Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd) are a Hindu Brahmin community, who are part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community that migrated to Konkan from Gaud, as per the Skanda Purana in ancient India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmins group. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue.

The Brahminhood claim of the Shenvi GSB was rejected by the Deshastha, Chitpavan and Karhade Brahmins and even the British did not include them in the category of Brahmins. The GSBs were traditionally traders and even as early as the 1400s they conducted commerce across the Indian Ocean. In the Maratha empire, they also served as adminstators.