Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India. It is India's second-most populous state and third-largest state by area. The region that comprises the state has a long history dating back to approximately 1300–700 BCE, although the present-day state was not established until 1960 CE.
Prior to Indian independence, notable dynasties and entities that ruled the region included, in chronological order, the
Late Harappan site, which had a mud fortification during this period, as well as an elliptical temple with fire pits. Some settlements show evidence of planning in the layout of rectangular houses and streets or lanes.[4][5] In the Late Harappan period there was a large migration of people from Gujarat to northern Maharashtra.[6]
Maharashtra was historically the name of a region which consisted of
Bhil people inhabited this area, also known as Dandakaranya. Linguists and archeologists believe it is likely that Maharashtra was inhabited by Dravidian speakers during the middle Rigvedic period,[7] as suggested by Dravidian names of places in Maharashtra.[8][9][10]
Maharashtra region later became part of the Maurya Empire, with edicts of emperor Ashoka having been found in the region. Buddhism flourished during this period. Trade in Maharashtra flourished through international trade with the Greeks and later with the Roman Empire. Traders were the primary patrons of Buddhist monasteries.[11][12][13]Indo-SythianWestern Satraps ruled part of the region during the early part of the first millennium.[14]
Middle Kingdoms (200 BCE–13th century CE)
During the Middle Kingdoms the region of present-day Maharashtra formed part of many states, including the
Rashtrakuta dynasty. Most of these empires extended over large swathes of Indian territory. Some of the greatest monuments in Maharashtra, such as the Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves
From the 6th century CE to the 8th century, the Chalukya dynasty ruled Maharashtra. Two prominent rulers were Pulakeshin II, who defeated the north Indian Emperor Harsha, and Vikramaditya II, who defeated Arab invaders in the 8th century. The name 'Maharashtra' appears on a 7th-century inscription by Pulakeshin II at Aihole proclaiming sovereignty over the "three Mahārāshtrakas with their 99,000 villages".[19]
The
Rashtrakuta dynasty ruled Maharashtra from the 8th to the 10th century.[20] The Arab traveler Sulaiman[who?] called Amoghavarsha, the ruler of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty, "one of the four great kings of the world".[21] The Chalukya dynasty and Rashtrakuta dynasty had their capitals in modern-day Karnataka and used Kannada and Sanskrit
as court languages.
Between 800 and 1200 CE, parts of Western Maharashtra, including the Konkan region, were ruled by different Shilahara houses based in North Konkan, South Konkan, and Kolhapur.[22] At different periods in their history, the Shilaharas served as the vassals of either the Rashtrakutas or the Chalukyas.[citation needed]
From the early 11th century to the 12th century the
The earliest historically attested ruler of the Seuna dynasty was
Nasik district).[26] The name Seuna comes from Dridhaprahara's son, Seunachandra, who originally ruled a region called Seunadesha (present-day Khandesh). Bhillama II, a later ruler in the dynasty, assisted Tailapa II in his war with the Paramara king Vakpati Munja. Seunachandra II helped Vikramaditya VI
gain his throne.
Around the middle of the 12th century, as Chalukya power waned, the Yadavas declared independence. Their rule reached its peak under Singhana II. Sanskrit was used as a court language by earlier Yadava rulers, but starting with the ruler Simhana, Marathi became the official court language.[27][28][29] The Yadava capital Devagiri became a magnet for learned scholars in Marathi to showcase their skills and find patronage. The origin and growth of Marathi literature is directly linked with the rise of the Yadava dynasty.[30]
According to scholars such as
Maratha descent.[27] Digambar Balkrishna Mokashi noted that the Yadava dynasty "seems to be the first true Maratha empire".[33]
Medieval and early modern period (1206–18th century CE)
Tomb of Salabat Khan II, an example of architecture of Ahmadnagar Sultanate
In the early 14th century, the Yadava dynasty, which ruled most of present-day Maharashtra, was overthrown by the
The early period of Islamic rule saw atrocities such as imposition of
Bhosale, Shirke, Ghorpade, Jadhav, More, Mahadik, Ghatge, and Nimbalkar loyally served different sultans at different periods in time.[37] Since most of the population was Hindu and spoke Marathi, even sultans such as Ibrahim Adil Shah I adopted Marathi as the court language, for administration and record keeping.[38][39][40]
region between 1382 and 1601 before finally being annexed by the Mughal Empire.
Mughals
The
Jehangir.[44] He assisted the Mughal prince Khurram (later emperor Shah Jahan) in his struggle against his stepmother, Nur Jahan, who had ambitions to secure the Delhi throne for her son-in-law.[45]
In the second half of the 17th century, the Mughals were constantly challenged by the Marathas under Shivaji, and later his successors.[46] The decline of Islamic rule in the Deccan region started when Shivaji annexed a portion of the Bijapur Sultanate in the second half of the 17th century. In the process, he became a symbol of Hindu resistance and self-rule.[47]
Gond kingdoms
Although Islamic rulers dominated most of Maharashtra region after the fall of Deogiri Yadavas, in the
kingdoms that remained free until the advent of the Mughals. From the reign of Akbar to that of Aurangzeb, the Gonds were vassals of the Mughals. During the reign of Aurangzeb, Gond king Bakht Buland Shah accepted Islam and founded the present-day city of Nagpur. Centuries earlier, Khandkya Ballal Sah, a 13th century Gond king, founded the walled city of Chandrapur in southern Vidarbha region.[48] The last Gond ruler was pensioned by Maratha leader Raghuji Bhonsale, who founded the Nagpur kingdom.[49]
Portugal was the first of the European powers to establish ports and colonies in India. Their possessions in present day Maharashtra included the island of Mumbai, the port of Chaul, and area around Vasai on the Konkan coast. Portuguese colonies in India were ruled by a Portuguese viceroy based in Goa. The Portuguese ceded Mumbai to the British as a dowry when the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, married Charles II, the British monarch in 1661. Under Chimaji Appa, the Marathas took Vasai and Salsette Island from the Portuguese in 1739 and ruled these regions until 1774.[50]
The Maratha Empire dominated the political scene in the Indian subcontinent from the beginning of the 18th century to the early 19th century. Maharashtra was the center of the Maratha Empire, with its capital being the city of Pune and briefly Satara as well.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was the founder of the Maratha Empire. He was born in the
Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur that formed the seed of the Maratha Empire. To build his territory, he fought not only the Mughals and the Adilshahi, but also many Maratha Watandars. The Watandars considered their watans (plots of land) as sources of economic power and were reluctant to part with them. They even initially opposed the emergence of Shivaji, because their economic interests were affected.[38] In 1674, Shivaji crowned himself as the Chhatrapati (monarch) of his realm at Raigad Fort
.
Shivaji was an able administrator and established a government that paid the generals and ministers a salary rather than granting them jagir (fiefs).[52] He established an effective civil and military administration, built a powerful navy, and erected new forts (e.g. Sindhudurg Fort) and strengthened old ones (e.g. Vijaydurg Fort) on the west coast of Maharashtra. He died around April 3, 1680.[53]
Mughal–Maratha war (1681–1707)
After Shivaji died, Mughal emperor
Rajaram, his second son and successor, and later Rajaram's widow, Tarabai
, lead their Maratha forces to fight individual battles against the forces of the Mughal Empire. Territory changed hands repeatedly during these years (1689–1707) of interminable warfare. As there was no central authority among the Marathas, Aurangzeb was forced to contest every inch of territory, at great cost in lives and money.
Even as Aurangzeb drove west, deep into Maratha territory, the Marathas expanded eastwards into the Mughal lands of Malwa and Hyderabad. The Marathas also expanded further south into Southern India, defeating the independent local rulers there and capturing Jinji in Tamil Nadu. Aurangzeb waged continuous war in the Deccan for more than two decades with no resolution.[54] The death of Aurangzeb in 1707 ended the conflict and initiated the decline of the Mughal Empire.[55][56]
in 1730.The town of Saswad as depicted in 1813 by British artist Robert Melville Grindlay. The palace of the Purandares and courtiers of the Peshwas can be seen in the background.
During much of the 18th century, the
Pilaji Gaekwad. These leaders also did not come from the traditional aristocratic families of Maharashtra.[62] All the young leaders chosen by Bajirao I or their descendants later became rulers in their own right during the Maratha Confederacy era. Historian K.K. Datta argues that Bajirao I "may very well be regarded as the second founder of the Maratha Empire".[63]
By 1760, the domain of the Marathas stretched across most of the Indian subcontinent.
Dewas
.
In 1775, the East India Company intervened in a Peshwa family succession struggle in Pune, leading to the First Anglo-Maratha War, which resulted in a Maratha victory.[74]
Maratha Navy
Shivaji developed a potent
British, Portuguese, Dutch, and Siddi naval ships and kept a check on their naval ambitions. The Maratha Navy under the Angre family was dominant in the area until around the 1730sThe internecine conflicts between Kanhoji Angre's sons weakened the navy.The navy under Tulaji Angre was destroyeed by the combined action of the East India company and the Peshwa forces in 1755.[77]The navy operated by other members of the Angre family remained operational but was in a state of decline by the 1770s, and ceased to exist by 1818.[78]
Revenue system and chauth
One of the tools of the empire was the collection of chauth: 25% of the revenue from states that submitted to Maratha power. The Marathas also had an elaborate land revenue system which was retained by the British East India Company when they gained control of Maratha territory.[79]
Although the Maratha Empire dominated most of India during the 18th century, they mostly ruled by collecting chauth from local states. A significant state that paid chauth at times but was also in constant conflict with the Marathas was the Asaf Jahi dynasty, alternatively known as the Nizam of Hyderabad. The Nizam ruled the Marathwada region of present-day Maharashtra as well as Telangana and parts of Karnataka during the 18th century, and later as a vassal of the British until the Indian independence. For a part of this period, the Nizam also had control over Berar or the Vidarbha region in eastern Maharashtra.[80]
Society and culture
Before British rule, the Maharashtra region was divided into many revenue divisions. The medieval equivalent of a county or district was the
Villages used a caste-based system of twelve hereditary trades called the Balutedar, which functioned as the economic system of the village. Servants under this system provided services to the farmers and were responsible for tasks specific to their castes. In exchange for their services, the balutedars were granted complex sets of hereditary rights (watan) to share in the village harvest.[84]
Urban centers
Although the majority of the population in Maharashtra has lived in rural areas throughout history, cities and towns were founded or expanded when new rulers chose new capitals. Notable urban centers that were founded during sultanate period include
Ellichpur. Places with history going back millennia, such as Junnar and Daulatabad
, also served as capitals or regional headquarters during this period. All these places declined after they lost royal patronage due to the fall of their ruling dynasties.
Parsee, Bhatia, Khoja, and Bohra—to move to the port city to help with trade.[89]
Nagpur from the defeated Maratha Empire in the Maharashtra region. Both these states were abolished by the 1850s by the company under the doctrine of lapse policy that refused succession of an adopted son. Jagirdars such as Aundh, who were nominally under the Satara state, became princely states after the lapse.[97][98] The province of Berar was wrested from the Nizam by the colonial government in 1858 for non-payment of military expenses.[99] The province formally became part of Central Provinces and Berar
in 1903.
The annual
varkaris (devotees) into dindis (specific groups).[102]
Company rule also saw standardization of Marathi grammar through 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.[103][104] Molesworth also worked on standardizing Marathi. He employed Brahmins of Pune for this task and adopted the Sanskrit-dominated dialect spoken by this caste in the city as the standard dialect for Marathi.[105][106] Company rule came to an end when, under the terms of a proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Bombay Presidency and the rest of British India came under the British crown in 1858.[107]
architectural styles.Lesson in progress in a classroom at a Nagpur Government Boys School in 1870 during the British RajNew Palace, Kolhapur
People from Maharashtra played an important part in the nationalist, social, and religious reform movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Notable
school of Buddhism called Navayana,[115] and leading to the Dalit movement that still endures. As the nation's first Law and Justice Minister, Ambedkar played a pivotal role in writing the constitution of India and is considered the 'Father of the Indian Constitution'.[116]
In 1942, the ultimatum to the British to
B.G. Kher was the first Chief Minister of the tri-lingual Bombay Presidency
in 1937.
By the end of the 19th century, a modern manufacturing industry was developing in Mumbai.
cotton mills was from western Maharashtra, specifically the coastal Konkan region.[118][119] The census recorded for the city in the first half of the 20th century showed that nearly half the population of the city listed Marathi as their mother tongue.[120][121]
Gopalrao Khedkar were prominent activists in the campaign to create a separate state of Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital. On 1 May 1960, following mass protests and 105 deaths, Bombay State was divided into the new states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.[125]
In 1956, some Marathi-majority
talukas were also transferred to the Adilabad, Medak, Nizamabad, and Mahaboobnagar districts of the new Telugu State (now Telangana), to the east of Maharashtra. Maharashtra continues to have a dispute with Karnataka, to the south, over the regions of Belgaum and Karwar.[126][127][128][129]
Since 1960
The present state of Maharashtra came into being on 1 May 1960 as a Marathi-speaking state according to linguistic state reorganization, with Congress party's Yashwantrao Chavan being the first chief minister of the state. Since its inception, the state has seen huge growth in industry, increased urbanization, and migration of people from other states of India.
Government and politics
Present-day state of Maharashtra
The Indian National Congress party (INC) and its allies have ruled the state for a major part of the state's existence. After the brief tenures of Yashwantrao Chavan, who was inducted as defence minister by Prime Minister Nehru, and Marotrao Kannamwar, who died after one year in office, Vasantrao Naik was Chief Minister from 1963 to 1975.[130] The politics of the state in this period was also dominated by leaders such as Yashwantrao Chavan, Vasantdada Patil, Vasantrao Naik, and Shankarrao Chavan. During its period of dominance, the INC enjoyed overwhelming support from the state's influential sugar co-operatives, as well as thousands of other cooperatives such as credit unions and rural agricultural cooperatives involved in the marketing of dairy and vegetable produce.[131]
Janata party. During his career, Pawar split Congress twice, with significant consequences for state politics.[132][133] In 1999, after his dispute with the party president Sonia Gandhi over her foreign origins, Pawar left the party and formed the Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP); however, the party joined a Congress-led coalition to form the state government after the 1999 Assembly elections.
The Shiv Sena party was formed in the 1960s by Balashaheb Thackerey, a cartoonist and journalist, to advocate and agitate for the interests of Marathi people in Mumbai. In its early years in the late 1960s, the party specifically targeted immigrants to Mumbai from South India.[134] Over the following decades, the party slowly expanded its base, and took over the Bombay Corporation in the 1980s. The original base of the party was lower middle- and working-class Marathi people in Mumbai and surrounding urban areas, while the leadership of the party came from educated upper caste Maharashtrians. However, since 1990s, strong men have emerged who control their local areas through intimidation and extortion. This has phenomenon has been named "dada-ization" of the party.[135][136]
In the early 1990s, some of the party leaders incited violence against Muslims, which resulted in riots between Hindus and Muslims.[137]
In 1995, a coalition of Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured an overwhelming majority in the state, challenging the INC's dominance in the state political landscape and beginning a period of coalition governments.[138] Shiv Sena was the larger party in the coalition. For three successive elections from 1999 until 2014, the NCP and INC formed one coalition while Shiv Sena and the BJP formed another, and in which the INC–NCP alliance won. Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress party was the last Chief Minister of Maharashtra under the Congress–NCP alliance that governed until 2014.[139][140][141]
A split emerged within Shiv Sena when Bal Thackeray anointed his son
Biharis
and other north Indians.
The BJP is closely related to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is part of the Sangh Parivar. In early years, the party originally derived its support from the urban upper castes such as Brahmins and non-Maharashtrians. However, in the 21st century, the party was able to penetrate the Maratha group by fielding Maratha candidates in elections.[142] The RSS was formed in the 1920s in Nagpur by Maharashtrian Brahmins, and remains dominated by that community.
For the better part of its existence, politics of the state was also dominated by the mainly rural
Chief Ministers so far, as many as 10 (55%) have been Maratha.[146] Since the 1980s, this group has also been active in setting up private educational institutions.[147][148][149]
Economy
Cooperative institutions such as sugar mills have been central to the economy and politics of Western Maharashtra
Prior to Indian independence, manufacturing industry in what became Maharashtra was based mainly in the city of Mumbai. After the formation of Maharashtra, the state government established the
Maharashtra has hundreds of private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions. Most of the private colleges were set up after the state government of Vasantdada Patil liberalised the education sector in 1982.[153] Politicians and leaders involved in the huge cooperative movement in Maharashtra were instrumental in setting up the private institutes.[154][155]
Maharashtra was a pioneer in the development of agricultural cooperative societies after independence. In fact, it was an integral part of the then-governing Congress party's vision of "rural development with local initiative". A 'special' status was accorded to the sugar cooperatives, and the government assumed the role of a mentor by acting as a stakeholder, guarantor, and regulator.[156][157][158] Apart from sugar, cooperatives played a crucial role in dairy,[159] cotton, and fertiliser industries. Support by the state government led to more than 25,000 cooperatives being set up by the 1990s in Maharashtra.[160]
Drought of 1972–73
In 1963, the government of Maharashtra asserted that the agricultural situation in the state was constantly being watched and relief measures were taken as soon as any scarcity was detected. On the basis of this—and to assert that the word 'famine' had become obsolete in this context—the government passed "The Maharashtra Deletion of the Term 'Famine' Act, 1963".
artificial lentic water bodies. The public distribution system distributed food through fair-price shops. No deaths from starvation were reported.[162]
Large-scale employment to the deprived sections of Maharashtrian society brought in considerable amounts of food to the state.[163] The implementation of the 'Scarcity Manuals' in the state prevented mortality rising from severe food shortages. The relief works initiated by the state government helped employ over 5 million people at the height of the drought, leading to effective famine prevention.[164] The effectiveness was also attributed to the direct pressure on the state government by the public, who perceived that employment via the relief works programme was their right. The public protested by marching, picketing, and even rioting. Nevertheless, the measures taken by the government were praised for being a model program for famine relief.[165][166]
Farmers' suicides
Since 1990s, there has been a huge increase in number of suicides committed by
Other reasons included the difficulty of farming semi-arid regions, poor
agricultural income, absence of alternative income opportunities, and the absence of suitable counselling services.[169][170][171][172][173][174] In 2004, the Mumbai High Court commissioned a report from the Tata Institute on the phenomenon.[175][176] The report cited "government's lack of interest, the absence of a safety net for farmers, and lack of access to information related to agriculture as the chief causes for the desperate condition of farmers in the state."[175]
References
Notes
^Many historians consider Attock to be the final frontier of the Maratha Empire.[72]
^Margabandhu, C. "Trade Contacts between Western India and the Graeco-Roman World in the early centuries of the Christian era." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient/Journal de l'histoire economique et sociale de l'Orient (1965): 316-322.
^Deo, S. B. "The Genesis of Maharashtra History and Culture." Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 43 (1984): 17-36.
^Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay. Asiatic Society of Bombay. 1986. p. 219. If Konow is right, then the length of time for Ksatrapa rule in the Nasik-Karla-Junnar region would be at least thirty-five years.
^The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The Geographical Frames of the ... by Dilip K Chakrabarty p.32
^India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic: p.440
^Sinopoli, C.M., 2001. On the edge of empire: Form and substance in the Satavahana dynasty. Empires: Perspectives from archaeology and history,p.163, 173.[1]
^Habib, Irfan, and Faiz Habib. "INDIA IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY — A SURVEY OF POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY." Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 60, 1999, pp. 89–128. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44144078. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
^Kosambi, Meera. “Commerce, Conquest and the Colonial City: Role of Locational Factors in Rise of Bombay.” Economic and Political Weekly 20, no. 1 (1985): 32–37. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4373936.
^PRÄNT, TARAF, SSDAROF SE, DSISDARO DIWAN, and SS DAR OF NORTH DIWAN. "MARATHA ADMINISTRATION." A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-eighteenth Century (2011): 322.[2]
. However, the Marathas were the greatest menace to Ali Vardi Khan. There were as many as five Maratha invasions in 1742, 1743, 1744, 1745 and 1748.
^The Rediscovery of India: A New Subcontinent Cite: "Swarming up from the Himalayas, the Marathas now ruled from the Indus and Himalayas in the north to the south tip of the peninsula. They were either masters directly or they took tribute."
^Maloni, Ruby. “THE ANGRES AND THE ENGLISH—CONTENDERS FOR POWER ON THE WEST COAST OF INDIA.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 66, 2005, pp. 546–51. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44145870. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.
^Fukazawa, H., 1972. Rural Servants in the 18th Century Maharashtrian Village—Demiurgic or Jajmani System?. Hitotsubashi journal of economics, 12(2), pp.14-40.
^MATE, M. S. (1996). URBAN CULTURE OF MEDIEVAL DECCAN (1300 A.D. TO 1650 A.D.). Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute, 56/57, 161–217. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42930498
^Kosambi, Meera (1989). "Glory of Peshwa Pune". Economic and Political Weekly. 24 (5): 247.
^Kosambi, M. (1985). Commerce, Conquest and the Colonial City: Role of Locational Factors in Rise of Bombay. Economic and Political Weekly, 20(1), 32–37. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4373936
^Abhang, C. J. (2014). UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS OF EAST INDIA COMPANY REGARDING DESTRUCTION OF FORTS IN JUNNER REGION. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 75, 448–454. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44158417
^Regani, Sarojini. “THE CESSION OF BERAR.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 20, 1957, pp. 252–59. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44304474. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023.
^"Some Facts of Constituent Assembly". 11 May 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2019. On 29 August 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to prepare a Draft Constitution for India.
^Subramanian, R.R., A Tale of Two Cities: Reconstructing the 'Bajao Pungi, Hatao Lungi'campaign in Bombay, and the Birth of the 'Other'. Editorial Note, p.37.[4]
^Anand, V., 2004. Multi-party accountability for environmentally sustainable industrial development: the challenge of active citizenship. PRIA Study Report, no. 4, March 2004.[5]
American Association for the Advancement of Science; Indian National Science Academy; International Rice Research Institute; Indian Council of Agricultural Research (1989). Climate and Food Security. International Symposium on Climate Variability and Food Security in Developing Countries, 5–9 February 1987 New Delhi, India. Manila: International Rice Research Institute.
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