Pancha Dravida (lit.
'Five Dravida' from Sanskrit: पंच pancha) is one of the two major groupings of Brahmins in Hinduism, of which the other is Pancha-Gauda.
Kalhana, in his Rajatarangini (c. 12th century CE), classifies the following five Brahmin communities as Pancha Dravida, stating that they reside to the south of the Vindhyas:[1][2] A fragment of the Sahyādrikhaṇḍa, featured in Hemadri's Chatur-varga-chintamani (13th century), quotes Shiva to name the following divisions of the Pancha Dravidas:[4][5] The Maratha-era kaifiyats (bureaucratic records) of Deccan, which give an account of the society in the southern Maratha country, mention the following Brahmin communities as Pancha Dravida:[6] The kafiyats classify the Gurjara Brahmins as Pancha Gauda.
They also mention the following 16 sub-castes of the Pancha-Dravidas:[6]
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