Kaushik/Vishwamitra Gotras
There are two gotras, or lineages, bearing the name of Visvamitra.
Kousikh Gotra: People belonging to Kaushika (Kaushika/Kaushika/Ghrit) Gotra take Rajarshi Kaushika as their progenitor. Kaushika was son of Vishvamitra. 11 out of 96 royal clans of Marathas belong to Kaushika gotra including the illustrious house of Shivaji and Rashtrakutas. 2 more clans belong to the Vishvamitra gotra. Kaushika gotra also belongs to Baish clan of Rajputs which includes in the Suryavanshi Rajput, one of the oldest and biggest Kshatriya/Chattari clan of Vedic India. Heena Kaushik is one of the most notable descendents of the Kaushik's empire.
Kousikh/Kaushik is a gotra of influential Cchatri´s as well as Brahmins (he who does priestly labour) of Rajasthan and Haryana. Brahmins consider themselves the descendants of the seven main sages, Angiras, Bhrugu, Vishvamitra, Kashyap, Vasishtha, Atri and Agasti. Of these sages Vishvamitra was part Kshatriya (descendant of the house of Puru), so Kaushik gotra is also of Kshatriyas.
Its origin lies in the Rig-Veda; ancient Sanskrit language. Kaushik was the son of Kushika an Indian Kshatriya legend.
Visvamitra Gotra: People belonging to the Visvamitra Gotra consider Brahmarishi Visvamitra as their ancestor. There is an off-shoot of "Vishvamitra Gotra" called "Chakita Vishvamitra Gotra". Two explanations have been suggested for this off-shoot. The group is supposed to have sprung from a "surprised" reaction of Vishvamitra. The other, more likely, explanation, is that a group of descendants decided to split from the main group and started their own branch of this line. A significant number of Bias Brahmins have Kaushik gotra.
Vishvamitra descendants still use Kaushik as their first or last name. This is how majority of the Hindu names were followed. This system of following Rishis' name as the last name was the foundation of "Gautra" in Hindu philosophy. Gautra is used to trace back ancestry especially at the time of marriages till today. Kaushik as the last name is mostly seen in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana (Northern India). for e.g. Tarun Kaushik. Kaushik is also commonly used as a first name (mostly used by people in West Bengal,Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka in India and Bangladesh). for e.g.Koushik Ghosh, Kaushik Das.
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