The Saurashtra people, or Saurashtrians,[2][3] 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.
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.
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.
[5][6] 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.
They are prominently known by their unique family names and also use the titles Sharma,[14] Rao,[15] Iyer,[15] Iyengar and Achary[16] as their surnames but belong to linguistic minorities.
[25] 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.
[18] 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.
[39] They are currently scattered over various places of Tamil Nadu and are mostly concentrated in Madurai, Thanjavur and Salem Districts.
[40] Saurashtrians migrated from southern Gujarat in 11th century CE after the fall of Somnath Temple[41] 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.
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.
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.
In rare cases when the sacred thread ceremony was not held in the young ages, it would be performed at the time of marriage.
They celebrate Kolattam, Chithirai festival and Ramanavami with great enthusiasm, and observe Deepawali, Ganesh Chathurthi, Dussehra, Vaikunta Ekadasi and Avani Avittam as important religious days.
[2] Their present social customs differ markedly from the traditional pattern and bear a close resemblance to those of Tamils.
The women also put vermilion mark on their foreheads just like the males but in smaller length and also decorate their head with flowers called as veni.
There are even claims that a mix of rice and urad dal ground together and later steamed to form cakes had its origins in Gujarat.
They are present in significant numbers in Ambur, Ammapettai, Ammayappan, Aranthangi, Arni, Ayyampettai, Bhuvanagiri, Chennai, Dharasuram, Dindigul, Erode, Kancheepuram, Kanyakumari, Karaikudi, Kottar, Krishnapuram, Kumbakonam, Namakkal, Nilakottai, Palani, Palayamkottai, Paramakudi, Parambur, Periyakulam, Puducherry, Pudukkottai, Rajapalayam, Ramanathapuram, Rasipuram, Salem, Thanjavur, Thirubhuvanam, Thiruvaiyaru, Thiruvarur, Thuvarankurichi, Tirunelveli, Tiruvannamalai, Illuppur, Thiruvappur, Trichy, Vaniyambadi, Veeravanallur, Vellanguli, Pudukkudi, Kilakukulam, Krishnapuram, Vellore, Walajahpettai in Tamil Nadu.
[4] They are also present in Trivandrum and Kochi in Kerala, Bengaluru in Karnataka,[4] Hyderabad in Telangana and Tirupati, Vizianagaram, Vijayawada, Nellore, Srikakulam, Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh[4] are said to house several Saurashtrian families, known as Pattusali.
[62] The mother tongue of Saurashtrians is Saurashtra (alternate names and spellings: Sourashtra, Sowrashtra, Sourashtri, Palkar), an amalgamation of present-day Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, Kannada, Telugu & Tamil.
It has its own rules and regulations regarding holding of elections, rights and duties of office bearers and celebration of social functions.
This organisation is a committee of the leading men of the community, which manages and controls all the schools and public institutions, the temple and its worship, and all political, religious, and social questions among the Saurashtrians.
The Saurashtra Madhya (central) Sabha, which has its headquarters at Madurai now remains as the cultural center for all the Saurashtrians living in Tamil Nadu.
[41] In the second decade of 20th century, the Saurashtrians emerged as a dominant group in social and political life of Madras Presidency.
The Saurashtrians emerged as the dominant social group because of their collective mobilization, intellectual leadership, education, wealth, trade and enterprise.
The well-to-do merchants of the community made donations to TNCC for Salt Satyagraha and welcomed any form of Swadeshi agitation which favoured Indian cloth.
When he earned the displeasure of his community members who were fighting for Brahminical status, he changed his mind and supported the cause of his own people.
He was attracted to Periyar E. V. Ramasamy's rationalist ideas and was drawn to the Dravidian movement and later joined the DMK and subsequently, the AIADMK.