Saraswat Family

Saraswat Brahmins are a Hindu Brahmin community.

Reference to Saraswat names are found in Shilaharas as well as Kadamba copper plate inscriptions.The inscriptions found in Goa bear testimony to the arrival of Brahmin families in the Konkan region.[2]

The Shilaharas seem to have invited so-called pure Aryan Brahmins and Kshatriyas from some places in the north to settle in Konkan. These 'imported' Brahmins later on came to be called Gaud Saraswat Brahmins. [3]

Sahyadrikhanda and Mangesh Mahatmya allude to migrations of Saraswat brahmins, constituting sixty-six families, who settled in eight villages of Goa. There were regional variations among the Saraswats, such as those among Bardeskars, Pednekars and Sastikars. The Konkana mahatmya, from the 17th century CE, deals with the internal rivalry of the Saraswats and strained relations between these groups.[4] In Kalhana's Rajatarangini (12th century CE), the Saraswats are mentioned as one of the five Pancha Gauda Brahmin communities residing to the north of the Vindhyas.[5]

The GSB ancestors identified themselves as of the Saraswat section of the northern Gaud division, in contrast to their Maharashtra and Karnataka Brahman neighbors of the southern division. Many Saraswats left Goa after the invasion of Malik Kafur to the neighbouring regions and during the period of religious persecution of the Portuguese also Saraswats migrated to Uttar Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and North Konkan. The Saraswat Brahmins particularly served as Administrators,village revenue collectors (Kulkarnis), financiers,landlords,Priests,Teachers and Merchants in the intra-Asian trade, and diplomats. Many sources of government income in Goa, Konkan and elsewhere, including taxes on commodities and customs duties, remained in their hands.[2]