The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Shaivite Saraswat Brahmin community. They belong to the Pancha (five) Gauda Brahmana groups. from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits originally lived in the Kashmir Valley before Muslim influence entered the region after which large numbers converted to Islam. They are the only remaining Kashmiri Hindu community native to Kashmir