India is a country with a blend of many religions and communities. The country is divided by languages, casts and sects. India has 23 official languages; hundreds of casts and sects divide us; but the spirit of India unites us all. This blog is to give a flavor of the history of my community, the Goud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) whose population is about 0.3 Million.
Saraswats are people of Aryan descent who had settled down on the banks of the Saraswati River and were the followers of the Saraswat Muni. The river Saraswati eventually dried up (1000 BC) and this led to the migration of the Saraswats to the plains of northern India. Though the exact dates of this migration are unknown, the Rig Veda eulogies the river Saraswati was huge.
During this exodus, the brahmins spread in 3 directions. One group moved to the North and East into Punjab and Kashmir. The second group moved to the East towards Bihar while the third group went down south west towards Gujrat. Our ancestors were with the group that moved over to Bihar.
Around 1000 AD, they moved again this time to Goa, where the land was fertile and trading was begining. It is believed that Lord Parshuram, a Brahmin, also counted as an avatar of Lord Vishnu brought the Saraswats from the northern Indian plains to Goa for the purpose of religious functions.
Between 10th and 13th century the trading community spread across through the sea ports and established bases in Bombay, Thane, Kalyan, Honnavar, Mangalore, Cochin etc.. while the muslim rulers attacked Goa (then Gomantak), some people started migrating to Kudal desh (Ratnagiri) to the north; the Vijayanagar kingdom in Dharwad/ Belgaum to the East; The Kanara to the South; and some down to Travancore in Kerala.
As narrated over the history; Those who migrated to Kashmir called themselves as Kashmiri Pandits, Sind-Sind Saraswats, Kutch-Kutchi Saraswats, Rajapur-Rajapur Saraswats, Punjab-Punjab Saraswats, Rajasthan-Rajasthan Saraswats and Chitrapur-Chitrapur Saraswats.
This in a nutshell is the mythological and historical background of the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins popularly known as GSBs.
References
http://www.gsbkonkani.net
Wikipedia
Kamath.com
http://www.gsbkerala.com/gsbhistory.htm
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