The Saurashtra people, or Saurashtrians, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic Hindu Brahmin community of South India who speak the Saurashtra language, an Indo-Aryan Gujarati language, and predominantly reside in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Saurashtrians trace their ancestry to the historical region of Saurashtra in Western India. Their migration to Southern India owes to the forays and desecration of the Somnath temple triggered by the frequent Muslim invasions, most notably by Mahmud Ghazni. They are known for their expertise in traditional vedic practices and rituals. Apart from being priests and scholars, they are also been involved in various professions such as agriculture, trade, and business and were a prominent industrious and prosperous mercantile community of merchants and weavers in southern India until the 20th century. They have contributed to the cultural and social fabric of Tamil Nadu in many ways and have continued to maintain their distinct identity over the centuries.
Saurashtrians are Brahmins, and are also referred to as Saurashtra Brahmins. Further, like all traditional orthodox Brahmins, they are classified based on their gotra, or patrilineal descent. The majority of the people are Vaishnavas, though there is a significant proportion of Shaivas as well. They are prominently known by their unique family names and also use the titles Sharma, Rao, Iyer, Iyengar and Achary as their surnames but belong to linguistic minorities.
Names Their name has many alternate spellings, including Sourashtra, Sowrashtra, Sowrastra and Sourashtri. Saurashtrians are colloquially called Palkar among themselves. They have also been known as Patnūlkarar, but the term is obsolete.
Etymology
The word Saurashtra literally means "a good state". It is derived from Su meaning good, Rashtra meaning state and the other compound of Saura and Rashtra, meaning "the land of the Sun". These people were once sun worshipers and have built sun temples. The people worshiping Surya or Saura and inhabiting the land of the Sun are called Saurashtrians.
The Tamil name by which these people were also known in Tamil Nadu is Patnūlkarar, which means silk-thread people, mostly silk-thread merchants and silk weavers, since the early settlers set up silk-weaving guilds and were involved in the trade of silk clothes and diamonds to the royal families of Tamil country. After the Gupta dynasty, silk became the attire of royal families, the Saurashtrians were patronized by several dynasties across North India and the Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagara, Nayak and Thanjavur Maratha rulers patronized them in ancient South India. Their specialty was considered so honorable and complicated that they were in some cases exchanged as a major aspect of marriage settlements or as endowments to neighbouring kingdoms.
These people are first mentioned as Pattavayaka, the Sanskrit equivalent of Patnūlkarar in the Mandasor (present day Madhya Pradesh) inscriptions of Kumaragupta I belonging to the 5th century CE. They are also mentioned by the same name in the Patteeswaram inscriptions of Thanjavur belonging to the mid 16th century CE and in the inscriptions of Rani Mangammal of Madurai belonging to the 17th century CE.
Identity Saurashtrians are well assimilated in Tamil society, without any outward differentiation. Apart from certain religious adherences, brahminism and vegetarianism, their culture is similar to the rest of Tamil Nadu. Though their physical features are not similar to Tamils, they have Tamil names and are essentially a part of Tamil people, yet distinct in their ethnic identity and can be called Saurashtrian Tamils.
Origin
The Bhagavata Purana mentions that the ancient Abhiras were the rulers of Saurashtra Kingdom and Avanti Kingdom and they were followers of the Vedas, who worshiped Vishnu as their supreme deity. These ancient provinces as depicted in the epic literature of Mahabharata roughly corresponds to the present day Saurashtra region of southern Gujarat and Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh.
Their origin is Dwarka, land of Lord Krishna, the origin of the name date backs to the time when the ancestors of these people inhabited the Lata region of Saurashtra in southern Gujarat.J.S. Venkatavarma, Sourashtra Charitra Sangraham (Madura, 1915) Saurashtrians are originally Gauda Brahmins and belong to Pancha-Gauda Brahmins. After their southward migration they have been called Saurashtra Brahmins. They had their original homes in present-day Gujarat and migrated to South India over a millennium ago. They are currently scattered over various places of Tamil Nadu and are mostly concentrated in Madurai, Thanjavur and Salem Districts."The Saurashtra Community in Madurai, South India", Albert James Saunders, The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 32, No. 5 (Mar. 1927) pp. 787–799, published by: The University of Chicago Press.
History
Saurashtrians migrated from southern Gujarat in 11th century CE after the fall of Somnath Temple when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India. It is said that the Saurashtrians lived in Devagiri, the present day Daulatabad of Maharashtra during the regime of the Yadava kings up to 13th century CE. After the fall of Yadavas in 14th century CE they moved to Vijayanagar Empire, with its capital at Hampi in present-day Karnataka by the invitation of the Kings. The expansion of Vijayanagar empire brought the Saurashtrians into South India in 14th century CE, since they were highly skilled manufacturers of fine silk garments and were patronized by the Kings and their families. After the fall of Vijayanagar empire they were welcomed by the Nayak Kings of Thanjavur during mid 16th century CE and Madurai during 17th century CE and were allowed to settle near the Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace.
Social division Occupation, divisions, sects and gotras From the view point of an outsider the community may be seen as a homogenous one. However, in reality many subdivisions exist among them at various levels. Occupationally, the Saurashtrians may be classified broadly as priests, merchants and weavers.
Divisions When the Saurashtrians settled in the South, they reproduced the institutions of their mother country in the new land, but, owing to the influence of the Southern Dravidians, some of the institutions became extinct. During their migrations, the men were under the guidance of their leader and the process of migration tended to increase the power of kinship.
The people were divided into 5 heads –
Goundans (Chiefs); Soulins (Elders); Voyduns (Physicians); Bhoutuls (Religious men); Karesthals (Commons).
Traces of this institution still survive. The Goundans were the judges in both civil and criminal affairs. They were aided in deciding cases by a body of nobles called Soulins. The office of the Soulins is to make enquiries, and try all cases connected with the community, and to abide by the decision of the chiefs. The Voyduns (vaidyas) and Bhoutuls (pandits, joshis and kavis) also ranked with Voyduns and had their honours on all important occasions, and they are placed in the same rank with the elders. The Karesthals (commons), are the whole body of masses. Their voice is necessary on certain important occasions, as during the ceremonies of excommunication, prayaschittas for admitting renegades, and during periodical meetings of the community.
Sects The Saurashtrians may further be divided into three sects on a religious basis. viz., Vaishnavites, who wear the vertical Vaishnavite mark, and call themselves northerners; Smarthas, who wear horizontal marks; Madhvas, who wear gopi (Sandal paste) as their sect mark.
All the above three divisions intermarry and interdine, and the religious difference does not create a distinction in the community. The Saurashtrians classify their ancestors as originally belonging to the two lines of Thiriyarisham and Pancharisham descent groups. They follow Apastamba Dharmasutra and belong to the Ahobila and Sankaracharya Mathas. Their religion is Hinduism, they follow Yajurveda, and they were originally Madhvas. After their settlement in Southern India, some of them, owing to the preachings of Sankaracharya and Ramanujacharya, were converted into Saivites and Vaishnavites respectively.
Gotras
Saurashtrians, like all other Hindu Brahmins, trace their paternal ancestors to one of the seven or eight sages, the saptarishis. They classify themselves into gotras, named after the ancestor rishi and each gotra consists of different family names. The gotra was inherited from Guru at the time of Upanayana, in ancient times, so it is a remnant of Guru-shishya tradition, but since the tradition is no longer followed, during Upanayana ceremony father acts as Guru of his son, so the son inherits his father's gotra. The entire community consists of 64 gotras.
Saurashtrians belong to following gotras.
Marriage within common gotra is strictly prohibited.
Kuladevatas
Every Saurashtrian family has their own family patron deity or the Kuladevata. This deity is common to a lineage or a clan of several families who are connected to each other through a common ancestor. The practice of worshiping local or territorial deities as Kuladevata began in the period of the Yadava dynasty.
Culture Saṃskāras, rituals and Festivals Saurashtrians have been traditionally an orthodox and closely knit community. They are essentially northern in their customs, manners and social structure. Traditionally, joint family was a social and economic unit for them. Moreover, the pattern of joint family helped them transmit their traditional culture to the younger generations.
Saṃskāras Saurashtrians strictly adhere to all the Ṣoḍaśa Saṃskāra or 16 Hindu Samskaras, out of which, the main social customs among them consist of six social ceremonies in the life of a person. (1) the naming ceremony; (2) the sacred thread ceremony; (3) puberty; (4) marriage; (5) the attainment of the age of sixty; (6) the funeral rites.
The rites that are performed following the birth of a child are known as jathakarma. The naming ceremony in particular is known as namakaranam. The main aim of performing these birth ceremonies is to purify and to safeguard the child from diseases. These rituals are believed to check the ill effects of Planetary movement. The above rites were carried out on the eleventh day after birth of the child. Grandfather's name was much preferred for a male child and the name of a female deity was suggested for female child.
The vaduhom ceremony (sacred thread ceremony) of Saurashtrians is basically the upanayanam ceremony. This ceremony is exceedingly important among them. This is performed between seventh and thirteenth years. In rare cases when the sacred thread ceremony was not held in the young ages, it would be performed at the time of marriage. The goal of this ceremony was to highlight their Brahminical status. During this ceremony there was much feasting and entertainment which lasted for four days.
Among the Saurashtrians, attaining puberty was the greatest event in a girl's life. They also perform a pre-puberty marriage.
The wedding ceremony lasted 11 days with as many as 36 rituals. All these rituals were conducted by the Saurashtrian priests who were a separate clan in the community. The Saurashtrians have their own marital arrangements. Before a marriage is fixed, a long negotiation takes place between the parents of both partners. Being traditional orthodox Brahmins they are very much particular in matching the horoscope of the couple. A man may claim his maternal uncle's daughter as his wife, and polygamy is permitted. Girls get married at an early age. Marriage within common gotra is strictly prohibited among them.