Traditional Indian society was modeled as a collection of endogamous, or intermarried, subgroups known as jatis (“birth”).
Jatis were organized (and their social status determined) by
the group’s hereditary occupation, over which each group has a monopoly.
This sort of dif ferentiation applied even to brahmins,
whose role has been to serve as priests, scholars, and teachers.
The Saraswats are a brahmin jati counted as one of the five
northern Indian brahmin commu nities (Pancha Gauda); the other four are the
Gaudas, the Kanaujias, the Maithilas, and the Utkalas.
Unlike most other brahmin communities, which had a
well-defined core region, the Saraswats are found in several widely separated
locations.
One group lived in the coastal region of Sindh in modern
Pakistan, although after Partition in 1947 most of the group migrated to
Bombay.
Another group was located in prepartition Punjab, although
here too they have tended to migrate away from the part of Punjab in modern
Pakistan.
A third branch, known as the Gauda Saraswats, is found on a
narrow strip of coastline in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
The Saraswat communi ty takes its name from Saraswati,
patron goddess of speech and learning, and, as a group, is famous for its erudi
tion and piety.
