Pancha-Gauda
{{short description|One of the two major groupings of Brahmins}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
Pancha Gauda is one of the two major groupings of Brahmins in Hinduism, of which the other is Pancha-Dravida.
In ''Rajatarangini''
According to Kalhana's Rajatarangini (c. 12th century CE), the Pancha Gauda group includes the following five Brahmin communities, which according to the text, reside to the north of the Vindhyas:{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch |url-access=registration |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z |author=James G. Lochtefeld |publisher=Rosen |year=2002 |isbn=9780823931804 |page=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch/page/491 491] }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXyWE6KbG8oC&pg=PA168 |title=Caste in Life: Experiencing Inequalities |editor=D. Shyam Babu and Ravindra S. Khare |publisher=Pearson Education India |year=2011 |isbn=9788131754399 |page=168}}
In the ''Sahyadri-khanda''
The Sahyadri-khanda, considered a part of the Skanda Purana, also mentions the same classification as the Rajatarangini.{{cite book |author=J. Gerson da Cunha |author-link=José Gerson da Cunha |title=Sahyadri-Khanda |year=1877 |publisher=Thacker, Viring & Co. |url=https://archive.org/details/Sahyadri-Khanda/page/n5/mode/2up }}; Marathi version edited by Gajanan shastri Gaytonde, published by Shree Katyani Publication, Mumbai For example, fragments of the Sahyadri-khanda, featured in Hemadri's Chatur-varga-chintamani (13th century), quote Shiva to provide this classification. The text identifies its heroes, the Shenvis, as Sarasvatas. In the text, Shiva also provides an alternative classification of Pancha Gaudas, stating that the ancient sages made these divisions:{{cite journal |author=Rosalind O'Hanlon |title=Performance in a World of Paper: Puranic Histories and Social communication in Early Modern India |year=2013 |journal=Past and Present |issue=219 |publisher=Oxford University Press / The Past and Present Society |jstor=24543602 |page=104 }}
- Trihotras
- Agnivaisyas
- Kanyakubjas
- Kanojyas
- Maitrayanas
In the ''kaifiyat''s
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-Gaudas{{cite book |author=Krishnaji Nageshrao Chitnis |title=Glimpses of Maratha Socio-economic History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k--C9xHsSnEC&pg=PA96|year=1994|publisher=Atlantic |isbn=978-81-7156-347-0|pages=95–96}}
According to the kaifiyats, the Pancha Gaudas could be either Smarta, Vaishnavas or Bhagavats.