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Gosains, who are also known as Gossain, Gosine, Gossai, Gosyne, Gosein, Gosavi, and as , are , Hinduism and religious functionaries of India. They are found chiefly in North India, Central India and Western India India, particularly in the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh regions. They have different histories by place and time.
The institution is considered ancient, with references found in Vedic texts. The tradition traces its lineage to pre-Gosavya sages such as Bharadwaja, Parashara, Vyasa, Gautama, Shuka, Bhrigu, and Vasistha. The concept of the "householder saint" is also deeply rooted in their history; figures such as Dakshaprajapati and Shankara were householders, and the yogi Dattatreya is described in the Mahabharata as practicing the Grihastha (householder) ashram. The Goswamis have strong historical ties with the Rajput as they were highly respected and given high positions by the Rajput Kings. The Goswamis were also (teachers) and royal advisors of the Rajputs.
The chief disciples of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, namely the Six Goswamis, along with other followers and their lineages use Goswami as title and surname.
In the Ekasarana Dharma, a sect propagated by Sankardev, the hereditary heads and religious functionaries of Satras of Assam use the surname and title of Gosain and Goswami.
The Vaishnav Brahmins of region from UP to Bengal associated with Ramanandi sect started using the title 'Gosain-ji', which gradually replaced the term 'Guru' (teacher) as an honorific, and the same became a surname of Bairagi caste as well. The instance is reported by Buchanan in his memoirs while travelling in district of modern day Bihar. By 1910, the term was fully accepted as a credible title for both Shaivism and Vaishnavism as is reported in village-to-village surveys where Vaishnav temples are described as been erected or inhabited by Gosains.
The initiation process for men typically involves a day-long fast followed by the shaving of the head, bathing, and covering the body with Vibhuti. The initiate is given a new name and becomes a temporary Gosavi. After a probationary period of roughly two years, the guru whispers the mantra "Om Soham" into the initiate's ear, confirming them as a definitive Gosavi. Women who join the sect are required to cut their hair, wear saffron clothes, apply ashes, and live in a monastery while observing celibacy. Newly initiated members are often given salt to eat to encourage devotion.
Gosains were also Shaivite priests in most of the areas where their population was significant. They were often associated with Thakurbari in Eastern India and Matha and Temples in regions like Braj where they possessed strong religious connotation.
By the end of the eighteenth century, the Gosains of the Dashnami sect became a politically powerful group in northern India and also held and enjoyed , pensions and titles. They are sometimes referred to more generally as Sannyasa. A class known as "Kshatriya Gosavi" were active warriors who fought alongside Rajput rulers such as Prithviraj Chauhan, Jaichand of Kannauj, and the Chandelas kings.
The ascetic Gosains were powerful nomadic and mercenary trading groups who undertook across significant areas of land and they were important to urban economies and the development of wider trade networks. These itinerant religious groups could be very large in number, with figures in excess of 50,000 being probable for those headed by figures such as Umrao Giri and Himmat Bahadur Anup Giri Gosain 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. During the Mughal Empire era, they suffered significantly under Aurangzeb and subsequently fought against him on the side of the Maratha Empire. They also served in the armies of Mahadaji Shinde.
Many of the married (as in North) of the South were priests and religious teachers. Historically in Poona in 1800s, they were traders and bankers and held most of riches of the city in their hands. Bajirao 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 State, 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 Islam 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.
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