The Marathi people (Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a Marathi-speaking state of India on 1 May 1960, as part of a nationwide linguistic reorganisation of the Indian states. The term "Maratha" is generally used by historians to refer to all Marathi-speaking peoples, irrespective of their caste; However, it may refer to a Maharashtrian caste known as the Maratha which also includes farmer sub castes like the Kunbis.
The Marathi community came into political prominence in the 17th century, when the Maratha Empire was established by Shivaji in 1674.
Etymology According to R. G. Bhandarkar, the term Maratha is derived from Rattas, a tribe which held political supremacy in the Deccan from the remotest time. The Rattas called themselves Maha Rattas or Great Rattas, and thus the country in which they lived came to be called Maharashtra, the Sanskrit of which is Maha-rashtra. In the Harivamsa, the Yadava kingdom called Anaratta is described as mostly inhabited by the Abhiras (Abhira-praya-manusyam). The Anartta country and its inhabitants were called Surastra and the Saurastras, probably after the Rattas (Rastras) akin to the Rastrikas of Asoka's rock Edicts, now known as Maharashtra and the Marathas.
History Ancient to medieval period During the ancient period, around 230 BC, Maharashtra came under the rule of the Satavahana dynasty, which ruled the region for 400 years.India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic: p. 440 The Vakataka dynasty then ruled Maharashtra from the 3rd century to the 5th century AD,History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. by Sigfried J. de Laet, Joachim Herrmann p. 392 and the Chalukya dynasty from the 6th century to the 8th century. The two prominent rulers were Pulakeshin II, who defeated the Kannauj Emperor Harsh, and Vikramaditya II, who defeated Arab invaders (Umayyad Caliphate) in the 8th century. The Rashtrakuta dynasty ruled Maharashtra from the 8th to the 10th century.Indian History, p. B-57 The Persian merchant and traveller, Sulaiman al-Tajir, who wrote of his many voyages to India and China in the CE, called the ruler of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, Amoghavarsha, "one of the four great kings of the world".A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India (3 Vol. Set): p. 203
From the early 11th century to the 12th century, the Deccan Plateau was dominated by the Western Chalukya Empire and the Chola dynasty.The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 by Romila Thapar: pp. 365–366
The Yadava dynasty of Deogiri, ruled Maharashtra from the 13th century to the 14th century.People of India: Maharashtra, Part 1 by B. V. Bhanu p. 6 The Yadavas were defeated by the Khaljis in 1321. After the defeat of Yadavas, the area was ruled for the next 300 years by a succession of Muslim rulers including (in chronological order): the Khaljis, the Tughlaqs, and the Bahmani Sultanate and its successor states called the Deccan sultanates, such as Adilshahi, Nizamshahi, and the Mughal Empire.
The early period of Islamic rule saw the imposition of a Jaziya tax on non-Muslims, temple destruction and forcible conversions. However, the mainly Hindu population and their Islamic rulers came to an accommodation over time. For most of this period Brahmins were in charge of accounts, whereas revenue collection was in the hands of Marathas who held watans (hereditary rights) of Patilki (revenue collection at village level), and Deshmukhi (revenue collection over a larger area). A number of families such as Bhosale, Shirke, Ghorpade, Jadhav, More, Mahadik, Ghatge, Gharge and Nimbalkar loyally served different sultans at different periods of time. All watandar considered their watan a source of economic power and pride and were reluctant to part with it. The watandars were the first to oppose Shivaji because it hurt their economic interests. Since most of the population was Hindu and spoke Marathi, even the sultans such as Ibrahim Adil Shah I adopted Marathi as the court language for administration and record-keeping.
Islamic rule also led to Persian vocabulary entering the Marathi language. Per Kulkarni, for the elites of the era using Persian words was a status symbol. Surnames derived from service during that period such as Fadnis, Chitnis, Mirasdar, etc. are still in use today.
Most of the Marathi Bhakti poet saints, who worshipped Vitthal, belonged to the period between late Yadava and the late Islamic era. These include Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath, Bahinabai and Tukaram. Other important religious figures of this era were Narsimha Saraswati, and Mahanubhava sect founder Chakradhar Swami. Shaivite saints like Manmath swami, and Sant Narahari Sonar. All of them used the Marathi language rather than Sanskrit for their devotional and philosophical compositions.
The decline of Islamic rule in Deccan started when Shivaji (1630–1680) founded the Maratha Kingdom by annexing a portion of the Bijapur Sultanate. Shivaji later led rebellions against Mughal rule, thus becoming a symbol of Hindu resistance and self-rule. The Marathas contributed greatly to weakening imperial Mughal rule and went on to rule over a large realm stretching from Gwalior to Cuttack.
Early modern period (1650–1818) Political history In the mid-17th century, Shivaji founded the Maratha Kingdom by conquering the Desh and the Konkan regions from Bijapur kingdom, and established Hindavi Swaraj ("self-rule of Hindu people"). The Marathas are credited to a large extent with weakening Mughal rule in India. After Shivaji's death, the Mughals invaded the Deccan in 1681. Shivaji's son Sambhaji, also his successor as Chhatrapati, led the Marathas against the much stronger Mughal opponent, but in 1689, after being betrayed, Sambhaji was captured, tortured and killed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.Sambhaji – Patil, Vishwas, Mehta Publishing House, Pune, 2006 The war against the Mughals was then led by Sambhaji's younger brother and successor Rajaram I. Upon Rajaram's death in 1700, his widow Tarabai became the regent of her infant son and took command of Maratha forces. In 1707, upon the death of Aurangzeb, the Deccan wars came to an end after Shahu, son of Sambhaji who had grown up under Mughal captivity was released, and quickly reclaimed the Maratha throne. Shahu and Tarabai briefly fought a succession battle with Shahu eventually prevailing. Shahu formally recognised Mughal suzerainty in return for tax collection rights over six Deccan provinces, and the release of his mother from Mughal captivity.Mehta, J. L. (2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.|https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=d1wUgKKzawoC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=mehta+advanced+history&ots=HOSZj4diWj&sig=8dda4j6ZbPKpCct1kKMBmTLI3dU#v=onepage&q=yesubai%201719&f=false|page=81
Shahu I, the grandson of Shivaji, with the help of capable Maratha administrators and generals such as the Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath and his descendants, saw the greatest expansion of the Maratha power. After Shahu's death in 1749, the Peshwa Nanasaheb and his successors became the virtual rulers of the Maratha Confederacy. The Maratha Confederacy was expanded by many Marathi chieftains including Peshwa Bajirao Ballal I and his descendants, the Shindes, Gaekwad, Pawar, Bhonsale of Nagpur, and the Holkars. The Confederacy at its peak stretched from northern Karnataka in the south to Peshawar (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) briefly during the Maratha–Afghan War in the north, and to Orissa in the east.Andaman & Nicobar Origin | Andaman & Nicobar Island History . Andamanonline.in. However, after the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, in which the Marathas were defeated by the Afghans under Ahmed Shah Abdali, the Maratha power was greatly diminished. Due to the efforts of Mahadji Shinde, it remained a confederacy until the British East India Company defeated Peshwa Bajirao II. Nevertheless, several Maratha states remained as vassals of the British until 1947 when they acceded to the Dominion of India.
The Marathas also developed a potent coastal navy around the 1660s. At its peak under Maratha Koli Admiral Kanhoji Angre, the naval force dominated the territorial waters of the western coast of India from Mumbai to Sawantwadi. It would engage in attacking British, Portuguese, Dutch, and Siddi naval ships and kept a check on their naval ambitions. The Maratha Navy dominated until around the 1730s, but was in a state of decline by the 1770s, and ceased to exist entirely by 1818.
Social history Before British rule, the Maharashtra region was divided into many revenue divisions. The medieval equivalent of a county or district was the pargana. The chief of the pargana was called Deshmukh and record keepers were called Deshpande. The lowest administrative unit was the village. Village society in Marathi areas included the Patil or the head of the village, collector of revenue, and Kulkarni, the village record-keeper. These were hereditary positions. The Patil usually came from the Maratha caste. The Kulkarni were usually from the Marathi Brahmin or CKP caste. The village also used to have twelve hereditary servants called the Balutedar. The Balutedar system was supportive of the agriculture sector. Servants under this system provided services to the farmers and the economic system of the village. The base of this system was caste. The servants were responsible for tasks specific to their castes. There were twelve kinds of servants under Bara Balutedar: Joshi (village priest and astrologer from Brahmin caste),Kulkarni, A. R. “SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POSITION OF BRAHMINS IN MAHARASHTRA IN THE AGE OF Chhatrapati SHIVAJI.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 26, 1964, pp. 66–75. . Accessed 15 June 2020. Sonar (goldsmith from Daivadnya caste), Sutar (carpenter), Gurav (priest of Shiva temple), Nhawi (barber), Parit (washerman), Teli (oil pressers), Kumbhar (potter), Chambhar (cobbler), Dhor, Koli (fisherman or water carrier), Chougula (assistant to Patil), Mang (rope maker), and Mahar (village security). In this list of Balutedar: Dhor, Mang, Mahar, and Chambhar belonged to the untouchable group of castes.
In exchange for their services, the Balutedars were granted complex sets of hereditary rights (watan) to a share in the village harvest.Fukazawa, H., 1972. Rural Servants in the 18th Century Maharashtrian Village – Demiurgic or Jajmani System? Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 12(2), pp. 14–40.
British colonial rule
The British rule of more than a century in the present-day Maharashtra region saw huge changes for the Marathi people in every aspect of their lives. Areas that correspond to present-day Maharashtra were under direct or indirect British rule, first under the East India Trading Company and then under the British Raj, from 1858. During this era Marathi people resided in the Bombay presidency, Berar, Central provinces, Hyderabad state and in various princely states that are currently part of present-day Maharashtra. The 1951 census of India had 4.5 million people in the erstwhile Hyderabad state who stated Marathi as their mother tongue. Significant Marathi populations also resided in Maratha princely states far from Maharashtra such as Baroda, Gwalior, Indore, and Tanjore.