emperor
Jahangir testing the strength of penance of Gosain Nirmalji and Bhagvanji,
National Museum, New Delhi conversing with Gosain Jadrup from a
Jahangir-nama manuscript, c. 1620 The Gosains have a long history of political influence and martial activity. During the reign of
Chandragupta, small Gosavi kingdoms existed in India. By the 4th century AD, Parivrajak Brahmins (Gosavi kings) ruled regions in the
Punjab (such as Jhajjar) and
Bundelkhand. A dynasty of wandering Brahmin Gosavis also ruled in
Tripura as mandaliks (feudatories) of the
Gupta Empire during the Vakataka reign in
Vidarbha. They are sometimes referred to more generally as
Sannyasis. A class known as "Kshatriya Gosavi" were active warriors who fought alongside
Rajput rulers such as
Prithviraj Chauhan,
Jaichand of
Kannauj, and the
Chandel kings. in the late 1700s. Their numerical strength enabled them to be self-protecting and also to protect the trade routes that they used, regardless of who might have titular power in any given place. One out of at least three separate events that are grouped as
Sanyasi Rebellion involved Gosains along with other instances of their frequent clashes with
Company's army in northern frontiers of
Bengal. Their movements were often dictated by religious festivals, both of a localised village nature and of a more widely celebrated type, such as
Holi. The community often faced internal and external conflicts. During the reign of
Akbar, a fierce battle occurred between Bairagis and Gosavis. In 1760, at the
Kumbh Mela in
Haridwar, a major conflict broke out resulting in the deaths of 18,000 Bairagis and Gosavis. Historically in
Poona in 1800s, they were traders and bankers and held most of riches of the city in their hands.
Peshwa Baji Rao I had built the
Vajreshwari Temple in
Vadavali village whose hereditary priestly rights along with other 5 villages were donated to householder Goswamis. In nineteenth-century
Hyderabad, the Goswami Rajas, as they were termed so due to their influential participation in
Nizam's administration and lending loans, established themselves as wealthy banking houses. An 1845 map, which names the city's most influential localities, mention 'Gosai Mhall' or the palace of Gosains in Begum Bazar with their locality resembling those of wealthy men and being termed as 'most opulent' in the city. The
Nawabs of Awadh, who ruled
Oudh State in the 18th and 19th centuries and were
Muslim successors to the
Mughal Empire, recruited from Gosain martial brotherhoods as a way to assimilate influential Hindu elements of society and buttress their own sources of power. This attempt at creating a plural society was in sharp contrast to the zealotry that had characterised their predecessors. == References ==