Migration and Domination: Gauda Saraswat Brahmanas of South Western India (Chapter 8)

Abstract

In the sixteenth century and later, several Gauda Saraswat Brahmanas (GSBs), who originally belonged to Goa, migrated in large numbers to coastal Karnataka in Southwestern India, presumably due to the conversion policy followed by the Portuguese Estado do India, which did not encourage the GSBs to stay in Goa. Some historians consider the GSBs as having an inferior status in coastal Karnataka. This chapter shows that the GSBs have a dominating presence in this region due to the long-term political and economic power that they enjoyed. The GSBs, however, exhibit a few features of the migrant community by remembering their past, preserving their distinct cultural heritage including the Konkani language, and maintaining a distinct identity. At the same time, there has been an integration of the GSBs with the local society in various ways.