Ajila''' is a common surname of the Bunt people,<ref name=gopa>{{cite book|last=Sabharwal|first=Gopa|title=Ethnicity and class: social divisions in an Indian city|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-567830-7|pages=138|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gEhPAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> the landed gentry of Tulu Nadu region in the south west of India.They were mostly in Tamil Nadu region.It is believed that the founder of this community was named Ajila A Abhilash.It is also the name of the Jain Bunt Dynasty who ruled the principality of Venur for several centuries (1154 to 1786 C.E). The most notable of the Ajila kings was Veera Timmannarasa Ajila IV.<ref name=tuluva>{{cite book|last=P. Gururaja Bhatt|title=Studies in Tuluva history and culture, from the pre-historic times up to the modern|year=1975|publisher=P. Gururaja Bhatt|pages=92–96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjhuAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name=deccan />
== Architecture == [[File:Venur - Bahubali.JPG|thumb|Bahubali in Venur, {{convert|38|ft}} monolith statue, erected by Veera Timmannarasa Ajila IV]]
The monolith of Bahubali in Venur was erected by Ajila kings Veera Timmannarasa Ajila IV in 1604 C.E. The descendants of the Ajila rulers still survive and inhabit the Aladangady Aramane (Ajila Palace). An inscription in Old Kannada by Veera Timmannarasa Ajila IV unearthed in 2006 reads {{quote|On Saturday, the seventh day of Kanya month in Vikari Samvatsara, the Ajila king, Swasthi Shri Mahamandalika Somanatha Perunana Salva Shri Veera Thimmaraja Wodeya made a regulation for his 3,000 followers that they should perpetuate the grant of pepper made by him to his traditional tenants. They should also maintain the grants made to the Bunts of the palace. They and the merchants who has settled in the kingdom must attend the ‘Brahmotsava’ ceremony in the temple of Aladangadi. Neglecting this regulation is equal to neglecting the tradition and also the four deities of Aruvu, Shri Somanatha, Shri Shanthishwara of Venur.<ref name=Ajila>{{cite news|last=DH News Service Mangalore|title=Inscription on Ajila king unearthed at Aladangadi|url=http://archive.deccanherald.com/Deccanherald/nov232006/district22213320061122.asp|accessdate=16 December 2011|newspaper=Deccan Herald|date=23 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801025306/http://archive.deccanherald.com/Deccanherald/nov232006/district22213320061122.asp|archive-date=1 August 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
== Present status == The succession to the Ajila throne was as per the Bunt custom of matrilineal inheritance (Aliyasantana).<ref name=tuluva /> The present head of the Ajila dynasty is Padmaprasad Ajila, fourteenth in line through the matrilineal lineage of Veera Timmannarasa Ajila IV.<ref name=deccan>{{cite news|last=Ronald Anil Fernandes|title=Beauty surrounds this monolith in Venur|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/202516/beauty-surrounds-monolith-venur.html|accessdate=16 December 2011|newspaper=Deccan Herald}}</ref>
==See also== *Jain Bunt *Venur
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Dynasties of India Category:Jain dynasties Category:Bunt (community) surnames