Dear Pali friends,

Today I have come upon the interesting article on the Prakrits by Jain
scholar Dr Devendra Kumar Jain. It confirms that the Pali originated
from Ardha-Magadhi (the language of Jain suttas), spoken in the
Magadha region where both Buddha and the founder of Jainism Mahavira
(Nigantha Nataputta) preached at about the same time.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jainlist/message/2498

You may also find interesting an Acaranga sutta:
http://campus.northpark.edu/history/Classes/Sources/Jainism.html
which in some portions is very similar to Buddhist suttas.

On teh topic of references to Jainism in Buddhist texts, see:
http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/jai.htm

Metta,
Dimitry