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, theAsmaka,Vidarbha kingdom,Satavahana Empire,Vakataka dynasty,Chalukya Empire,Rashtrakuta Empire,Western Chalukya Empire,Seuna Yadava dynasty,Shilahara,Bahamani Sultanate,Deccan sultanates,Mughal Empire,Maratha Empire, andBritish Raj. Ruins, monuments, tombs, forts, and places of worship left by these rulers are dotted around the state.
At the time of theIndian independence movement in the early 20th century, the region—along with the British-ruled areas ofBombay Presidency, andCentral Provinces and Berar—included many Britishvassal states. Among these, the erstwhileHyderabad State was the largest, and extended over many modern Indian states. Other states grouped under theDeccan States Agency includedKolhapur,Miraj,Sangli,Aundh,Bhor, andSawantwadi. Followingindependence from the British in 1947 and a campaign to create aMarathi-speaking state in the 1950s, the state of Maharashtra was formed in 1960.
From the 4th century BCE until 875,Maharashtri Prakrit and its dialects were the dominant languages of the region. The Marathi language, which evolved from Maharashtri Prakrit, has been the common language since the 9th century. The oldest stone inscriptions in the Marathi language date to around 975 CE,[1] and can be seen at the foot of theLord Bahubali statue in theJain temple atShravanabelgola in modern-dayKarnataka.
Chalcolithic sites belonging to theJorwe culture (ca. 1300–700 BCE) have been discovered throughout the state.[2][3] The largest settlement discovered of the culture is atDaimabad, aLate Harappan site, which had a mud fortification during this period, as well as an ellipticaltemple 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 fromGujarat to northern Maharashtra.[6]
Maharashtra was historically the name of a region which consisted ofAparanta,Vidarbha, Mulak,Assaka (Asmaka), andKuntala.[citation needed] In ancient times,tribal communities ofBhil people inhabited this area, also known asDandakaranya. Linguists and archeologists believe it is likely that Maharashtra was inhabited byDravidian speakers during the middleRigvedic period,[7] as suggested by Dravidian names of places in Maharashtra.[8][9][10]
Maharashtra region later became part of theMaurya Empire, withedicts of emperorAshoka having been found in the region. Buddhism flourished during this period. Trade in Maharashtra flourished through international trade with the Greeks and later with theRoman 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]
During the Middle Kingdoms the region of present-day Maharashtra formed part of many states, including theMaurya Empire,Satavahana dynasty,Kadamba dynasty,Vakataka dynasty,Chalukya dynasty, andRashtrakuta dynasty. Most of these empires extended over large swathes of Indian territory. Some of the greatest monuments in Maharashtra, such as theAjanta Caves andEllora Caves, were built during the time of these empires.
Maharashtra was ruled by theMaurya Empire in the 4th and 3rd century BCE. One of theMajor Rock Edicts of the Maurya kingAshoka was located atSopara, near present-day Mumbai.[15]
Around 230 BCE, the Maharashtra region was taken over by theSatavahana dynasty, which ruled the area for the next 400 years.[16] A notable ruler of the Satavahana dynasty wasGautamiputra Satakarni, who defeatedScythian invaders. This dynasty mainly used thePrakrit language on their coins and the inscriptions on the walls of Buddhist monasteries.[17][18]
The followingVakataka dynasty ruled from approximately 250 to 470 CE.
From the 6th century CE to the 8th century, theChalukya dynasty ruled Maharashtra. Two prominent rulers werePulakeshin II, who defeated the north Indian EmperorHarsha, andVikramaditya II, who defeated Arab invaders in the 8th century. The name 'Maharashtra' appears on a 7th-century inscription by Pulakeshin II atAihole proclaiming sovereignty over the "three Mahārāshtrakas with their 99,000 villages".[19]
TheRashtrakuta dynasty ruled Maharashtra from the 8th to the 10th century.[20] The Arab traveler Sulaiman[who?] calledAmoghavarsha, 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-dayKarnataka and usedKannada andSanskrit as court languages.
Between 800 and 1200 CE, parts of Western Maharashtra, including theKonkan region, were ruled by differentShilahara houses based in North Konkan, South Konkan, and Kolhapur.[22] At different periods in their history, the Shilaharas served as thevassals of either the Rashtrakutas or the Chalukyas.[citation needed]
From the early 11th century to the 12th century theDeccan Plateau, including a large part of Maharashtra, was dominated by theWestern Chalukya Empire and theChola dynasty.[23] Several battles over the Deccan Plateau were fought between these empires during the reigns ofRaja Raja Chola I,Rajendra Chola I,Jayasimha II,Someshvara I, andVikramaditya VI.[24]
At its peak, theSeuna (Yadava) dynasty (12th–14th century) ruled a kingdom stretching from theTungabhadra River to theNarmada River, including present-day Maharashtra,North Karnataka, and parts ofMadhya Pradesh. Its capital was atDevagiri (present-dayDaulatabad in Maharashtra). The Yadavas initially ruled asfeudatories of the Western Chalukyas.[25]
The earliest historically attested ruler of the Seuna dynasty wasDridhaprahara, the son of Subahu, from 860 to 880 CE. It is unclear where his capital was located; some argue that it wasShrinagara, while an early inscription suggests it was Chandradityapura (modernChandwad in theNasik district).[26] The nameSeuna comes from Dridhaprahara's son, Seunachandra, who originally ruled a region calledSeunadesha (present-dayKhandesh).Bhillama II, a later ruler in the dynasty, assistedTailapa II in his war with theParamara kingVakpati Munja. Seunachandra II helpedVikramaditya 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 rulerSimhana, 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 ofMarathi literature is directly linked with the rise of the Yadava dynasty.[30]
According to scholars such asGeorge M. Moraes,[31]V. K. Rajwade,C. V. Vaidya,A.S. Altekar,D. R. Bhandarkar, andJ. Duncan M. Derrett,[32] the Seuna rulers were ofMaratha descent.[27][33]
In the early 14th century, the Yadava dynasty, which ruled most of present-day Maharashtra, was overthrown by theDelhi Sultanate rulerAla-ud-din Khalji. Later,Muhammad bin Tughluq conquered parts of theDeccan Plateau, and temporarily shifted his capital from Delhi toDaulatabad in Maharashtra.
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After the collapse of the Tughluqs in 1347, the breakawayBahmani Sultanate governed the region as well as the wider Deccan region for the next 150 years fromGulbarga and later fromBidar.[34]The early period of Islamic rule saw atrocities such as imposition ofJizya tax on non-Muslims, temple destruction, and forcible conversions.[how?][35][36] Eventually these incidents largely ceased. For most of this period,Brahmins were in charge of accounts whereas revenue collection was in the hands of Marathas who hadwatans (hereditary rights) ofpatilki (revenue collection at village level) anddeshmukhi (revenue collection over a larger area). A number of families such asShinde,Bhosale, Shirke, Ghorpade,Jadhav, More,Mahadik,Ghatge, andNimbalkar loyally served different sultans at different periods in time.[37] Since most of the population was Hindu and spoke Marathi, even sultans such asIbrahim Adil Shah I adopted Marathi as the court language, for administration and record keeping.[38][39][40]
After the break-up of theBahamani sultanate in 1518, the Maharashtra region was split between fiveDeccan sultanates: Nizamshah ofAhmadnagar Sultanate,Adilshah of Bijapur,Qutubshah of Golkonda,Bidarshah of Bidar, andImadshah of Elichpur.[38] These kingdoms often fought with each other. United, they decisively defeated theVijayanagara Empire of the south in 1565.[41] The present area ofMumbai was ruled by theSultanate of Gujarat before its capture byPortugal in 1535. TheFaruqi dynasty ruled theKhandesh region between 1382 and 1601 before finally being annexed by the Mughal Empire.
TheMughal Empire underAkbar started capturing territories held by the Deccan sultanates towards the end of the 16th century. The Mughals controlled most of present-day northern Maharashtra (includingKhandesh, parts of Western Maharashtra,Marathwada, andBerar) by the 1630s, and most of the area of present-day Maharashtra by the end of the 1600s.[42] However, Mughal control was challenged multiple times during this period. Early in the century, the resistance was led byMalik Ambar, the regent of theNizamshahi dynasty ofAhmednagar from 1607 to 1626.[43] He increased the strength and power ofMurtaza Nizam Shah II and raised a large army. Malik Ambar was a proponent ofguerilla warfare in the Deccan region and was considered a great foe by Mughal emperorJehangir.[44] He assisted the Mughal prince Khurram (later emperorShah 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 underShivaji, and later his successors.[46] The decline of Islamic rule in the Deccan region started when Shivaji annexed a portion of theBijapur Sultanate in the second half of the 17th century. In the process, he became a symbol of Hindu resistance and self-rule.[47]
Although Islamic rulers dominated most of Maharashtra region after the fall of Deogiri Yadavas, in theVidarbha region of present-day Maharashtra—and adjoining areas of present-dayTelangana,Chhattisgarh, andMadhya Pradesh—theGond tribal people establishedkingdoms 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 kingBakht 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 theNagpur 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 ofChaul, and area aroundVasai on the Konkan coast. Portuguese colonies in India were ruled by a Portuguese viceroy based inGoa. The Portuguese ceded Mumbai to the British as a dowry when the Portuguese princess,Catherine of Braganza, marriedCharles II, the British monarch in 1661. UnderChimaji Appa, the Marathas took Vasai andSalsette 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 ofPune and brieflySatara as well.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was the founder of the Maratha Empire. He was born in theBhonsleclan in 1630.[51] Shivaji carved out an enclave from the decliningAdilshahi sultanate ofBijapur that formed the seed of the Maratha Empire. To build his territory, he fought not only the Mughals and the Adilshahi, but also many MarathaWatandars. The Watandars considered theirwatans (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 theChhatrapati (monarch) of his realm atRaigad Fort.
Shivaji was an able administrator and established a government that paid the generals and ministers a salary rather than granting themjagir (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]
After Shivaji died, Mughal emperorAurangzeb launched an attack on the Marathas and Deccan sultanates of Adilshahi and Qutbshahi in 1681. Although he soon vanquished the sultanates, theconflict with the Marathas lasted 27 years. This period also saw the capture and death of Shivaji's first son,Sambhaji, at the hands of the Mughals in 1689.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 ofMalwa andHyderabad. The Marathas also expanded further south into Southern India, defeating the independent local rulers there and capturingJinji 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]
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During much of the 18th century, thePeshwas, belonging to the (Bhat)DeshmukhMarathaChitpavan Brahmin family, controlled the Maratha army and later became the hereditary heads of the Maratha Empire from 1749 to 1818.[57] During their reign, the Maratha empire reached its zenith in 1760, dominating most of theIndian subcontinent.[58][59][60][61]Bajirao I, the most prominentPeshwa (general), was 20 years old at the time of his appointment as Peshwa in 1720. For his campaigns in North India, he actively promoted young leaders of his own age such asRanoji Shinde,Malharrao Holkar, thePuar brothers, andPilaji 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]
Raghoji Bhonsle, the ruler of theNagpur Kingdom, also expanded the Maratha rule in central andEast India.[64][65][66][67] In 1737, the Marathas defeated a Mughal army at their capital, in the First Battle of Delhi. The Marathas continuedtheir military campaigns against the Mughals, theNizam of Hyderabad, theNawab of Bengal, and theDurrani Empire to further extend their boundaries.
By 1760, the domain of the Marathas stretched across most of the Indian subcontinent.[68][69] At its peak, the empire stretched fromTamil Nadu[70] in the south, toPeshawar (modern-dayKhyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan[71][note 1]) in the north, andBengal in the east. The northwestern expansion of the Marathas was halted after theThird Battle of Panipat (1761). However, the Maratha authority in the north was re-established within a decade under PeshwaMadhavrao I,[73] wherein the strongest knights were granted semi-autonomy, creating a confederacy of Maratha states led by theGaekwads ofBaroda, theHolkars ofIndore andMalwa, theScindias ofGwalior andUjjain, theBhonsales ofNagpur, and thePuars ofDhar andDewas.
In 1775, the East India Company intervened in a Marathas succession struggle in Pune, leading to theFirst Anglo-Maratha War, which resulted in a Maratha victory.[74]
Shivaji developed a potentnaval force during his rule. In the early part of the 1700s, under the leadership ofKanhoji Angre, this navy dominated the territorial waters of the western coast of India fromBilimora[75] toSavantwadi.[76] It attackedBritish,Portuguese,Dutch, andSiddi naval ships and kept a check on their naval ambitions. TheMaratha Navy under the Angre family was dominant in the area until around the 1730s. The internecine conflicts between Kanhoji Angre's sons weakened the navy. The navy under Tulaji Angre was destroyed 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]
One of the tools of the empire was the collection ofchauth: 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 collectingchauth from local states. A significant state that paidchauth at times but was also in constant conflict with the Marathas was theAsaf Jahi dynasty, alternatively known as theNizam of Hyderabad. The Nizam ruled theMarathwada region of present-day Maharashtra as well asTelangana and parts ofKarnataka 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 overBerar or the Vidarbha region in eastern Maharashtra.[80]
Before British rule, the Maharashtra region was divided into many revenue divisions. The medieval equivalent of a county or district was thepargana. The chief of the pargana was calledDeshmukh and record keepers were calledDeshpande.[81][82] The lowest administrative unit was the village. Village society in Marathi areas included the Patil (head of the village), collector of revenue, andKulkarni (village record-keeper). These were hereditary positions. The Patil usually came from the Maratha caste, and the Kulkarni was usually from Marathi Brahmin orCKP caste.[83]
Villages used a caste-based system of twelve hereditary trades called theBalutedar, 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, thebalutedars were granted complex sets of hereditary rights (watan) to share in the village harvest.[84]
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 includeChakan,Ahmadnagar, andEllichpur. Places with history going back millennia, such asJunnar andDaulatabad, 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.
Aurangabad was set up in the early 1600s by Malik Amber and remained an important center because of patronage by the Mughals and later by the Nizams.[85] During the Peshwa period in the 1700s, Pune became the de facto political and business capital of the Maratha Empire. Like capitals, it also declined following the fall of the Maratha Empire in 1818.[86][87] Nagpur became prominent during the reign of the Raghujee Bhonsle and his descendants in the mid-1700s.[88]Mumbai became important when the East India Company moved their operations from Surat in the 1700s. They also invited different Gujarati mercantile classes—such as theParsee,Bhatia,Khoja, andBohra—to move to the port city to help with trade.[89]
The British ruled most of Maharashtra directly or indirectly through the princely states for more than a century and brought several changes.[90][91][92][93] Areas that correspond to present day Maharashtra were under direct or indirect British rule, first under theEast India Company and then, from 1858, under theBritish crown. During this era, Maharashtra region was divided into theBombay presidency,Berar Province,Central Provinces, and variousprincely states such asHyderabad State,Kolhapur State, andSangli State. Apart from Hyderabad, other princely states came under theDeccan States Agency.
TheEast India Company controlledMumbai beginning in the 17th century and used it as one of their main trading posts. The Company slowly expanded areas under its rule during the 18th century. Their conquest of Maharashtra was completed in 1818 with the defeat ofPeshwaBajirao II in theThird Anglo-Maratha War.[94] The governor of the new territories,Mountstuart Elphinstone, appointed commissioners and left the district boundaries almost intact.[95] One of the first tasks that the company undertook after deposing Bajirao II was to destroy hill forts previously under Maratha control to prevent Maratha forces regrouping in the hills. The forts destroyed included those in the Junnar region—such Shivaji's birthplace of Shivneri,Hadsar,Narayangad,Chavand,Harishchandragad—and the important fort of Sinhagad overlooking the city of Pune.[96] The company also created the vassal states ofSatara andNagpur from the defeated Maratha Empire in the Maharashtra region. Both these states were abolished by the 1850s by the company under thedoctrine of lapse policy that refused succession of an adopted son.Jagirdars such asAundh, 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 ofCentral Provinces and Berar in 1903.
The annualPandharpur Wari starts in two places in Maharashtra, namely Alandi and Dehu. In its present form, thewari dates back to the 1820s. At that time, Sant Tukaram's descendants, and a devotee of SantDnyaneshwar named Haibatravbaba Arphalkar (who was a courtier ofScindias, the Maratha rulers ofGwalior), made changes to thewari.[100][101] Haibatravbaba's changes involved carrying thepaduka in apalkhi (litter), having horses involved in the procession, and organizing thevarkaris (devotees) intodindis (specific groups).[102]
Company rule also saw standardization ofMarathi grammar through the efforts of the Christian missionaryWilliam Carey. Carey also published the first dictionary of Marathi indevanagari script. The most comprehensive Marathi–English dictionary was compiled by CaptainJames Thomas Molesworth and MajorThomas 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 ofPune 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 ofa proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, theBombay Presidency and the rest of British India came under the British crown in 1858.[107]
People from Maharashtra played an important part in the nationalist, social, and religious reform movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Notablecivil societies founded by Marathi leaders during 19th century include thePoona Sarvajanik Sabha, thePrarthana Samaj, the Arya Mahila Samaj, and theSatya Shodhak Samaj. The Sarvajanik Sabha took an active part in relief efforts during the famine of 1875–76, and is considered the forerunner of theIndian National Congress established in 1885.[108][109] The most prominent personalities of Indian Nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th century wereGopal Krishna Gokhale andBal Gangadhar Tilak, who were on opposite sides of the political spectrum and both from Pune. Tilak was instrumental in using Shivaji andGanesha worship to forge a collective Maharashtrian identity for Marathi people.[110] The Marathi social reformers of the colonial era includeMahatma Jyotirao Phule, his wifeSavitribai Phule,Justice Ranade, feministTarabai Shinde,Dhondo Keshav Karve,Vitthal Ramji Shinde, andPandita Ramabai.[111] Jyotirao Phule was a pioneer in opening schools for girls and MarathiDalit castes.
The non-Brahmin Hindu castes of Maharashtra started organizing at the beginning of the 20th century with the blessing ofShahu of Kolhapur. The campaign took off in the early 1920s under the leadership ofKeshavrao Jedhe and Baburao Javalkar, both of whom belonged to the Non-Brahmin Party (NBP). Their early goals included capturing theGanpati andShiv Jayanti festivals from Brahmin domination.[112] They combined nationalism with anti-casteism as the party's aims.[113] In the 1930s, Jedhe merged the NBP with the Congress party, changing it from upper-caste-dominated to a more broadly based but stillMaratha-dominated party.[114]
Another notable Marathi figure of the time wasB. R. Ambedkar, who led the campaign for the rights ofDalits, a caste that included his ownMahar caste. Ambedkar disagreed with mainstream leaders likeGandhi on issues includinguntouchability, the government system, and thepartition of India. He initiated theDalit Buddhist movement, creating a newschool of Buddhism calledNavayana,[115] and leading to the Dalit movement that still endures. As the nation's firstLaw and Justice Minister, Ambedkar played a pivotal role in writing theconstitution of India and is considered the 'Father of the Indian Constitution'.[116]
In 1942, the ultimatum to the British toquit India was given in Mumbai and culminated in the transfer of power and the independence of India in 1947. Raosaheb and Achutrao Patwardhan, Nanasaheb Gore,Shreedhar Mahadev Joshi, Yeshwantrao Chavan, Swami Ramanand Bharti, Nana Patil, Dhulappa Navale, V.S. Page, Vasant Patil, Dhondiram Mali,Aruna Asif Ali, Ashfaqulla Khan, and several other leaders from Maharashtra played a prominent role in this struggle.B.G. Kher was the first Chief Minister of the tri-lingualBombay Presidency in 1937.
By the end of the 19th century, a modern manufacturing industry was developing in Mumbai.[117] The main product was cotton, and the bulk of the work force in thesecotton 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]
After India's independence, theDeccan States, includingKolhapur, were integrated intoBombay State, which was created from the former Bombay Presidency in 1950.[122] In 1956, theStates Reorganisation Act reorganized the Indian states along linguistic lines, and Bombay State was enlarged by the addition of the predominantlyMarathi-speaking regions onMarathwada (Aurangabad Division) from erstwhileHyderabad state andVidarbha region from theCentral Provinces and Berar. The southernmost part of Bombay State was ceded toMysore.
From 1954 to 1955, the people of Marathi-speaking areas strongly protested against being included in the bilingualBombay State. In response, theSamyukta Maharashtra Movement was formed to fight for a united Maharashtra for the Marathi people.[123][124] TheMahagujarat Movement also advocated for a separate Gujarat state.Annabhau Sathe,Keshavrao Jedhe,S.M. Joshi,Shripad Amrit Dange,Pralhad Keshav Atre, andGopalrao 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 andGujarat.[125]
In 1956, some Marathi-majoritytalukas were also transferred to theAdilabad, Medak, Nizamabad, and Mahaboobnagar districts of the new Telugu State (nowTelangana), to the east of Maharashtra. Maharashtra continues to have a dispute withKarnataka, to the south, over the regions ofBelgaum andKarwar.[126][127][128][129]
The present state of Maharashtra came into being on 1 May 1960 as a Marathi-speaking state according tolinguistic state reorganization, with Congress party'sYashwantrao 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.
TheIndian 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 MinisterNehru, andMarotrao 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, andShankarrao Chavan. During its period of dominance, the INC enjoyed overwhelming support from the state's influentialsugar co-operatives, as well as thousands of other cooperatives such ascredit unions and rural agricultural cooperatives involved in the marketing of dairy and vegetable produce.[131]
Sharad Pawar became a significant personality within the state in 1978 when he broke away from the INC to form an alliance government with theJanata party. During his career, Pawar split Congress twice, with significant consequences for state politics.[132][133] In 1999, after his dispute with the party presidentSonia Gandhi over her foreign origins, Pawar left the party and formed theNationalist Congress Party (NCP); however, the party joined a Congress-led coalition to form the state government after the 1999 Assembly elections.
TheShiv Sena party was formed in the 1960s byBalashaheb Thackerey, a cartoonist and journalist, to advocate and agitate for the interests ofMarathi people inMumbai. 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 the 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 theBharatiya 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 sonUddhav Thackeray as his successor over his nephewRaj Thackeray in 2006. Raj Thackeray then left the party and formed a new party calledMaharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Raj Thackeray, like his uncle, also tried to win support from the Marathi community by whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment in Maharashtra, for instance againstBiharis and other north Indians.
The BJP is closely related to theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is part of theSangh 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 ruralMaratha–Kunbi caste,[143] which accounts for 31% of the population of Maharashtra. They dominated the cooperative institutions, and with the resultant economic power, controlled politics from the village level up to the Assembly andLok Sabha.[142][144][145] Major past political figures of the Congress party from Maharashtra—such asKeshavrao Jedhe,Yashwantrao Chavan,[144]Shankarrao Chavan,Vilasrao Deshmukh, and Sharad Pawar—have been from this group. Of the 18Chief 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]
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 theMaharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in 1962 to spur growth in other areas of the state. In the decades since its formation, MIDC has acted as the primary industrial infrastructure development agency of the government of Maharashtra, and has established at least one industrial area in every district of the state.[150] The areas with biggest industrial growth were the Pune metropolitan region and areas close to Mumbai, such asThane district andRaigad district.[151] After the1991 economic liberalization, Maharashtra began to attract foreign capital, particularly in the information technology and engineering industries. The late 1990s and first decade of the 21st century saw huge development in theinformation technology sector, and IT Parks were set up in theAundh andHinjewadi areas of Pune.[152]
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 ofVasantdada 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 ofagricultural cooperative societies after independence. In fact, it was an integral part of the then-governingCongress 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]
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".[161] Despite this confidence, a severe drought in 1972 led to 25 million people in need. The relief measures undertaken by the Government of Maharashtra included employment, programmes aimed at creating productive assets such as tree plantation, conservation of soil, excavation of canals, and buildingartificial 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]
Since the 1990s, there has been a huge increase in number of suicides committed byfarmers in India, with Maharashtra accounting for the largest percentage of cases. The main reason cited was the farmers' inability to repayloans, mostly taken from banks andNBFCs.[167][168]Other reasons included the difficulty of farming semi-arid regions, pooragricultural 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 theTata 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]
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.
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{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)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.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)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.
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