81-671: Pawar (also spelled as Pavar and Puar ) is an Indian surname found among the Maratha , Mahar or Koli people in Maharashtra . Notable people bearing the Pawar name or its variants include: Maratha The Marathi people ( / m ə ˈ r ɑː t i / ; Marathi : मराठी लोक , Marāṭhī lōk ) or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, Marāṭhī ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India . They natively speak Marathi , an Indo-Aryan language . Maharashtra
162-426: A devaghar with idols, symbols, and pictures of various deities for daily worship. Ritual reading of religious texts known as pothi is also popular in some communities. In some traditional families, food is first offered to the preferred deity in the household shrine, as naivedya , before being consumed by family members and guests. Meals or snacks are not taken before this religious offering. In present times,
243-675: A century. The Maharashtra Mandal of London was founded in 1932. A small number of Marathi people also settled in British East Africa during the colonial era. After the African Great Lakes countries of Kenya , Uganda and Tanganyika gained independence from Britain, most of the South Asian population residing there, including Marathi people, migrated to the United Kingdom, or India. Large-scale immigration of Indians into
324-414: A dispute with Karnataka regarding the districts of Belgaum and Karwar , both with a large population of Marathi people. For the first time, the creation of Maharashtra brought most Marathi people under one state with the mainly rural Kunbi-Maratha community as the largest social group. This group has dominated the rural economy and politics of the state since 1960. The community accounts for 31% of
405-574: A few years of its construction. It was modelled along the great cities of the Persianate world, given the Shi'i leanings of the dynasty. A number of palaces such as the Farah Bakhsh Bagh, Ahmadnagar Fort, Hasht Bihisht Bagh, and Manjarsumbah are in and around Ahmadnagar city. There exist tombs of nobles like Salabat Khan and Changiz Khan, and also of saints like Shah Sharif and Bava Bangali. Malik Ambar
486-774: A large realm stretching from Gwalior to Cuttack . 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
567-402: 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
648-472: Is considered the forerunner of the Indian National Congress established in 1885. The most prominent personalities of Indian nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th century, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Bal Gangadhar Tilak , on opposite sides of the political spectrum, were both Marathi. Tilak was instrumental in using Shivaji and Ganesh worship in forging a collective Maharashtrian identity for
729-748: Is credited with the construction of the Janjira Fort in the Murud Area of present-day Maharashtra India. After its construction in 1567 AD, the fort was key to the Sidis withstanding various invasion attempts by the Marathas, Mughals, and Portuguese to capture Janjira. Farah Bagh (also called as Faria Bagh ) is situated in Ahmednagar , Maharashtra . It is a palace build by Nizam Shahi rulers in Ahmednagar. Farah Bagh
810-452: Is performed before a family formally establishes residence in a new house. Satyanarayana Puja is a ceremony performed before commencing any new endeavour or for no particular reason. Invoking the name of the family's gotra and the kuladevata are important aspects of these ceremonies for many communities. Like most other Hindu communities, the Marathi people have a household shrine called
891-728: The Bharatiya Janata Party in recent years have not dented Maratha caste representation in the Maharashtra Legislative assembly. After the Maratha-Kunbi cluster, the scheduled caste (SC) Mahars are numerically the second-largest community among the Marathi people in Maharashtra. Most of them embraced Buddhism in 1956 with their leader, B. R. Ambedkar. Writers from this group in the 1950s and 1960s were pioneers of Dalit Literature . The Portuguese-occupied enclave of Goa
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#1732852361818972-656: The Chola dynasty . The Yadava dynasty of Deogiri , ruled Maharashtra from the 13th century to the 14th century. 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
1053-511: 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
1134-847: 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 . The British colonial period saw standardisation of Marathi grammar through
1215-715: 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. During the ancient period, around 230 BC, Maharashtra came under
1296-487: The Hindustani speaking areas or from Southern India , however, a significant number of immigrants to Mauritius were Marathis. Since the state of Israel was established in 1948, around 25,000–30,000 Indian Jews have emigrated there, of which around 20,000 were from the Marathi speaking Bene Israel community of Konkan. Indians, including Marathi People, have migrated to Europe and particularly Great Britain for more than
1377-561: 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
1458-741: The Mughal Empire with reinforcements from the Bijapur and Golconda Sultanates . After the death of Chand Bibi in July 1600, Ahmadnagar was conquered by the Mughals and the Sultan was imprisoned. Despite Ahmadnagar city being incorporated into the Mughal Empire, much of the former kingdom still remained in the possession of influential officials of the Nizam Shahi dynasty. Malik Ambar and other Ahmadnagar officials defied
1539-675: 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. However, after the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, in which the Marathas were defeated by the Afghans under Ahmed Shah Abdali ,
1620-513: The Sultanate of Bijapur . The revenue system introduced by Malik Ambar was based on the revenue system introduced in Northern India and some parts of Gujarat and Khandesh subahs by Raja Todarmal . Lands were classified as good or bad according to their fertility and he took a number of years to ascertain accurately the average yield of lands. He abolished the revenue farming. At first, revenue
1701-651: The Vidarbha region from the Central Provinces and Berar . The enlarged state also included Gujarati -speaking areas. The southernmost part of Bombay State was ceded to Mysore . From 1954 to 1955, Marathi people strongly protested against the bilingual Bombay State , and the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti was formed to agitate for a Marathi-speaking state. At the same time, the Mahagujarat Movement
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#17328523618181782-555: The Yadava dynasty . Other family deities of the people of Maharashtra are Bhavani of Tuljapur , Mahalaxmi of Kolhapur , Mahalaxmi of Amravati , Renuka of Mahur , Parashuram in Konkan, Saptashringi on Saptashringa hill at Vani in Nasik district, and Balaji . Despite the system of worshipping kuladevatas, the worship of Ganesha , Vitthala , and other popular avatars of Vishnu such as Rama or Krishna are extremely popular across
1863-410: The kuladevata . This deity is common to a lineage or a clan of several families who are connected to each other through a common ancestor. The Khandoba of Jejuri is an example of a kuladevata of some families; he is a common kuladevata to several castes ranging from Brahmins and Dhangar to Dalits . The practice of worshiping local or territorial deities as kuladevatas began in the period of
1944-460: The naivedya is offered by families only on days of special religious significance. Many Marathi people trace their paternal ancestors to one of the seven or eight sages, the saptarshi . They classify themselves as gotras, named after the ancestor rishi . Intra-marriage within gotras (Sagotra Vivaha) was uncommon until recently, being discouraged as it was likened to incest. Most Marathi families have their own family patron or protective deity or
2025-515: The 1560s, the de facto ruler of nearby Vijayanagara Empire , Rama Raya , made a series of aggressive efforts to maintain hold over Kalyan and conducted diplomatic dealings with the Sultanates laden with insulting gestures. In response, four of the five Deccan Muslim sultans—namely Hussain Nizam Shah I and Ali Adil Shah I of Ahmadnagar and Bijapur to the west, Ali Barid Shah I of Bidar in
2106-523: The 17th century, when the Maratha Empire was established by Shivaji in 1674. 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
2187-465: The 1930s, Jedhe merged the non-Brahmin party with the Congress party and changed that party from an upper-caste-dominated body to a more broadly based but also Maratha-dominated party. The early 20th century also saw the rise of B. R. Ambedkar , who led the campaign for the rights of the dalits caste that included his own Mahar caste. The Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS )
2268-548: The 1990s it led the government of Maharashtra's coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During this transition from founding to capturing power, the party toned down its rhetoric against non-Marathi people and adopted a more Hindu nationalist stance. The Marathi people form an ethnolinguistic group that is distinct from others in terms of its language, history, cultural and religious practices, social structure, literature, and art. The traditional caste hierarchy
2349-460: The 20th century with the blessing of Shahu , the ruler of the princely state of Kolhapur . The campaign took off in the early 1920s under the leadership of Keshavrao Jedhe and Baburao Javalkar. Both belonged to the non-Brahmin party. Capturing the Ganpati and Shivaji festivals from Brahmin domination were their early goals. They combined nationalism with anti-casteism as the party's aims. Later on in
2430-575: The 8th to the 10th century. The Persian merchant and traveller, Sulaiman al-Tajir , who wrote of his many voyages to India and China in the mid-9th century CE, called the ruler of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, Amoghavarsha , "one of the four great kings of the world". From the early 11th century to the 12th century, the Deccan Plateau was dominated by the Western Chalukya Empire and
2511-525: 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
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2592-1043: 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), Sonar (goldsmith from Daiwadnya 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
2673-607: 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 ,
2754-453: 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 . 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
2835-709: 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 , Gajanan Maharaj, Sant Narhari Sonar. All of them used
2916-452: The Marathi people. Marathi social reformers of the colonial era include Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule , Justice Ranade , feminist Tarabai Shinde , Dhondo Keshav Karve , Vitthal Ramji Shinde , and Pandita Ramabai . Jyotirao Phule was a pioneer in opening schools for girls and Marathi dalits castes. The non-Brahmin Hindu castes started organising at the beginning of
2997-492: The Marathi-speaking areas by the ruling Congress Party in the 1957 election, led the government under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to change its policy and agree to the protesters' demands. On 1 May 1960, the separate Marathi-speaking state was formed by dividing the earlier Bombay State into the new states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The city of Mumbai was declared the capital of the new state. The state continues to have
3078-533: The Mughals and declared Murtaza Nizam Shah II as sultan in 1600 at a new capital in Paranda . Malik Ambar became prime minister and vekīl-us-saltanat of Ahmadnagar. Later, the capital was shifted, first to Junnar and Ausa and then to a new city called Khadki (later Aurangabad ). After the death of Malik Ambar in May 1626, his son Fath Khan surrendered to the Mughals in the siege of Daulatabad in 1633 and handed over
3159-400: The Nizam Shahi dynasty's rule over a de facto independent Sultanate. Initially his capital was in the town of Junnar with its fort, later renamed Shivneri . In 1494, the foundation was laid for the new capital Ahmadnagar . After several attempts, he secured the great fortress of Daulatabad in 1499. After the death of Malik Ahmad in 1510, his son Burhan Nizam Shah I , a boy of seven,
3240-466: The RSS-affiliated organisations. Although the British originally regarded India as a place for the supply of raw materials for the factories of England, by the end of the 19th century a modern manufacturing industry was developing in the city of Mumbai. The main product was cotton and the bulk of the workforce in these mills was of Marathi origin from Western Maharashtra, but more specifically from
3321-489: The Sanskrit-dominated dialect spoken by this caste in the city as the standard dialect for Marathi. The introduction of printing, standardisation of Marathi, and establishment of modern schools and colleges during the early colonial era led to the spread of literacy and knowledge to many different sections of society such as women, the dalits and the cultivator classes. The Marathi community played an important part in
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3402-552: The United States started when the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 came into effect. Most of the Marathi immigrants who came after 1965 were professionals such as doctors, engineers or scientists. The second wave of immigration took place during the I.T. boom of the 1990s and later. Since the 1990s due to the I.T. boom and because of the general ease of travel, Marathi people are now found in greater numbers in all corners of
3483-502: The balutedar who adopted Buddhism in 1950s. Some of the other Marathi castes are: As the Maratha Empire expanded across India, the Marathi population started migrating out of Maharashtra alongside their rulers. Peshwa, Holkars , Scindia , and Gaekwad dynastic leaders took with them a considerable population of priests, clerks, army men, businessmen, and workers when they established new seats of power. Most of these migrants were from
3564-475: The capital, but were dispelled, choosing to withdraw to the recently-annexed Ellichpur , whereupon the city was sacked and razed. The Mughals were then fully expelled from Ahmadnagar territory, the invasion ultimately ending in Mughal humiliation. Amid falling stability in the Sultanate as a result of mismanaged factional relations, Murtaza was murdered by his son Miran Hussain in 1588, who succeeded him and ascended
3645-454: The center, and Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali of Golconda to the east—united in the wake of shrewd marital diplomacy and convened to attack Rama Raya in late January 1565 at Talikota . Hussain was a leading figurehead of the Deccan sultanates during the ensuing battle . Afterwards, Rama Raya was beheaded by Sultan Nizam Hussain himself. After the death of Hussain in 1565, his minor son Murtaza Nizam Shah I ascended
3726-410: The child's paternal aunt has the honour of naming the infant. When the child is 11 months old, they get their first hair-cut.This is also an important ritual and is called Jawal (जावळ) . In the Maratha community, the maternal uncle is given the honour of the first snip during the ceremony. Ahmadnagar Sultanate The Sultanate of Ahmednagar was a late medieval Indian Muslim kingdom located in
3807-468: The child's horoscope, which suggests various names depending on the child's lunar sign (called rashi ). However, in Marathi Hindu families, the name that the child inevitably uses in secular functions is the one decided by their parents. If a name is chosen on the basis of the horoscope, then that is kept a secret to ward off the casting of a spell on the child during their life. During the naming ceremony,
3888-405: The coastal Konkan region. The census recorded for the city in the first half of the 20th century showed nearly half the city's population listed Marathi as their mother tongue. During the period of 1835–1907, a large number of Indians, including Marathi people, were taken to the island of Mauritius as indentured labourers to work on sugarcane plantations. The Marathi people on the island form
3969-758: The country. They have set up community organisations called Maharashtra Mandals in many cities across the country. A national level central organisation, the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal was formed in 1958 to promote Marathi culture outside Maharashtra. Several sister organisations of the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal have also been formed outside India. Source: In the mid-1800s, a large number of Indian people were taken to Mauritius , Fiji , Trinidad & Tobago , South Africa , and Eastern Africa as indentured labourers to work on sugarcane plantations. The majority of these migrants were from
4050-441: 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. Shahu I ,
4131-608: The efforts of the Christian missionary William Carey . Carey also published the first dictionary of Marathi in Devanagari script. The most comprehensive Marathi-English dictionary was compiled by Captain James Thomas Molesworth and Major Thomas Candy in 1831. The book is still in print nearly two centuries after its publication. Molesworth also worked on standardising Marathi. He used Brahmins of Pune for this task and adopted
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#17328523618184212-410: The entire community.The festivals of Ganeshotsav and annual wari pilgrimage to the Vitthal temple at Pandharpur are of significant importance to all Marathis alike. At birth, a child is initiated into the family ritually. The child's naming ceremony may happen many weeks or even months later, and it is called the bārsa . In many Indian Hindu communities, the naming is most often done by consulting
4293-407: The establishment by Bal Thackeray of Shiv Sena, a populist sectarian party advocating the rights of Marathi people in the heterogeneous city of Mumbai. Early campaigns by Shiv Sena advocated for more opportunities for Marathi people in government jobs. The party also led a campaign against the city's South Indian population. By the 1980s the party had captured power in the Mumbai Corporation , and in
4374-515: The foundation was laid for the new capital Ahmednagar . In 1636 Aurangzeb , then Mughal viceroy of Deccan, annexed the sultanate to the Mughal Empire . Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I was the son of Nizam-ul-Mulk Malik Hasan Bahri , originally a Hindu Brahmin from Vijayanagar originally named Tima Bhat. Ahmed's father was made prime minister on the death of Mahmud Gawan and was made Malik Na'ib by Mahmood Shah Bahmani II . Soon after, he appointed Ahmed governor of Beed and other districts in
4455-442: 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,
4536-753: The intermediate category include: Gujjars , Lingayats and Rajputs who migrated centuries ago to Maharashtra from northern and southern India – and settled in Maharashtra. The population of the Mangs was 8%. Majority of Marathi Hindu belong either to the cultivator caste cluster of Maratha and Kunbi , or one of the former village servant ( Bara Balutedar ) castes which include Shimpi (Tailor), Lohar (Iron-smith), Suthar (carpenters), Mali (florists and cultivators), Dhobhi or Parit (washer), Gurav (village priest), Kumbhar (potters), Sonar (Goldsmith), Teli (oil pressers), Lingayats , Chambhar (cobbler), Mang (rope makers), Koli (fishermen or water carriers) and Nabhik (barbers). The Mahar were one of
4617-429: The kingdom. The earliest extant school of painting in the Deccan sultanates is from Ahmadnagar. Several palaces, such as the Farah Bakhsh Bagh, the Hasht Bihisht Bagh, Lakkad Mahal were built, as were tombs, mosques and other buildings. Many forts of the Deccan, such as the fort of Junnar (later renamed Shivneri ), Paranda , Ausa , Dharur , Lohagad , etc. were greatly improved under their reign. Daulatabad, which
4698-410: The late 1940s and early 1950s. The number of Bene Israel remaining in India was estimated to be around 4,000–5,000 in 1988. In 1956, the States Reorganisation Act reorganised the Indian states along linguistic lines, and the Bombay Presidency State was enlarged by the addition of the predominantly Marathi-speaking regions of Marathwada ( Aurangabad Division ) from the erstwhile Hyderabad state and
4779-602: The literate classes such as various Brahmin sub-castes and CKP . These groups formed the backbone of administration in the new Maratha Empire states in many places such as Vyara - Songadh of ( Surat ), Baroda ( Vadodara ), Indore , Gwalior , Bundelkhand , and Tanjore . Many families belonging to these groups still follow Marathi traditions even though they have lived more than 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from Maharashtra for more than 200 years. Other people have migrated in modern times in search of jobs outside Maharashtra. These people have also settled in almost all parts of
4860-399: 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. Before British rule,
4941-432: The northwestern Deccan , between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur , ruled by the Nizam Shahi dynasty . It was established when Malik Ahmed, the Bahmani governor of Junnar, after defeating the Bahmani army led by general Jahangir Khan on 28 May 1490, declared independence and established the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. Initially the capital was in the town of Junnar with its fort, later renamed Shivneri . In 1494,
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#17328523618185022-409: The oldest diaspora of Marathi people outside India. After India gained independence from Britain in 1947, all princely states lying within the borders of the Bombay Presidency acceded to the Indian Union and were integrated into the newly created Bombay State in 1950. The small community of Marathi Jews ( Bene Israel – Sons of Israel) started emigrating to the newly created country of Israel in
5103-416: The population of Maharashtra. They dominate the cooperative institutions and with the resultant economic power control politics from the village level up to the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats. Since the 1980s, this group has also been active in setting up private educational institutions. Major past political figures of Maharashtra have been from this group. The rise of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena and
5184-463: The rule of the Satavahana dynasty , which ruled the region for 400 years. The Vakataka dynasty then ruled Maharashtra from the 3rd century to the 5th century AD, 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
5265-424: The social and religious reform movements, as well as the Indian nationalist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Notable civil society bodies founded by Marathi leaders during the 19th century include the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha , the Prarthana Samaj , the Arya Mahila Samaj, and the Satya Shodhak Samaj . The Pune Sarvajanik Sabha took an active part in relief efforts during the famine of 1875–1876. It
5346-418: The throne. His reign could however last only a little more than ten months as he was imprisoned. Ismail, a cousin of Miran Hussain was raised to the throne, but actual power was in the hands of Jamal Khan, the leader of the Habshi group in the court. He was the leader of the Mahdawi movement , and aggressively propagated the faith while in power. Ismail Nizam Shah's unpopular reign proved short. Jamal Khan
5427-416: The throne. During his minority, his mother Khanzada Humayun ruled as a regent for several years. Murtaza Shah annexed Berar in 1574, bringing the sultanate to its territorial zenith. Murtaza launched an unsuccessful campaign into Bijapur in 1580, following the death of sultan Ali Adil Shah I earlier that year. In 1586, Ahmadnagar faced an invasion by Akbar of the Mughal Empire ; Mughal forces approached
5508-432: 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. 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
5589-554: The vicinity of Dowlutabad. After the death of his father, Ahmed assumed the titles of Nizam ul-Mulk Bahri from his father, the last signifying a falcon as Hasan had been falconer to the Sultan. Malik Ahmad the Bahmani governor of Junnar defended his province against incursions from the Sultan and his forces, successfully defeating a much larger army led by Sheikh Muaddi Arab in a night attack, an army of 18,000 led by Azmut-ul-Dabir and an army led by Bahmani general Jahangir Khan. On 28 May 1490, Ahmad declared independence and established
5670-757: The world including the United States, Australia, Canada, the Gulf countries, European countries, Iran, and Pakistan. After the third battle of Panipat, Marathi people settled in Sindh and Balochisthan region (modern day Pakistan). After partition of India, many Marathi Hindus came to India. But, 500–1000 Marathi Hindus also lives in Karachi city of Sindh province. The majority of Marathi people are Hindus . Minorities by religion include Muslims , Buddhists , Jains , Christians , Parsis and Jews . The main life ceremonies in Hindu culture include those related to birth, weddings, initiation ceremonies, as well as death rituals. Other ceremonies for different occasions in Hindu life include Vastushanti and "Satyanarayan" which
5751-399: The young Nizam Shahi ruler Hussain Shah, who was sent as a prisoner to the fort of Gwalior. But soon, Shahaji , with the assistance of Bijapur, placed an infant scion of the Nizam Shahi dynasty, Murtaza Nizam Shah III on the throne and he became the regent. In 1636, Aurangzeb , then Mughal viceroy of Deccan, finally defeated Shahaji and partitioned the sultanate between the Mughal Empire and
5832-403: Was fixed as two-fifths of the actual produce in kind, but later the cultivators were allowed to pay in cash equivalent to approximately one-third of the yield. Although an average rent was fixed for each plot of land but actual collections depended on the conditions of crops and they varied from year to year. Under the reigns of successive rulers of the dynasty, architecture and art flourished in
5913-547: 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
5994-556: Was founded and led by Marathis from Nagpur for many decades. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1889–1966), a Marathi from Nashik district, an Indian independence activist , who advocated violence to overthrow British rule in his youth, later formulated the Hindu nationalist philosophy of Hindutva . He was a leading figure in the Hindu Mahasabha . Savarkar's Hindutva philosophy remains the guiding principle for organisations that are part of
6075-802: Was headed by the Brahmin castes-the Deshasthas , Chitpavans , Karhades , Saraswats , and the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus . In Mumbai during British rule, this included the Pathare Prabhu and the other communities. The Marathas are 32% in Western Maharashtra and the Kunbis were 7%, whereas the Other Backward Class population (other than the Kunbi) was 27%. The other castes in
6156-400: 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
6237-527: Was installed on the throne. In the initial days of his reign, the control of the kingdom was in the hands of Mukammal Khan, an Ahmadnagar official and his son. Burhan converted to Nizari Isma'ili Shi'a Islam under the tutelage of Shah Tahir , a refugee from Persia and court official who was head of the largest branch of Nizari Shi'ism at that time. Burhan died in Ahmadnagar in 1553. He left six sons, of whom Hussain Nizam Shah I succeeded him. Beginning in
6318-467: Was killed in the battle of Rohankhed in 1591 and soon Ismail was also captured and confined by his father Burhan, who ascended the throne as Burhan Nizam Shah II . He outlawed Mahdawia and reinstated Shi'ism as the state religion. Following Burhan's death, a civil war broke out which was eventually won by his sister, Chand Bibi . She ascended the throne as regent for the new infant sultan and her grand-nephew, Bahadur Nizam Shah , then repelled an invasion by
6399-510: Was liberated in 1962. The main political party formed immediately after liberation was the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party . It wanted Goa to merge with Maharashtra because of the affinity between Goan Hindus and the Marathi people. However, the referendum held on this issue rejected the merger. Later, Konkani was made the official language of Goa, but Marathi is also allowed in any government correspondence. The 1960s also saw
6480-484: Was started, seeking a separate Gujarati-speaking state. A number of mainly Pune-based leaders such as Keshavrao Jedhe, S.M. Joshi , Shripad Amrit Dange , and Pralhad Keshav Atre formed the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement , alongside Vidarbha-based leaders such as Gopalrao Khedkar , to fight for a separate state of Maharashtra with Mumbai as its state capital. Mass protests, 105 deaths, and heavy losses in
6561-590: Was their secondary capital, was also heavily fortified and constructed in their reign. Literature was heavily patronised in the kingdom, as seen through manuscripts such as the Tarif-i Husain Shah Badshah-i Dakan . Sanskrit scholarship was also given a boost under their rule, as demonstrated by the works of Sabaji Pratap and Bhanudatta. The city of Ahmadnagar, founded by the Nizam Shahs, was described as being comparable to Cairo and Baghdad, within
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