Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

Gaud Saraswat Brahmin
Regions with significant populations
Primary populations in Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Kerala[1]
Languages
Konkani
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Saraswat Brahmins, Roman Catholic Brahmins

Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd), also known as Shenvis are a Hindu community of contested caste status and identity.[2] They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue.[3]

They claim to be Saraswat Brahmins who initially migrated to Konkan from Gaud, per Puranic accounts. Upon moving out of Goa during Portuguese occupation, their claims of Brahminhood were rejected both to the north of Goa, by the Deshastha, Chitpavan and Karhade Brahmins of Maharashtra, and to the south, by the Nambudiri Brahmins of Kerala.

The GSBs were traditionally traders and even as early as the 1400s they conducted commerce across the Indian Ocean. In the Maratha empire, they also served as administrators.[4][5][6][7]

  1. ^ Lola Nayar (1 October 2012). "The Konkan Rail". Outlook India. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  2. ^ Anil Seal (2 March 1968). The Emergence of Indian Nationalism: Competition and Collaboration in the Later Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 375. ISBN 9780521062749. GAUD SARASWAT : a subdivision of Brahmins.
  3. ^ —Richard Gabriel Fox (1970). Urban India: Society, Space, and Image: Papers Presented at a Symposium Held at Duke University. Duke University. p. 27.
    —J. Rajathi (1976). Survey of Konkani in Kerala. Language Division, Office of the Registrar General. pp. 145–150.
    —George, Anjana (9 October 2016). "Navarathri celebrations in Kerala: Kerala celebrates Navarathri in 9 diverse ways". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
    —"GSB community concludes its celebration". The Times of India. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ramaswamy2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference CarrinGuzy2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tambs-Lyche2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference BorgesPereiraStubbe2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).