They are a distinct class and are probably the purest specimen of the ancient Aryan settlers in India.
The Kashmiri Pundits are divided into 133 exogamous gotras, each member of which claims to be a descendant of a rishi whose name the gotra bears.
Generally, the social position is determined by the nature of occupation followed, rather than by the gotra. Those who have been employed in superior state service since two or three generations hold their heads high above others.
During their numerous political upheavals, they have suffered enormously at the hands of religious persecutors. Subsequently, during the long and peaceful reign of Sultan zain-ul-Abidin most of them returned to their original homeland.
