View source for Maratha (caste)

{{short description|Indian caste found predominantly in Maharashtra}}
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{{For|Marathi people or Maharashtrians|Marathi people}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox caste
| caste_name       = Maratha
| country          = India
| region           = [[Western India]]<br />[[Central India]]
| populated_states = Majority:<br />[[Maharashtra]]<br />Minority:<br />[[Goa]],<br />[[Karnataka]],<br />[[Telangana]],<br />[[Madhya Pradesh]]<br />[[Gujarat]]
| languages        = {{unbulleted list|[[Marathi language|Marathi]]|[[Konkani language|Konkani]]}}
| religions        = [[Hinduism]]
| image            = 
| caption          = 
}}

The '''Maratha caste'''{{refn|group=note|"Maratha", in a wider sense may be extended to include all who inhabit [[Maharashtra]], and speak [[Marathi language|Marathi]] as their mother tongue.}} is composed of [[Maratha clan system|96 clans]], originally formed in the earlier centuries from the amalgamation of families from the peasant ([[Kunbi]]), shepherd ([[Dhangar]]), blacksmith ([[Lohar (caste)|Lohar]]), pastoral ([[Gavli]]), carpenter (Sutar), [[Bhandari caste|Bhandari]], [[Thakar (caste)|Thakar]] and [[Kolis|Koli]] castes in [[Maharashtra]]. Many of them took to military service in the 16th century for the [[Deccan sultanates]] or the [[Mughals]]. Later in the 17th and 18th centuries, they served in the armies of the [[Maratha Kingdom]], founded by [[Shivaji]], a Maratha Kunbi by caste. Many Marathas were granted hereditary [[fiefs]] by the Sultanates, and [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] for their service.<ref name="Gordon1993">{{cite book|author=Stewart Gordon|title=The Marathas 1600–1818|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA15|date=16 September 1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-26883-7|pages=15–18|quote=Looking backward from ample material on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we know that Maratha as a category of caste represents the amalgamation of families from several castes - Kunbi, Lohar, Sutar, Bhandari, Thakar, and even Dhangars (shepherds) – which existed in the seventeenth century and, indeed, exist as castes in Maharashtra today. What differentiated, for example, "Maratha" from "Kunbi"? It was precisely the martial tradition, of which they were proud, and the rights (watans and inams) they gained from military service. It was these rights which differentiated them from the ordinary cultivator, ironworkers and tailors, especially at the local level|access-date=13 November 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083928/https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA15|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Eraly2000">{{cite book|author=Abraham Eraly|title=Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Mughals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04ellRQx4nMC&pg=PA435|year=2000|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-100143-2|pages=435|quote=The early history of the marathas is obscure, but they were predominantly of the sudra (peasant) class, though later, after they gained a political role in the Deccan, they claimed to be Kshatriyas (warriors) and dressed themselves up with pedigrees of appropriate grandeur, with the Bhosles specifically claiming descent from the Sidodia's of Mewar. The fact however is that the marathas were not even a distinct caste, but essentially a status group, made up of individual families from different Maharashtrian castes..|access-date=14 August 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083857/https://books.google.com/books?id=04ellRQx4nMC&pg=PA435|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">"The name of the 'caste-cluster of agriculturalists-turned-warriors' inhabiting the north-west Dakhan, Mahārās̲h̲tra 'the great country', a term which is extended to all Marāt́hī speakers": {{EI2|author=P. Hardy|title=Marāt́hās|volume=6}}</ref><ref name="Hansen2018">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bf5ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|title=Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay|author=Thomas Blom Hansen|date=5 June 2018|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-18862-1|pages=31–|quote=Historically the term Maratha emerged in the seventeenth century from being an imprecise designation for speakers of Marathi to become a title of Martial honor and entitlements earned by Deccan peasants serving as cavalrymen in the armies of Muslim rulers and later in Shivaji's armies.|access-date=13 November 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083858/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bf5ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Black2005">{{cite book|author=Jeremy Black|title=Why Wars Happen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ywx5Xr9QT4EC&pg=PT115|date=1 March 2005|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-86189-415-1|pages=115–|quote=In seventeenth and eighteenth century India, military service was the most viable form of entrepreneurship for the peasants, shepherds, ironworkers and others who coalesced into the Maratha caste|access-date=13 November 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083858/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ywx5Xr9QT4EC&pg=PT115|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Christophe|last=Jaffrelot|author-link1=Christophe Jaffrelot|title=India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJZp5tDuY-gC|year=2003|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|page=163|isbn=978-1-85065-670-8|access-date=21 May 2021|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083859/https://books.google.com/books?id=qJZp5tDuY-gC|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the Maharashtrian historian B. R. Sunthankar, and scholars such as Rajendra Vora, the "Marathas" are a "middle-peasantry" caste which formed the bulk of the Maharashtrian society together with the other [[Kunbi]] peasant caste. Vora adds that the Marathas account for around 30 per cent of the total population of the state and dominate the power structure in Maharashtra because of their numerical strength, especially in the rural society.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07qGAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|title=Grass-Roots Democracy in India and China: The Right To Participate|editor=Manoranjan Mohanty|editor2=George Mathew|editor3=Richard Baum|editor4=Rong Ma|author=Rajendra Vora|publisher=Sage Publications|year=2007|quote=The Marathas, a middle-peasantry caste accounting for around 30 percent of the total population of the state, dominate the power structure in Maharashtra. In no other state of India we find a caste as large as the Marathas. In the past years, scholars have turned their attention to the rural society of Maharashtra in which they thought the roots of this domination lay.|isbn=9788132101130|access-date=16 September 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083858/https://books.google.com/books?id=07qGAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sunthankar |first1=B. R. |title=Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818-1857 |date=1988 |publisher=Shubhada-Saraswat Prakashan |isbn=978-81-85239-50-7 |page=122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SoNuAAAAMAAJ&q=kunbi+peasant |access-date=16 January 2020 |language=en |quote=The peasant castes of Marathas and kunbis formed the bulk of the Maharashtrian society and, owing to their numerical strength, held a dominating position in the old village organisation. |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083900/https://books.google.com/books?id=SoNuAAAAMAAJ&q=kunbi+peasant |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Jeremy Black]], British historian at the [[University of Exeter]], "Maratha caste is a coalescence of peasants, shepherds, ironworkers, etc. as a result of serving in the military in the 17th and 18th century".<ref>{{cite book |title= Why Wars Happen |author= Jeremy Black |page= 111 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mdlUhsjJPDoC&pg=PA111 |year= 2005 |publisher= Reaktion Books |isbn= 9781861890177 |access-date= 14 September 2018 |archive-date= 14 April 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083900/https://books.google.com/books?id=mdlUhsjJPDoC&pg=PA111 |url-status= live }}</ref> They are the [[dominant caste]] in rural areas and mainly constitute the landed peasantry.<ref>{{cite book|title=Politics in Modern Maharashtra|quote=The second caste conflict which is of political significance is that of the Marathas and the Mahars. Marathas are dominant in rural areas and mainly constitute the landed peasantry.|author=V. M. Sirsikar|year=1995|page=64|publisher=Orient Longman}}</ref> As of 2018, 80% of the members of the Maratha caste were farmers.<ref>{{cite news |date= 9 September 2018 |title= Dowry, child marriage issues plague Maratha and Dhangar communities |url= https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/dowry-child-marriage-issues-plague-maratha-and-dhangar-communities-5346895/ |access-date= 12 September 2018 |archive-date= 12 September 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180912094916/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/dowry-child-marriage-issues-plague-maratha-and-dhangar-communities-5346895/ |url-status= live}}</ref>

Marathas are subdivided into 96 different clans, known as the ''[[Maratha clan system|96 Kuli Marathas]]'' or ''Shahānnau Kule.''<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8PJFLeURhsC&pg=PA34 |title=The Culture of India |editor=Kathleen Kuiper |publisher=Rosen |year=2010 |isbn=978-1615301492 |page=34 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Louis Dumont|title=Homo hierarchicus: the caste system and its implications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XsOtRGdvIigC&pg=PA121|access-date=13 May 2011|year=1980|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0226169637|page=121|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083900/https://books.google.com/books?id=XsOtRGdvIigC&pg=PA121|url-status=live}}</ref> Three clan lists exist but the general body of lists are often at great variance with each other. These lists were compiled in the 19th century.<ref name="Gordon1993"/>{{sfn|O'Hanlon|2002|p=17}}
There is not much social distinction between the Marathas and [[Kunbis]] since the 1950s.<ref name="Catanach2021">{{cite book|author=I. J. Catanach|title=Rural Credit in Western India 1875–1930: Rural Credit and the Co-operative Movement in the Bombay Presidency|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N4ntDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88|date=28 May 2021|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-36800-2|pages=87–88|quote=The Malis were gardeners by caste, of about the same status as the Marathas. They had a reputation as a progressive caste, apparently taking easily both to education and to new agricultural pursuits. In truth, their chief advantage in the Nira canal area seems to have been their previous experience with irrigated crops; the original inhabitants of the area, mainly Marathas by caste[note 135], frequently made exceedingly poor attempts at imitating the Mali's methods. They also did not have the Malis' capital resources.[note 135]:Maratha is used here to cover both the original maratha peasant-soldier group and the Kunbi group of generally poorer peasants. The social distinction between the two groups appears to have all but died out in the first half of twentieth century.|access-date=11 July 2021|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711132326/https://books.google.com/books?id=N4ntDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Chhatrapati Shahu, the Piller of Social Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9hHAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|page=70|publisher=Bombay : Education Dept., Govt. of Maharashtra for President, Mahatma Jotirao Phule Vishwabharati, Gargoti, Dist. Kolhapur|author1=P.B.Salunkhe|author2=M.G.Mali|quote=Today the majority of the Maratha - Kunbi caste - cluster identify themselves as Marathas . During the early decades of the 20th Century political considerations turned Kunbis into Marathas. Today many rich Kunbis have become Marathas.|access-date=11 July 2021|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711132327/https://books.google.com/books?id=d9hHAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Maratha king [[Shivaji]] founded the Maratha Kingdom that included warriors and other notables from Maratha and several other castes from Maharashtra.<ref name="kantak"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Constable |first1=Philip |access-date=28 November 2020 |title=The Marginalization of a Dalit Martial Race in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Western India. |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=439–478 |year=2001 |doi=10.2307/2659700 |jstor=2659700 |pmid=18268829 |s2cid=40219522 |quote=While the bulk of Shivaji's men were naturally Marathas, they included not only the allied castes of Dhangars and Gowalas, shepherds and herdsmen, but many who had no claim to kinship. For example Shivaji's famous infantry was composed largely of Bhandaris and Kolis. The Ramoshis... who afterwards formed the infantry of Haidar and Tipu in Mysore, were relied an for the capture of the hill forts, while the outcaste Mahars and Mangs served in his artillery, and in the garrisons of these forts – Patrick Cadell |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2659700 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128235515/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2659700 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It was dominant in India for much of the 18th century.

==Origin==

[[Christopher Bayly]] writes that the Marathas, [[Jat]] and [[Rajput]] rulers mostly originated from peasant or nomadic populace.<ref name="Jwhaley2012">{{cite book | editor =Joachim Whaley|author= C.A.Bayly | title=Mirrors of Mortality (Routledge Revivals): Social Studies in the History of Death | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-136-81060-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JIksZtWqrd0C&pg=PA164 | access-date=2025-03-14 | page=164|quote= It was among the rulers of these new predominantly, Hindu states - the Mahrattas in the west, the Jats near Delhi and the Bhumihar and Rajput rulers of the ganjetic plane itself - that the holy and funerary rites found their most energetic patrons. These ruling dynasties were often themselves drawn from nomadic or peasant communities of relatively low caste status. An essential aspect of the consolidation of their power was a claim to legitimacy which entailed regular association with the cult centers of orthodox Hinduism. By acquiring priests of sufficiently high status to perform ceremonies such as shraddha, these princes could hope to their claims to kshatriya(warrior) which was the pride of the old Hindu ruling houses.}}</ref><ref name="c156">{{cite book | last=Bayly | first=C.A. | title=Origins of Nationality in South Asia: Patriotism and Ethical Government in the Making of Modern India | publisher=Oxford University Press | series=Oxford India paperbacks | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-19-564457-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTNuAAAAMAAJ | page=144}}</ref>

Modern research has revealed that the Marathas and Kunbi have the same origin. Most recently, the Kunbi origin of the Maratha has been explained in detail by historians Richard Eaton and [[Stewart N. Gordon|Stewart Gordon]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} Marathas who were distinguished from the Kunbi, in the past claimed genealogical connections with [[Rajputs]] of northern India.{{sfn|O'Hanlon|2002|p=17}} However, modern researchers demonstrate, giving examples, that these claims are not factual. Modern scholars agree that Marathas and [[Kunbi]] are the same. Anthropologist J. V. Ferreira writes: "The Maratha claim to belong to the ancient 96 Kshatriya families has no foundation in fact and may have been adopted after the Marathas became with [[Shivaji]] a power to be reckoned with".<ref name="Ferreira">{{cite book |author=John Vincent Ferreira |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4XGwAAAAIAAJ |title=Totemism in India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1965 |pages=191, 202 |quote=Together with the Marathas, the Maratha Kunbi belonged originally, says Enthoven, to the same caste; and both their exogamous kuls and exogamous devaks are identical with those of the Marathas. Enthoven opines that the totemic nature of their devak system suggests that they are largely of a non-Aryan origin. ... The Kunbi cultivators are also Marathas but of a somewhat inferior social standing. The Maratha claim to belong to the ancient 96 Kshatriya families has no foundation in fact and may have been adopted after the Marathas became with Shivaji a power to be reckoned with.}}</ref> Gordon writes how the Maratha caste was generated from the [[Kunbi|Kunbis]] who served the Muslim rulers, prospered, and over time adopted different customs like different dressing styles, employed genealogists, started identifying as Maratha, and caste boundaries solidified between them. In the nineteenth century, economic prosperity rather than martial service to the Muslims replaced the mobility into Maratha identity. Eaton gives an example of the Holkar family that originally belonged to the [[Dhangar]] (shepherd) caste but was given a Maratha or even an "arch-Maratha" identity.<ref>{{cite book |author=Richard M. Eaton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGd2huLXEVYC&pg=PA200 |title=A Social History of the Deccan, 1300–1761: Eight Indian Lives, Volume 1 |date=17 November 2005 |publisher=Cambridge university press |isbn=9780521254847 |pages=191, 200 |access-date=19 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084553/https://books.google.com/books?id=cGd2huLXEVYC&pg=PA200 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Stewart Gordon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA16 |title=The Marathas 1600–1818 |date=February 2007 |publisher=cambridge university press |isbn=9780521033169 |pages=15, 16 |access-date=19 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084514/https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA16 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> The other example, given by [[Susan Bayly]], is of the Bhonsles who originated among Maratha and Kunbi populations of the Deccani tiller-plainsmen.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bayly |first=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC&pg=PA57 |title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521798426 |page=57 |language=en}}</ref> Similarly, scholars write that the [[Shinde]] (also known as Scindia<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9SIsAQAAIAAJ |title=Asian Review |publisher=East & West |year=1969 |page=340 |quote=The founder of the family was one Ranoji, who bore the common Maratha surname of Shinde, that by some mysterious process has been Italianized – possibly through the influence of the Filoze family — into Scindia |access-date=9 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505174803/https://books.google.com/books?id=9SIsAQAAIAAJ |archive-date=5 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>) Maratha clan originated from the [[Kunbi]] caste and the Scindia's founder was a servant of the Peshwa who would carry his slippers.<ref name="Embree1988">{{cite book |author=Ainslie Thomas Embree |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LtwpAQAAMAAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Asian history |publisher=Scribner |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-684-18899-7 |page=14 |quote=Ranoji Scindia (d. 1750), the founder of Gwalior state, started his political career reputedly as a slipper-bearer at the court of the peshwa, or prime minister, of the Marathas, but soon rose to high office. |access-date=9 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084516/https://books.google.com/books?id=LtwpAQAAMAAJ |archive-date=14 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ayyar1999">{{cite book |author=K. V. Krishna Ayyar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oUtuAAAAMAAJ |title=The Zamorins of Calicut: From the Earliest Times Down to A.D. 1806 |publisher=Publication Division, University of Calicut |year=1999 |isbn=978-81-7748-000-9 |quote=The carrying of the Pallimaradi before the Zamorin on public occasions might have been due to the same reason as the carrying of a pair of golden slippers before Scindia, whose ancestor was the slipper - bearer of Peshwa Baji Rao - to show his respect for his original humble office which was the cause of his subsequent success |access-date=9 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084517/https://books.google.com/books?id=oUtuAAAAMAAJ |archive-date=14 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Chandra2003">{{cite book |author=Satish Chandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1BRuAAAAMAAJ |title=Essays on Medieval Indian History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-566336-5 |page=93 |quote=The Sindhias, it is well-known, were drawn from a Kunbi family which had the hereditary patel-ship of Kumberkerrab in the district of Wai. The origins of the Holkar were even more humble: they belonged to the caste of goat-herds (dungar), the family holding zamindari rights in the village of Hal. |access-date=9 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084506/https://books.google.com/books?id=1BRuAAAAMAAJ |archive-date=14 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="seminar417424">{{cite journal |author=Romila Thapar |year=1994 |title=Seminar – Issues 417–424 |page=59 |quote=Many peasant caste men who distinguished themselves in battle or otherwise served the ruler became Marathas . Witness the first Holkar who was a shepherd and the first Scindia who was a Kunbi personal servant of the Peshwa}}</ref> Dhanmanjiri Sathe states that "The line between Marathas and Kunbis is thin and sometimes difficult to ascertain".<ref>{{cite book |author=Dhanmanjiri Sathe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OM44DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 |title=The Political Economy of Land Acquisition in India: How a Village Stops Being One |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2017 |isbn=9789811053269 |quote=For Maharashtra, Karve (1968) has reported that the line between Marathas and Kunbis is thin and sometimes difficult to ascertain |access-date=19 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414094410/https://books.google.com/books?id=OM44DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Iravati Karve]], an anthropologist, showed how the Maratha caste was generated from Kunbis who simply started calling themselves "Maratha". She states that Maratha, [[Kunbi]] and [[Mali caste|Mali]] are the three main farming communities of Maharashtra – the difference being that the Marathas and Kunbis were "dry farmers" whereas the Mali farmed throughout the year.<ref>{{cite book |author=Irawati Karmarkar Karve |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.215170 |title=Anthropometric measurements of the Marathas |publisher=Deccan College Postgraduate Research Institute |year=1948 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.215170/page/n16 13], 14 |quote=These figures as they stand are obviously wrong. The Marathas had not doubled their numbers between 1901 and 1911 nor were the Kunbis reduced by almost three-fourths. Either the recorders had made wrong entries or what is more probable, "Kunbi" as a caste-category was no longer acceptable to cultivators who must have given up their old appellation, Kunbi, and taken up the caste name, Maratha. ... The agricultural community of the Maratha country is made up of Kunbis, Marathas and Malis. The first two are dry farmers depending solely on the monsoon rains for their crop, while the Malis work on irrigated lands working their fields all the year round on well-water or canals and growing fruit, vegetables, sugarcane and some varieties of cereals}}</ref> Cynthia Talbot quotes a saying in Maharashtra, "when a Kunbi prospers he becomes Maratha".<ref>{{cite book |author=Cynthia Talbot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfAKljlCJq0C&pg=PA67 |title=Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |isbn=9780198031239 |access-date=19 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084448/https://books.google.com/books?id=pfAKljlCJq0C&pg=PA67 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Kunbi origin has been one of the factors on the basis of which the head of Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC), a Judge, M.G. Gaikwad, and some others in 2018, stated that Maratha associations have submitted historical proofs and petitions to be included in the Other Backward Class. The decision for giving reservation in jobs and education for Marathas based on the petitions that Marathas and [[Kunbi|Kunbis]] are one and the same caste was upheld by the Mumbai court in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |date=21 May 2018 |title=Commission gets over 1L petitions, proof for Maratha reservation |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolhapur/commission-gets-over-1l-petitions-proof-for-maratha-reservation/articleshow/64263505.cms |url-status=live |access-date=19 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920081309/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolhapur/commission-gets-over-1l-petitions-proof-for-maratha-reservation/articleshow/64263505.cms |archive-date=20 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=HC upholds Maratha quota |publisher=Pune Mirror |url=https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/civic/hc-upholds-maratha-quota/articleshow/69980525.cms |url-status=live |access-date=5 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705064924/https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/civic/hc-upholds-maratha-quota/articleshow/69980525.cms |archive-date=5 July 2019 |quote=The petitioners also argued that as per the MSBCC report, Marathas and Kunbis were one and the same caste}}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|Maratha Confederacy}} 
The term ''Maratha'' referred broadly to all the speakers of the [[Marathi language]].<ref>W. J. Johnson (ed.), "Marāṭhā", ''A Dictionary of Hinduism'' (Oxford, 2009): "The name of a dominant caste in western India (Maharashtra), which was united into an independent Marāṭhā kingdom (or empire) by Śivajī in 1674. His successors, who eventually splintered into a confederacy, resisted first the Mughals and then the British. After a prolonged series of wars, they were finally defeated in 1818."</ref><ref name="ReferenceA"/> In the 17th century, it also served as a designation for peasants from the [[Deccan Plateau]] who served as soldiers in the armies of Muslim rulers and later in the armies of Shivaji. Thus, the term ''Maratha'' became a marker of an endogamous caste for them.{{sfn|Hansen|2001|p=31}} A number of Maratha warriors, including Shivaji's father, [[Shahaji]], originally served in those Muslim armies.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Marathas 1600–1818 |series=The New Cambridge History of India |first=Stewart N. |last=Gordon |publisher=Cambridge University Press |author-link=Stewart N. Gordon |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-52126-883-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA35 |page=35 |quote=Second, we have that Marathas regularly served in the armies of the Muslim Deccan kingdoms.}}</ref> By the mid-1660s, Shivaji had established an independent [[Maratha kingdom]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Shivaji and the Decline of the Mughal Empire|first=M. N. |last=Pearson |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=35 |issue=2 |date=February 1976 |pages=221–235 |publisher=Association for Asian Studies |jstor=2053980 |doi=10.2307/2053980|s2cid=162482005 }}</ref> After Shivaji's death, Marathas{{Clarify|date=February 2024|reason=It was not just Maratha (caste) that fought the Mughals. They included all castes of Maharashtra.Also some Maratha clans served in Aurangzeb's army during this period.}} fought under his sons and defeated Aurangzeb in the [[Mughal–Maratha Wars]]. The Maratha empire was further expanded into a vast empire by the [[Maratha Confederacy]] including [[Peshwa]]s, stretching from central India<ref>Mehta, J. L. [https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&pg=PA204 ''Advanced study in the history of modern India 1707–1813'']</ref> in the south to [[Peshawar]]<ref name="Mikaberidze2011">{{cite book|author=Alexander Mikaberidze|title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia: A Historical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jBBYD2J2oE4C&pg=PA43|access-date=15 September 2013|date=31 July 2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-337-8|pages=43–}}</ref> (in modern-day Pakistan) on the Afghanistan border in the north, and with [[expeditions in Bengal]] to the east.

The Confederacy remained the pre-eminent power in India until their defeat by the [[British East India Company]] in the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]] (1817–1818).<ref>{{cite book |last=Chhabra |first=G.S. |year=2005 |orig-date=1971 |title=Advanced Study in the History of Modern India |publisher=Lotus Press |isbn=81-89093-06-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UkDi6rVbckoC}}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2014}}

By the 19th century, the term ''Maratha'' had several interpretations in the British administrative records. In the [[Thane District]] [[District Gazetteer|Gazetteer]] of 1882, the term was used to denote elite layers within various castes: for example, "Maratha-Agri" within the [[Agri (caste)|Agri caste]] and "Maratha-Koli" within the [[Koli caste]].{{sfn|Hansen|2001|p=31}} In the [[Pune District]], the words [[Kunbi]] and Maratha had become synonymous, giving rise to the Maratha-Kunbi caste complex.{{sfn|O'Hanlon|2002|p=45}} The Pune District Gazetteer of 1882 divided the Kunbis into two classes: Marathas and other Kunbis.{{sfn|Hansen|2001|p=31}} The 1901 census listed three groups within the Maratha-Kunbi caste complex: "Marathas proper", "Maratha Kunbis" and Konkan Maratha.{{sfn|O'Hanlon|2002|p=47}}

According to Steele, in the early 19th century, Kunbis, who were agriculturists, and the Marathas who claimed [[Rajput]] descent and [[Kshatriya]] status, were distinguished by their customs related to widow remarriage. The [[Kunbi|Kunbis]] allowed it and the higher status Marathas prohibited it. However, there is no statistical evidence for this.{{sfn|Haynes|1992|p=65|ps= The prohibition of widow remarriage, Steele reported, served also to mark a ranking within caste groupings, distinguishing Maratha families claiming a Rajput descent and Kshatriya status from ordinary Kunbi communities of agriculturists: "such of them are the high Mahratta (as the families of the Satara Raja, and other houses of pure Mahratta descent) do not allow their widows to form Pat'. In the absence of any sort of statistical evidence, it is hard to know how accurate Steele's report was.}} However, the Kunbis and Marathas had [[hypergamy|hypergamous]] inter-community marriages – a rich Kunbi could always marry his daughter to a poor Maratha.<ref name="Omvedt66">{{cite book|author=Gail Marie Omvedt|quote=But hypergamous marriage existed between these groups: a rich Kunbi could always marry his daughter to a poor Maratha|title=Caste, Conflict, and Rebellion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_lKAQAAMAAJ|year=1966|publisher=University of California|page=60|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083901/https://books.google.com/books?id=K_lKAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="IC98">{{cite book|title=India's Communities volume.5|quote=The Maratha had hypergamous relationship with the Kunbi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9MVAQAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-563354-2|page=2213|access-date=4 October 2016|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083901/https://books.google.com/books?id=g9MVAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

Historically, the Maratha population comprised more than 31% of the population in Maharashtra and the Kunbi was 7%, whereas the upper castes,  [[Brahmin]]s, [[Saraswat]], and [[Prabhu Communities|Prabhus]], were earlier only about 4% of the population. The [[Other Backward Class]] population (other than the Kunbi) was 27% while the population of the [[Mahar]]s was 12%.<ref name="Jaffrelot09">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA217|pages=216, 217|title=Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies (Exploring the Political in South Asia)|editor1=Christophe Jaffrelot|editor2=Sanjay Kumar|publisher=Routledge India|year=2009|quote=The upper castes, composed mainly of Brahmins, constitute around 4 per cent of the total population. While  Brahmins are found in all the districts of the state, the Saraswat  and Prabhus, the two other literary castes of this category, are significant number only in Mumbai city.|isbn=9781136516627|access-date=9 March 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414083930/https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA217|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Brahmins too demand for reservations in Maharashtra|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-brahmins-too-demand-for-reservations-in-maharashtra-2004800|access-date=24 July 2014|author=Dhaval Kulkarni|work=Daily News and Analysis|archive-date=29 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729172923/http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-brahmins-too-demand-for-reservations-in-maharashtra-2004800|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gradually, the term ''Maratha'' came to denote an endogamous caste.{{sfn|Hansen|2001|p=31}} From 1900 onwards, the [[Satyashodhak Samaj]] movement defined the Marathas as a broader social category of non-Brahmin groups.{{sfn|Hansen|2001|p=32}} These non-Brahmins gained prominence in the [[Indian National Congress]] during the [[Indian independence movement]]. In independent India, these Marathas became the dominant political force in the newly formed state of Maharashtra.{{sfn|Hansen|2001|p=34}}

The ritual caste hierarchy in Maharashtra is led by the [[Deshastha]]s, [[Chitpawan]]s, [[Karhade]]s, Saraswats and the [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s. The Maratha are ranked lower under this classification than the above castes but are considered higher than the Kunbi, backward castes and castes that were considered ritually impure. According to the Chairperson of the Centre for Social Justice and Governance, this caste ranking is significant even in recent times in inter-caste matrimonial alliances between Maharashtrians.<ref>{{cite book | title =Writing Caste/Writing Gender: Narrating Dalit Women's Testimonies | page=28|publisher= Zubaan Books|year= 2013 |author= Sharmila Rege|quote= The traditional caste hierarchy was headed by the brahmin castes-the deshasthas, chitpawans, karhades, saraswats and the chandraseniya Kayastha prabhus.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rosenzweig |first1=Mark |last2=Munshi |first2=Kaivan |s2cid=15863505 |date=September 2006 |title=Traditional Institutions Meet the Modern World: Caste, Gender, and Schooling Choice in a Globalizing Economy |journal=American Economic Review |volume=96 |number=4 |pages=1225–1252 |doi=10.1257/aer.96.4.1225 |url=http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.96.4.1225 |quote=(p. 1228) High castes include all the Brahmin jatis, as well as a few other elite jatis (CKP and Pathare Prabhus).Low castes include formerly untouchable and backward castes (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes, as defined by the government of India). Medium castes are drawn mostly from the cultivator jatis, such as the Marathas and the Kunbis, as well as other traditional vocations that were not considered to be ritually impure. |access-date=9 September 2020 |archive-date=19 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919155854/https://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.96.4.1225 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Communal Identity in India: Its Construction and Articulation in the Twentieth Century|chapter=Race, caste and ethnic identity|page=138|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtztAAAAIAAJ&q=Maratha(MK)|author=Bidyut Chakrabarty|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote=Of the six groups, four are Brahmins; one is high non-brahmin caste, Chandraseniya Kayashth Prabhu (CKP), ranking next only to the Brahmins; and the other is a cultivating caste, Maratha (MK), belonging to the middle level of the hierarchy.|isbn=978-0195663303|access-date=9 October 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414094410/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtztAAAAIAAJ&q=Maratha%28MK%29|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title= Rajarshi Shahu: a model ruler | publisher=kirti prakashan|page=20|year=1994|author = V. B. Ghuge| quote= In the Hindu social hierarchy the privileged classes were Brahmins, CKP's and others. Similarly other elite classes were Parsis and Europeans.}}</ref><ref name="Jaffrelot09"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/harrish-iyer-in-the-eye-storm-for-placing-a-matrimonial-advertisement/article7261345.ece|quote=Most of the advertisements exclude Other Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from their purview. For instance, an advertisement seeking a groom for a girl from a Maratha caste in Maharashtra says she is born of "an inter-caste alliance" and that her "family values are liberal". The advertisement states a preference for a good-looking man who earns well. Yet, while seemingly progressive so far, it goes on to note the preferred castes: Hindu Brahmin Deshastha, Hindu Brahmin Gaud Saraswat, Hindu Brahmin Koknastha, Hindu Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu, and Hindu Maratha. The choice here is for Marathas and those above Marathas in hierarchy. It further clearly specifies in brackets, "OBC, SC/ST, please excuse" — clearly seeking to follow the older order of keeping the "untouchables" out of the varna system, but in a new form wherein all other castes on the ladder above the SCs, STs and OBCs are seen as marriageable.|title=Prejudice disguised as politeness|author=Suryakant Waghmore|access-date=9 October 2019|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803171848/https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/harrish-iyer-in-the-eye-storm-for-placing-a-matrimonial-advertisement/article7261345.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Internal diaspora==
Expansion of Maratha Empire also resulted in the voluntary relocation of substantial numbers of Maratha and other Marathi-speaking people outside Maharashtra, and across a big part of India. Today several significant communities descended from these emigrants live in the north, south and west of India. These descendant communities tend often to speak the local languages, although many also speak Marathi in addition. Notable Maratha families outside [[Maharashtra]] include Bhonsle of [[Tanjore]],<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-christian-schwartz-the-raj-guru-of-thanjavur-2669679| title=Christian Schwartz: The Raj-Guru of Thanjavur| date=30 September 2018| access-date=11 October 2018| archive-date=11 October 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011231440/https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-christian-schwartz-the-raj-guru-of-thanjavur-2669679| url-status=live}}</ref> [[Scindia]] of [[Gwalior]], [[Gaekwad]] of [[Baroda]], [[House of Holkar|Holkar]] of [[Indore]], [[Pawar]] of [[Dewas State (Maratha Confederacy)|Dewas]] and [[Dhar State|Dhar]], Ghorpade of [[Mudhol]].{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

== Culture ==

===Literacy===
In 17th century Maharashtra, the [[Brahmin|Brahmins]] and [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu|CKPs]] were the communities that had a system of [[Sanskrit education]] in [[Gurukula]] or secular education in clerical work or book-keeping. Education of all other castes and communities consisted of listening to oral reproductions from sacred texts like the [[Purana]]s and [[Kirtan]]s. However, despite lack of education, the Maratha caste due to their long tradition of service in military of the Yadavas and later the Muslim sultanates produced good soldiers and commanders.<ref name="kantak">{{cite journal |last=Kantak |first=M. R.|title=The Political Role of Different Hindu Castes and Communities in Maharashtra in the Foundation of the Shivaji's Swarajya |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |date=1978 |volume=38 |issue=1 |page=44 |jstor=42931051}}</ref>

Stewart Gordon writes that the prominent [[Ghorpade Dynasty|Ghorpade]] Maratha family, for instance, was not literate and had to use Brahmins as record keepers.<ref>{{cite book|title=The New Cambridge History of India, Volume 2, Part 4: The Marathas 1600–1818|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA27|page=27|author=Steward Gordon|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1993|quote=The Ghorpade family was Maratha and almost certainly illiterate. Record keepers were Brahmin, literate families.|isbn=9780521033169|access-date=28 July 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084444/https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA27|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=People of India – Volume VI, Part 2|page=1436|quote=For example, the families having Bhosale and Ghorpade as surnames are believed to belong to the same clan-stock namely the Bhosale|author=Kumar Suresh Singh|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|year=2004}}</ref>

[[Gail Omvedt]] concludes that during the British era, the overall literacy of Brahmins and CKPs was overwhelmingly high as compared to the literacy of the Maratha and Kunbi communities where it was strikingly low. The artisan castes were intermediate in terms of literacy. For all castes, men were more literate than the women from that caste(respectively). Female literacy, as well as English literacy, showed the same pattern among castes.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Omvedt |first=Gail|title=Development of the Maharashtrian Class Structure, 1818 to 1931|journal=[[Economic and Political Weekly]] |volume=8 |issue=31/33 |pages=1418–1419 |date=August 1973|quote=page 1426:There is difficulty in using such Census data, particularly because the various categories tended to be defined in different ways in different years, and different criteria were used in different provinces for classifying the population. Nonetheless, the overall trend is clear... page 1416: Table 1: Literacy of selected castes(male and female). Literacy caste (1921, 1931): CKP(57.3%,64.4%); Chitpawan (40.9%,55.2%); Deshastha (40.3%,55.8%); sonar (22%,23.1%); shimpi (tailor) (21.2%,29.6%); koshti (weaver)(11.0%,17.5%);Maratha in Bombay (?, 11.3%), sutar(4.0%,7.5%), teli(oil presser): (3.8%,7.5%), Maratha in ratnagiri(2.9%,?), dhobi(washerman) (2.9%, 5.7%); Mali (2.3%,8.7%); Mahar(1.2%,2.9%); dhangar(shepherd) (1.2%,2.7%); chambhar(1.1%, 2.0%); kumbhar (1.1%,2.0%), Mang (0.5%,1.6%), Kunbi (0.6%,?), Bania-Berar (27.9%, 46.6%), Rajput-Berar (8.7%,11.4%); page 1419: Male literacy rates were much higher than the male and female together, but show the same pattern, as does the literacy in English. Not only were the Brahmans and CKPs overwhelmingly dominant, but Maratha Kunbi figures were amazingly low, especially for Bombay province. Even allowing for the effects of sampling differences, the low rates for the Marathas Kunbis are striking, and it is noteworthy that many artisan castes were more literate. This also tended to be true in the central provinces-Berar.}}</ref>{{efn|Omvedt does add a proviso saying that: There is difficulty in using such Census data, particularly because the various categories tended to be defined in different ways in different years, and different criteria were used in different provinces for classifying the population. Nonetheless, the overall trend is clear}}

A Bhandari author from 1920s quotes, according to Monika Vaidya, that Brahmins are not to blame for the lack of education of Marathas, as shown by communities whose occupations required education, like the [[Prabhu Communities|Prabhu]]s, [[Saraswat]]s and [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu|CKP]]. These communities got education despite the barriers imposed by the Brahmins and it has been argued that the need for reservations does not arise if each community tries for its own development.<ref name="SeshanKumbhojkar2018">{{cite book|editor1=Radhika Seshan|editor2=Shraddha Kumbhojkar|title=Re-searching Transitions in Indian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cOlgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA177|date=2018|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-429-94631-8|page=177|quote=Secondly, those whose occupations required an education, like the Prabhu, Saraswat and Kayastha castes, took education despite the barriers imposed by the Brahmins. However, the Marathas and Bhandaris failed to take to education and had only themselves to blame for their condition. Ignorance and inability to protect one's property are the results of a lack of education. Each must try for their own development, and concentration on education seems to be the best solution. By becoming educationally qualified, the need to ask for special concessions and reservations would not arise.|access-date=29 July 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084517/https://books.google.com/books?id=cOlgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA177|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Marriages===
Like other Maharashtrian communities such as [[Kunbi]]s, [[Mali caste|Mali]]s, [[Mahar]]s, etc., the marriage of a man to his maternal uncle's (''mama'' in [[Marathi language|Marathi]]) daughter is common in the Maratha community.<ref name="Agnes2011">{{cite book|author=Flavia Agnes|title=Family Law: Volume 1: Family Laws and Constitutional Claims|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PQtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT150|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-908826-3|pages=150–|quote=Among Maharashtrian communities such as Marathas, Kunbis, Malis, Mahars, etc., the marriage of a brother's daughter with a sister's son is common|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084454/https://books.google.com/books?id=1PQtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT150|url-status=live}}</ref> Maratha and Kunbis intermarried in a hypergamous way i.e. a rich Kunbi's daughter could always marry a poor Maratha. Anthropologist Donald Attwood shows giving an example of the Karekars of Ahmednagar that this trend continues even in recent times indicating that the social order is fluid and flexible.<ref name="Omvedt66"/><ref name="IC98"/><ref name="Agnes2011"/><ref name="AttwoodIsrael1988-Attwood">{{cite book|editor1=Donald W. Attwood|editor2=Milton Israel|editor3=Narendra K.Wagle|title=City, countryside and society in Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mm5uAAAAMAAJ|date=1988|publisher=University of Toronto, Centre for South Asian Studies|isbn=978-0-9692907-2-8|quote=Consequently, I doubt if the terms Maratha and Kunbi ever had very distinct referents, and I take this as another indication of a fluid and flexible social order. Even today, for example, there is a small, local caste of farmers known as Karekars in Ahmednagar district, who are not normally considered true Marathas; yet some of the more successful Karekar families have intermarried with Marathas (Baviskar 1980; n.d.). I believe this process has occurred continuously in the "maratha country"...|author=Donal Attwood|page=182|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084413/https://books.google.com/books?id=Mm5uAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Dowry Issues====
Being a politically dominant caste, the Marathas have not been able to progress beyond the social practices of [[Dowry system in India|Dowry]] (Dowry refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or movable property that the bride's family gives to the bridegroom, his parents, or his relatives as a condition of the marriage.<ref>{{Cite book| title = Dowry Deaths and Access to Justice in Kali's Yug: Empowerment, Law and Dowry Deaths| author= Jethmalani & P.K. Dey| year = 1995| pages = 36, 38}}</ref>). 80% of the Maratha community are farmers and there have been cases where the Maratha farmers had to sell their lands just to get their daughters married. Data compiled by the Maratha Kranti Morcha members showed that the expenditure incurred by an average low income and poor Maratha family has doubled in the last 10 years when it comes to dowry. A member said (in 2018), "The dowry amount ranges from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, depending on the profession of the groom. The lower-middle class Marathas too often have to bear an expenditure of Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh for a daughter's wedding. Even in the remote villages, a small and marginal farmer spends Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh on a daughter's wedding." Some caste members tried to use the Morcha to address the issue of Dowry but they did not get a positive response. [[Dowry system in India|Dowry]] has now attained a status symbol in the community and that is part of the issue.<ref>{{cite news|date=9 September 2018|title=Dowry, child marriage issues plague Maratha and Dhangar communities|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/dowry-child-marriage-issues-plague-maratha-and-dhangar-communities-5346895/|access-date=12 September 2018|archive-date=12 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912094916/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/dowry-child-marriage-issues-plague-maratha-and-dhangar-communities-5346895/|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Widows====
Research by a sociologist has shown that the restrictions faced by widows among Marathi Brahmins, Saraswats and CKP were significantly more than those faced by widows in Maratha caste.<ref name="Dabir200097">{{cite book|title=women in distress|author=Neela Dabir|pages=97–99|publisher=Rawat Publishers|year=2000|quote=(page 97, 98) In the process of Brahminisation, other upper castes across the country, tried to imitate the Brahmins and followed similar norms in the matters of marriage, divorce or treatment of widows. In Maharashtra, for instance, the family norms among the Saraswats and CKPs were similar to those of the Brahmins. Marathas although politically powerful and economically well to do, were on the lower rung of the caste echelon. They had different ritual norms which were marginally lenient as compared to the Brahmins. In contrast, the women from the lower castes enjoyed a little more freedom in these matters. Widow remarriage was an accepted practice in many lower castes[Ranade,1991]...For the purpose of analysis, we have grouped these 56 castes into the following basic categories (1) Brahmin, Saraswat, and CKP (2) Maratha, and (3) other castes (page99) Table 8 reveals that women from the upper castes i.e. Brahmin, Saraswat, and CKP together form the largest group(46%) among the women admitted[in the Ashrams]...The data also reveals some significant differences in the marital status of Brahmin, CKP and Saraswat women on one hand and Maratha and other caste women on the other...These statistical differences acquire a special meaning when we look at them in the context of our earlier statement that oppression of widows and the restrictions on married women were far more severe for the women from Brahmin, CKP and Saraswat castes than for women from Maratha and other castes.}}</ref>

===Festivals and Gods===
Rosalind O'Hanlon, Professor at the [[University of Oxford]] stated that the Hindu God [[Khandoba]], also known by the name [[Mhasoba]], is traditionally very popular in the Maratha caste. She quotes about the devotion of the Marathas in the 19th century to Mhasoba as follows:{{blockquote|You will not find a single family among the Marathas who do not set up in the grounds around their village some stone or other in the name of Mhasoba, smear it with [[Lead(II,IV) oxide|red lead]], and offer incense to it; who without taking Mhasoba's name will not put his hand to the seed-box of the plough, will not put the harrow to the field, and will not put the measure to the heap of threshed corn on the threshing floor.{{sfn|O'Hanlon|2002|p=155}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stx.ox.ac.uk/people/fellow/professor-rosalind-ohanlon|title=Professor Rosalind O'Hanlon|work=St Cross College |date=6 August 2012|access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=9 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809153300/https://www.stx.ox.ac.uk/people/fellow/professor-rosalind-ohanlon|url-status=live}}</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}
Mhasoba was also worshiped by the [[Bhonsle]]s.<ref name="auto1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DF_af8_547EC&pg=PT86|title=Sacred Animals of India|year=2014|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9788184751826|quote=Mahisha is called Mhasoba (Mahisha Baba or Father/Lord Mahisha) and worshipped by pastoral tribes in western and central India. Mhasoba is worshipped by the Katkari tribe of Maharashtra and the Bhosles (Shivaji's clan)|access-date=3 August 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084520/https://books.google.com/books?id=DF_af8_547EC&pg=PT86|url-status=live}}</ref>
The other Hindu deity popular in the Maratha community is the Goddess [[Bhavani]] of [[Tuljapur]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Maratha History Seminar, May 28–31, 1970: papers|page=123|author=Appasaheb Ganapatrao Pawar|publisher=Shivaji University|year=1971|quote=Referring to the chief deities of the Marathas, Khandoba and Bhawani, Edwards quotes Brahma Purana, according to which Shiva assumed the form of Malhari Martand, another name of Khandoba, while Bhawani was the consort of Shiva}}</ref>

Maratha leaders said that "Chhatrapati Shivaji is worshiped by the Maratha community, while different sections of society hold him in high esteem". "Shivaji Jayanti" (his birthday) is celebrated with folk dances, songs, plays and [[Puja (Hinduism)|Puja]]. There was some controversy over the date but it is now celebrated on 19 February. Earlier, the regional Marathi political parties – [[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]] as well as the [[Maharashtra Navnirman Sena]] were celebrating it as per the [[Tithi]] according to the [[Hindu Calendar]] ("Falgun Vadya Tritiya" – third day of the month of Falgun), whereas the State Government was celebrating it as per the [[Gregorian Calendar]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thane/processions-folk-dances-mark-shivaji-jayanti-in-thane/articleshow/62988476.cms|title=Processions, folk dances mark Shivaji Jayanti in Thane|newspaper=Times of India|date=20 February 2018 |access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=8 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008125748/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thane/processions-folk-dances-mark-shivaji-jayanti-in-thane/articleshow/62988476.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/maratha-rally-seeks-to-end-row-over-shiv-jayanti-date-lets-celebrate-it-on-february-19-4789881/|title=Maratha rally seeks to end row over Shiv Jayanti date: 'Let's celebrate it on February 19'|access-date=26 August 2018|date=10 August 2017|archive-date=20 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820212525/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/maratha-rally-seeks-to-end-row-over-shiv-jayanti-date-lets-celebrate-it-on-february-19-4789881/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/170518/celebrate-shivaji-jayanti-as-per-tithi-says-mns-chief.html|title = Celebrate Shivaji Jayanti as per tithi, says MNS chief|date = 17 May 2018|access-date = 28 August 2018|archive-date = 28 August 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180828134553/http://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/170518/celebrate-shivaji-jayanti-as-per-tithi-says-mns-chief.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Varna status==
{{see also | Maratha (caste)#Origin}}
Research by modern anthropologists and historians has shown that the Maratha caste originated from the amalgamation of families from the peasant communities that belonged to the [[Shudra]] [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna]]. However, after gaining political prominence with [[Shivaji|Shivaji's]] rise to power, this caste started claiming [[Kshatriya]] descent and genealogies were fabricated including those for Shivaji. Thus, the [[Maratha clan system|"96 clans"(Kuls)]](''96 Kuli Marathas'' or ''Shahānnau Kule'') genealogies were concocted most likely after Shivaji came to power. [[Stewart N. Gordon|Gordon]] explains that there are three such lists for the 96 clans compiled in the 19th century and they are "impossible to reconcile" due to this nature of origin of the caste. [[Christophe Jaffrelot|Jaffrelot]] writes that this process where Shudras pretend to be Kshatriyas and follow their customs is called "Kshatriyatization" and is a variation of [[Sanskritization]].<ref name="Eraly2000"/><ref name="Jaffrelot2006">{{cite book|author=Christophe Jaffrelot|title=Dr Ambedkar and Untouchability: Analysing and Fighting Caste|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEWTSAe-KkQC&pg=PA39|year=2006|publisher=Permanent Black|isbn=978-81-7824-156-2|pages=39|quote=His theory, which is based on scant historical evidence, doubtless echoed this episode in Maharashtra's history, whereas in fact Shivaji, a Maratha-Kunbi, was a Shudra. Nevertheless, he had won power and so expected the Brahmins to confirm his new status by writing for him an adequate genealogy. This process recalls that of Sanskritisation, but sociologists refer to such emulation of Kshatriyas by Shudras as ' Kshatriyaisation ' and describe it as a variant of Sanskritisation.|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084407/https://books.google.com/books?id=zEWTSAe-KkQC&pg=PA39|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Keay2011">{{cite book|author=John Keay|title=India: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0IquM4BrJ4YC&pg=PT565|date=12 April 2011|publisher=Open Road + Grove/Atlantic|isbn=978-0-8021-9550-0|pages=565|quote=marathas not being accounted as of kshatriya status, a bogus genealogy had to be fabricated|access-date=23 August 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084407/https://books.google.com/books?id=0IquM4BrJ4YC&pg=PT565|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Gordon1993"/><ref name="Ferreira"/>

Modern scholars such as [[M. S. A. Rao]] and [[Francine Frankel]] also agree that the Varna of Marathas remained Shudra, an indication being: "the maratha practice of hypergamy which permitted inter-marriage with rising peasant kunbi lineages, and created a hierarchy of [[Maratha Clan System|maratha kuls]], whose boundaries were flexible enough to incorporate, by the twentieth century, most of the kunbi population".<ref name="Rao1989">{{cite book|page=XVI|author=M. S. A. Rao|title=Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of a Social Order|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwluAAAAMAAJ|year=1989|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195620986|quote=An indication that the Shudra varna of elite marathas remained unchanged was the maratha practice of hypergamy which permitted inter-marriage with rising peasant kunbi lineages, and created a hierarchy of maratha kuls, whose boundaries were flexible enough to incorporate, by the twentieth century, most of the kunbi population.|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084523/https://books.google.com/books?id=dwluAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

By the late 19th century, some Brahmins made public proclamations of their Shudra status but some moderate Brahmins were keen to ally with the influential Marathas of [[Mumbai|Bombay]] in the interests of Indian independence from Britain. These Brahmins, motivated by such political reasons, supported the Maratha claim to Kshatriya status, but the success in this [[political alliance]] was sporadic and fell apart entirely following independence in 1947.<ref name="Kurtz 1994 63">{{cite book |first=Donald V. |last=Kurtz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0X5DquN8LkIC&pg=PA63 |title=Contradictions and Conflict: A Dialectical Political Anthropology of a University in Western India |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |year=1994 |isbn=978-9-00409-828-2 |page=63}}</ref>

As late as the turn of 20th century, the Brahmin priests of [[Shahu of Kolhapur|Shahu]], the Maratha ruler of [[Kolhapur State|Kolhapur]] refused to use Vedic mantras and would not take a bath before chanting, on the grounds that even the leading Marathas such as Shahu and his family belonged to the Shudra varna. This opinion about the Shudra varna was supported by Brahmin Councils in Maharashtra and they stuck to their opinion even when they (the Brahmins) were threatened with the loss of land and property. This led to Shahu supporting [[Arya Samaj]] and [[Satyashodhak Samaj]] as well as campaigning for the rights of the Maratha community.<ref>{{cite book |title=Non-Brahmin Movement in Southern India, 1873–1949 |author= Kashinath Kavlekar |page=63| year=1979}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Indian National Congress and the political economy of India, 1885–1985 |author= Mike Shepperdson, Colin Simmons |page=109| year=1988}}</ref> He soon became the leader of the non-Brahmin movement and united the Marathas under his banner.<ref name="Indian Express">{{cite web | title=Pune's endless identity wars | website=Indian Express | url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/pune-s-endless-identity-wars/734020/ | access-date=1 August 2015 | archive-date=1 February 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201192150/http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/pune-s-endless-identity-wars/734020 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati Papers: 1900–1905 A.D.: Vedokta controversy|publisher=Shahu Research Institute, 1985 – Kolhapur (Princely State)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mR4_AQAAIAAJ|year=1985|access-date=12 August 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084407/https://books.google.com/books?id=mR4_AQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gaikwad, the leader of [[Sambhaji Brigade]], a prominent Maratha caste organisation, stated in an interview, that before Indian Independence, "Backward Class federation had raised the concerns of the [[Shudra]] communities including the Marathas".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/maratha-reservation-sambhaji-brigade-chief-talks-about-genesis-of-demand-118081400128_1.html|title=Maratha reservation: Sambhaji Brigade chief talks about genesis of demand|date=14 August 2018|author=Sukanya Shanta|newspaper=Business Standard India|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109034908/https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/maratha-reservation-sambhaji-brigade-chief-talks-about-genesis-of-demand-118081400128_1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Maratha caste does not have the [[upanayanam]] or "sacred thread ceremony" of ritually upper caste Hindus.<ref name="Wankhede2022">{{cite book | author = Asang Wankhede | date = 30 September 2022 | title = Affirmative Action for Economically Weaker Sections and Upper-Castes in Indian Constitutional Law: Context, Judicial Discourse, and Critique | publisher = Taylor & Francis | pages =  | isbn = 978-1-00-065522-3 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3PiBEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT99 | access-date = 4 November 2022 | archive-date = 4 November 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221104145225/https://books.google.com/books?id=3PiBEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT99 | url-status = live }}</ref> However, despite the ritual status, the Marathas have significant political power.<ref name="Dabir200097"/>

In the 21st century, the [[Government of Maharashtra]] cited historical incidents for the claim of Shudra status of prominent Maratha families to form a case for [[Reservation in India|reservation]] for the Marathas in the state.<ref name=dnanewsjuly2014>{{cite news | title = Maharashtra to justify quota with historical evidence | year = 2014 | url = http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-maratha-quota-maharashtra-to-justify-quota-with-historical-evidence-1999962 | access-date = 27 July 2017 | archive-date = 28 July 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170728081856/http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-maratha-quota-maharashtra-to-justify-quota-with-historical-evidence-1999962 | url-status = live }}</ref> Additionally, a report by an independent commission in November 2018 concluded that the Maratha caste is educationally, socially and economically a backward community.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/marathas-maharashtra-backward-class-reservation-1388767-2018-11-15 | title=Marathas are backward, says Maharashtra State Backward Commission | date=15 November 2018 | access-date=15 November 2018 | archive-date=16 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116090908/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/marathas-maharashtra-backward-class-reservation-1388767-2018-11-15 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/marathas-socially-and-economically-backward-panel/articleshow/66627715.cms | title=Marathas socially and economically backward: Panel | website=[[The Times of India]] | date=15 November 2018 | access-date=15 November 2018 | archive-date=16 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116142131/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/marathas-socially-and-economically-backward-panel/articleshow/66627715.cms | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Affirmative Action==
{{Update|section|date=November 2022}}
In Karnataka, the Marathas are classified as [[Other Backward Class]]<ref name=Karnataka>{{cite web|title=CASTE LIST Government Order No.SWD 225 BCA 2000, Dated:30th March 2002. |url=http://kpsc.kar.nic.in/New%20Cast%20List.htm |website=KPSC |publisher=Karnataka Government |access-date=17 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920230051/http://kpsc.kar.nic.in/New%20Cast%20List.htm |archive-date=20 September 2014 }}</ref> with the exception of the Marathas of [[Kodagu]] district who are classified as a [[Scheduled Tribe]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://censuskarnataka.gov.in/ordersissued_PDF/19.SC%20ST%20List_2011.pdf|title=List of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes|date=2010|website=censuskarnataka.gov.in|page=3|access-date=22 June 2021|archive-date=8 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708002917/http://censuskarnataka.gov.in/ordersissued_PDF/19.SC%20ST%20List_2011.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://kstrimysuru.in/page/stlist|title=Scheduled Tribe List|date=2021|website=kstrimysuru.in|access-date=22 June 2021|archive-date=29 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229152929/http://kstrimysuru.in/page/stlist|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Maharashtra]], they were classified as a [[Forward caste]] by the [[Mandal commission]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Modi's upper-caste reservations card can help get 55 million households voting for him|author=Sunil Jain|year=2019|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/modi-upper-caste-reservations-card-lok-sabha-2019-election-affect/1436351/|access-date=22 April 2019|archive-date=22 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422074446/https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/modi-upper-caste-reservations-card-lok-sabha-2019-election-affect/1436351/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, they were classified as Socially and Educationally Backward (SEBC) and were granted 16% reservation in jobs and education. In 2019, the court upheld the quota but recommended that the quota be cut to 12%.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/maratha-quota-valid-but-should-be-lowered-to-12-13-from-16-bombay-high-court/cid/1693286 | title=Maratha quota valid but should be lowered to 12% -13% from 16% : Bombay High Court | access-date=15 November 2019 | archive-date=15 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115041040/https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/maratha-quota-valid-but-should-be-lowered-to-12-13-from-16-bombay-high-court/cid/1693286 | url-status=live }}</ref>

In November 2022, the Government of Maharashtra declared that needy Maratha students who live in hostels would be getting a stipend of Indian Rupees sixty thousand per year.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/state-announces-rs-60k-year-stipend-for-needy-maratha-students-in-govt-hostels-8246015/ | title=State announces Rs 60k/year stipend for needy Maratha students in govt hostels | date=3 November 2022 | access-date=14 November 2022 | archive-date=14 November 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114143947/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/state-announces-rs-60k-year-stipend-for-needy-maratha-students-in-govt-hostels-8246015/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

== Inter-caste issues ==

===Anti-Marwadi/Anti-Brahmin Deccan riots of 1875===
Claude Markovits, director of center of Indian and South-Asian studies, writes, that in 1875, in places such as [[Pune]] and [[Ahmednagar]], [[Marwari people|Marwadi]] moneylenders became victims of coordinated attacks by the "local peasantry of the Maratha caste". Historian, David Ludlen states that the motivation for the violence was destroying the debt agreements that the moneylenders held over the Maratha farmers. These riots were known as the "Deccan riots".<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of Modern India, 1480–1950|page=359|author=Claude Markovits|editor=Claude Markovits|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r2OKvG5wbaAC&pg=PA359|quote=In 1875, in Maharashtra, in the regions of Poona and Ahmadnagar, moneylenders (sowcars), most often Marwaris, became the object of coordinated attacks by the local peasantry of the Maratha caste: this episode, known as the Deccan riots...|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2004|isbn=9781843311522|access-date=23 August 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084449/https://books.google.com/books?id=r2OKvG5wbaAC&pg=PA359|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3GwCBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA200|title=An Agrarian History of South Asia|author=David Ludlen|isbn=9781316025369|date=17 February 2011|page=200|publisher=Cambridge University Press |quote=In 1875, when a combination of a price slump and drought hit these districts, Maratha farmers attacked Marwari moneylenders, tearing up their debt agreements . ( Perhaps they had heard about the Mahadev Kolis who had cut off Marwari noses...|access-date=23 August 2018|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404112117/https://books.google.com/books?id=3GwCBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA200|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BHNECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA152|title=Merchant Communities in Asia, 1600–1980|author=Madeleine Zelin|isbn=9781317317890|date=6 October 2015|publisher=Routledge |access-date=23 August 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084459/https://books.google.com/books?id=BHNECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA152|url-status=live}}</ref> According to John McLane, the victims were mostly Marwadi moneylenders but [[Marathi language|Marathi]] speaking [[Brahmin]] moneylenders were usually spared.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efp9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA257|title=Indian Nationalism and the Early Congress|author=John R. McLane|page=257|isbn=9781400870233|date=8 March 2015|publisher=Princeton University Press |quote=The Government of Bombay was trying to limit the transfer of land from the cultivating castes(Marathas and Kunbis) to the money-lending and professional castes (marwaris, Gujars and Brahmans)...[überspringen]...The latent anti-Brahminism did not emerge much more clearly in 1901 than it had in during the deccan riots of 1875 when cultivators attacked money-lenders in Poona and Ahmednagar districts but, in the process, generally spared the Marathi speaking Brahman sahukars and singled out alien-seeming Marwaris and Gujars instead.|access-date=23 August 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084458/https://books.google.com/books?id=efp9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA257|url-status=live}}</ref> However, according to Lele, in Ahmednagar, Poona and Satara, the Marathas led the riots to challenge the [[Brahmin|Brahmins]], who were a majority of the money lenders.<ref name="Mohanty2018">{{cite book|author=B. B. Mohanty|title=Agrarian Transformation in Western India: Economic Gains and Social Costs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mndyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT67|date=11 October 2018|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-429-75333-6|pages=67|quote=The Deccan Riots of 1875 in Poona, Ahmednagar, and Satara, led by Marathas in a sense, were an attempt to challenge the dominance of the Brahmins, who were mostly the moneylenders (Lele 1981: 51).|access-date=11 June 2021|archive-date=11 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611063323/https://books.google.com/books?id=mndyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT67|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{see also|Deccan Riots}}

===Anti-Brahmin Violence===
Following the assassination of [[Gandhi]] in 1948 by [[Nathuram Godse]], a [[Chitpawan Brahmin]] from Pune, other Brahmins in Maharashtra became targets of violence, mostly from elements from the Maratha caste.<ref name="malon"/><ref name="ullekh"/> Later, in Sangli, [[Jains]] and [[Lingayats]] joined the Marathas in their attacks against the Brahmins. Thousands of offices and homes were also set on fire. [[Sexual abuse|Molestation]] incidents were also reported during these attacks. On the first day alone, the number of deaths in Bombay were 15, and 50 in Pune.<ref name="AttwoodIsrael1988-Patterson"/>

One scholar has observed, "It will be too much to believe that the riots took place because of the intense love of Gandhiji on the part of the Marathas. Godse became a very convenient hate symbol to damn the Brahmins and burn their properties."
Donald Rosenthal opines that the motivation for the violence was the historic discrimination and humiliation that the Maratha community faced due to their caste status. He writes, "Even today, local Brahmins claim that the Marathas organized the riots to take political advantage of the situation".<ref name="ullekh">{{cite book|title=The Untold Vajpayee: Politician and Paradox|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4LZDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT39|page=39|author=Ullekh N P|publisher=Random House India|year=2018|isbn=9789385990816|access-date=27 July 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084409/https://books.google.com/books?id=w4LZDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT39|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="malon">{{cite book|title=State Intervention and Popular Response: Western India in the Nineteenth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t7f0JEWk6HMC&pg=PA11|editor1=Mariam Dossal|editor2=Ruby Malon|author=V.M.Sirsikar|page=11|isbn=9788171548552|year=1999| publisher=Popular Prakashan |access-date=27 July 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084511/https://books.google.com/books?id=t7f0JEWk6HMC&pg=PA11|url-status=live}}</ref>

In Satara alone, the official reports{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} show that about 1000 houses were burnt in about 300 villages. There were "cruel, cold-blooded killings" as well – for example, one family whose last name happened to be 'Godse' had three of its male members killed. Brahmins suffered from serious physical violence as well as economic violence in the form of looting.<ref name="AttwoodIsrael1988-Patterson"/>

Maureen Patterson concludes that the greatest violence took place not in the cities of Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur – but in [[Satara (city)|Satara]], [[Kolhapur]] and [[Belgaum]]. Destruction was extensive in [[Kolhapur]]. Earlier in the century, [[Shahu of Kolhapur]] had actively collaborated with the British against the Indian freedom struggle which he identified being led by Chitpavan Brahmins such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Shahu was also actively involved in the anti-Brahmin movement as well. During the 1948 disturbances, in [[Sangli]], the local [[Jainism in Maharashtra|Jain]] and the [[Lingayat]] communities joined the Marathas in the attacks against the Brahmins. Here, specifically, the factories owned by the [[Chitpawan|Chitpawan Brahmin]]s were destroyed. This event led to the hasty integration of the [[Patwardhan]] ruled princely states into the Bombay Province by March 1948.<ref name="AttwoodIsrael1988-Patterson">{{cite book|editor1=Donald W. Attwood|editor2=Milton Israel|editor3=Narendra K. Wagle|author=Maureen Patterson|title=City, countryside and society in Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mm5uAAAAMAAJ|date=October 1988|publisher=University of Toronto, Centre for South Asian Studies|isbn=978-0-9692907-2-8|pages=35–58|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084413/https://books.google.com/books?id=Mm5uAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=October 2019}}

===Worli BDD Chawl violence===
The BDD [[Chawl]] in the Worli inner suburb of Mumbai is a complex of buildings which were built in 1920s to house workers employed by the textile mills.
In the 1970s, at the height of the [[Dalit Panther]] movement, fights between the Chawl's dominant Maratha population and the [[Dalit Buddhist movement|Neo-Buddhists]] living in 20-odd buildings resulted in full-scale riots. Violence between the communities continued through the 1970s to the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rao |first1=Srinath |title=With state govt's redevelopment plans for Mumbai's BDD chawls, is it time to let go of a familiar way of life? |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/time-to-let-go-worli-bbd-chawl-4676690 |access-date=3 August 2018 |publisher=The Indian Express |date=28 May 2017 |archive-date=4 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804013926/https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/time-to-let-go-worli-bbd-chawl-4676690/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Sharma, R. N., & Yesudian, C. A. (1983). Group violence in a neighbourhood: A case study of Worli B.D.D. Chawls in Bombay. Indian Journal of Social Work, 43(4), 419–429.</ref>

===Other incidents of caste related violence===
==== Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute ====
[[Sambhaji Brigade]] is a branch of "Maratha Seva Sangh"(a Maratha caste organisation) and has committed acts of violence.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ah8qnXeeHKAC&pg=PA70|page=70|title=Storytellers @work|publisher=katha|year=2004|isbn=8189020013|access-date=27 July 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084500/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ah8qnXeeHKAC&pg=PA70|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2004, a mob of 150 Maratha activists attacked the [[Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute]] - the reason being a book by [[James Laine]]. The vandalism led to loss of valuable historic documents and an estimated loss of Rs 1.25 crore. Sanskrit and religious documents dating back to the 16th century were destroyed, translation of the [[RigVeda]] by the [[Shankaracharya]] was thrown on the road. A woman who tried to call the police had bricks pelted at her by the mob.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Protect-all-research-houses-Bori/articleshow/408950.cms|title=Protect all research houses: Bori|newspaper=Times of India|date=7 January 2004 |access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=11 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911122908/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Protect-all-research-houses-Bori/articleshow/408950.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-407226,prtpage-1.cms 'Maratha' activists vandalise Bhandarkar Institute] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911055833/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-407226,prtpage-1.cms |date=11 September 2018 }} [[Times of India]], 6 January 2004</ref>

====Ram Ganesh Gadkari Statue====
In 2017, the statue of [[Ram Ganesh Gadkari]], a noted playwright and poet who showed [[Sambhaji]] in a poor light in his 1919 play 'Rajsanyas', was uprooted and thrown in the river by Sambhaji Brigade. The [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]([[CKP]]), the community to which Gadkari belonged later organised a meeting to protest this incident at the "Ram Ganesh Gadkari Rangayatan"(a theatre named after Gadkari) in [[Thane]]. As per Smriti Koppikar, "the symbols and markers of Brahmin and/or upper caste ideology have proved to be an eyesore for Marathas". [[Devendra Fadnavis]] said that the statue would be restored. At the location of the bust, the "Brahman Mahasangh"(a Brahmin caste organisation) kept a photo of Gadkari and [[Medha Vishram Kulkarni]] supported the Brahmin organisation's decision and announced that parts of the play would be read in Sambhaji Park. The BJP as well as the Shiv Sena alleged that the Sambhaji Brigade was trying to divide the community.<ref>{{cite news|date=7 January 2017|url=https://scroll.in/article/826108/explainer-the-politics-behind-the-vandalism-of-a-legendary-marathi-playwrights-statue-in-pune|title=Maratha pride (and votes): Why the statue of a legendary Marathi playwright was vandalised in Pune|access-date=27 July 2018|archive-date=10 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810213503/https://scroll.in/article/826108/explainer-the-politics-behind-the-vandalism-of-a-legendary-marathi-playwrights-statue-in-pune|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=7 January 2017|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/BJP-creating-divide-along-caste-lines-Sambhaji-Brigade/article17070030.ece|title=BJP creating divide along caste lines: Sambhaji Brigade|access-date=4 January 2023|archive-date=4 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104224729/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/BJP-creating-divide-along-caste-lines-Sambhaji-Brigade/article17070030.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Nitesh Rane]] later rewarded the vandals and made inflammatory remarks claiming that he had announced a reward earlier in 2016 for removing the bust, and was proud of the act carried out by the accused.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/civic/cong-mla-rane-rewards-vandals/articleshow/56606356.cms|title=Cong MLA Rane rewards vandals|access-date=27 July 2018|archive-date=9 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109184927/http://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/civic/cong-mla-rane-rewards-vandals/articleshow/56606356.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Violence related to inclusion in the Other Backward Caste (OBC)====
[[File:Maratha-Kranti-Morcha.jpg|180px|right]]
In 2018, several incidents of violence were reported due to agitation over the delay of the inclusion of the Maratha caste in the [[Other Backward Class]] category. The agitation was started by the [[Maratha Kranti Morcha]]. In June 2018, the Marathas threatened violent protests if their demands were not met. In July, Maratha protests turned violent as the protesters attacked police and torched police vehicles. Several incidents, including some deaths, were reported in other locations as well – several police were injured by the mobs, public property was damaged and private cars were torched. In [[Navi Mumbai]] itself, hundreds of vehicles were torched and buses were set on fire in cities such as [[Mumbai]] and [[Pune]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-maratha-protests-2-fire-brigade-vehicles-torched-cops-attacked-in-aurangabad-as-maharashtra-bandh-turns-violent-2641069|title=Maratha protests: 2 fire brigade vehicles torched, cops attacked in Aurangabad as Maharashtra bandh turns violent|date=24 July 2018|access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=26 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826051623/https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-maratha-protests-2-fire-brigade-vehicles-torched-cops-attacked-in-aurangabad-as-maharashtra-bandh-turns-violent-2641069|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/maratha-agitation-residents-pay-price-as-protesters-damage-160-private-vehicles-in-navi-mumbai/story-BVI8lnwseybgxw6KBAqijN.html|title=Maratha agitation: Residents pay price, as protesters damage 160 private vehicles in Navi Mumbai|date=27 July 2018|access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=30 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730065443/https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/maratha-agitation-residents-pay-price-as-protesters-damage-160-private-vehicles-in-navi-mumbai/story-BVI8lnwseybgxw6KBAqijN.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/marathas-threaten-violent-protest-for-reservation-as-maharashtra-govt-seeks-more-time-1272948-2018-06-29|title=Marathas threaten violent protest for reservation as Maharashtra govt seeks more time|website=India Today|date=29 June 2018 |access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=27 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727145539/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/marathas-threaten-violent-protest-for-reservation-as-maharashtra-govt-seeks-more-time-1272948-2018-06-29|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/maratha-reservation-protest-live-updates-mumbai-bandh-maharashtra-devendra-fadnavis-obc-status-5274626/|title=Maharashtra Bandh highlights: Ashok Chavan slams govt, says, 'Till when you'll deceive people in name of discussions'|date=25 July 2018|access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=27 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727085111/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/maratha-reservation-protest-live-updates-mumbai-bandh-maharashtra-devendra-fadnavis-obc-status-5274626/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/40-buses-torched-stones-pelted-in-pune-as-maratha-quota-fire-burns-again-1828333.html|title=40 Buses Torched, Stones Pelted in Pune as Maratha Quota Fire Burns Again|date=30 July 2018 |access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=31 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731161854/https://www.news18.com/news/india/40-buses-torched-stones-pelted-in-pune-as-maratha-quota-fire-burns-again-1828333.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Other inter caste issues===
====Medha Khole Incident====
In a widely publicised 2017 incident, a Brahmin scientist by the name of Medha Vinayak Khole(Deputy Director-General for the weather forecasting section) filed a police complaint against her Maratha domestic worker, Nirmala Yadav, for hiding her caste and "violating ritual purity and sanctity". Khole even insulted the latter's Gods, [[Khandoba]] (a popular God worshipped by most Marathi Hindu communities<ref>{{cite book|quote=Like Vitthal, Khandoba too is a regional deity of Maharashtra. While Vithoba is a deity of one's choice, Khandoba is the family deity of the majority of persons spread in Maharashtra, from Brahmins to Dalits.|title=Maharashtra, Land and Its People|publisher=Government of Maharashtra|year=2009|page=228}}</ref>) and [[Mhasoba]] (a Hindu God worshiped by Pastoral communities and very popular in the Marathas). The "Akhil Bhartiya Bramhan Mahasangh" initially came out in support of Khole. However, there were widespread protests not just by Maratha caste organisations but also by non-caste organisations like Domestic Workers Unions and Women's organisations and Khole was widely criticised.{{sfn|O'Hanlon|2002|p=155}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/imd-scientist-files-case-against-cook-for-posing-as-brahmin/article19644659.ece|title=IMD scientist files cheating case against cook for 'posing' as Brahmin|first=Shoumojit|last=Banerjee|date=8 September 2017|access-date=26 August 2018|via=www.thehindu.com|newspaper=The Hindu|archive-date=10 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910025704/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/imd-scientist-files-case-against-cook-for-posing-as-brahmin/article19644659.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.epw.in/engage/article/punes-%E2%80%98non-brahmin%E2%80%99-cook-and-myth-%E2%80%98caste-less%E2%80%99-middle-class|title=The 'Non-Brahmin' Cook from Pune and the Myth of the 'Caste-less' Middle Class|date=5 June 2015|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=50|issue=23|access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=3 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803134106/https://www.epw.in/engage/article/punes-%E2%80%98non-brahmin%E2%80%99-cook-and-myth-%E2%80%98caste-less%E2%80%99-middle-class|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/crime/scientist-cooks-up-a-storm-over-maids-caste/articleshow/60433392.cms|title=Scientist 'cooks' up a storm over maid's caste|access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=3 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803135519/https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/crime/scientist-cooks-up-a-storm-over-maids-caste/articleshow/60433392.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Kopardi gang rape and murder====

{{excerpt|Kopardi gang rape and murder}}

==Political participation==
The 1919 [[Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms]] of the British colonial government called for caste based representation in legislative council. In anticipation a Maratha league party was formed. The league and other groups came together to form the non-Brahmins party in the Marathi speaking areas in the early 1920s under the leadership of Maratha leaders [[Keshavrao Jedhe]] and Baburao Javalkar. Their early goals in that period were capturing the Ganpati and Shivaji festivals from Brahmin domination.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last1=Hansen|first1=Thomas Blom|title=Wages of violence : naming and identity in postcolonial Bombay|date=2002|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=978-0691088402|page=33|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-y3iNt0djbQC&pg=PA31|access-date=10 January 2017|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084504/https://books.google.com/books?id=-y3iNt0djbQC&pg=PA31|url-status=live}}</ref> They combined nationalism with anti-casteism as the party's aims.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jayapalan|first1=N.|title=Social and cultural history of India since 1556|date=2000|publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788171568260|page=162|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WWEk1p_b5YUC&q=Rawlinson,+George+++Maratha+Empire+bajirao+&pg=PR5|access-date=9 October 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084459/https://books.google.com/books?id=WWEk1p_b5YUC&q=Rawlinson,+George+++Maratha+Empire+bajirao+&pg=PR5|url-status=live}}</ref> Later on in the 1930s, Jedhe merged the non-Brahmin party with the Congress party and changed the Congress party in the Maharashtra region from an upper-caste dominated body to a more broadly based but Maratha-dominated party.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Omvedt|first1=Gail|title=Non-Brahmans and Nationalists in Poona|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|date=1974|volume=9|issue=6/8|pages=201–219|jstor=4363419}}</ref> Apart from Jedhe, most Congress leaders from the Maratha /Kunbi community remained aloof from the [[Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti|Samyukta Maharashtra campaign]] of the 1950s. However, they have dominated the state politics of Maharashtra since its inception in 1960.<ref name="Kurtz 1994 63"/>

The [[Indian National Congress|INC]] was the preferred party of the Maratha/Kunbi community in the early days of [[Maharashtra]] and the party was long without a major challenger, and enjoyed overwhelming support from the Maratha dominated [[Cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra|sugar co-operatives]] and thousands of other cooperative organisations involved in the rural agricultural economy of the state such as marketing of dairy and vegetable produce, [[credit union]]s etc.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brass|first1=Paul R.|title=The politics of India since independence|date=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-0521543057|page=142|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtKe6XV8z7wC&q=Indian+provincial+elections,+1937+suffrage&pg=PR10|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=26 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926052728/https://books.google.com/books?id=dtKe6XV8z7wC&q=Indian+provincial+elections,+1937+suffrage&pg=PR10|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mishra|first1=Sumita|title=Grassroot politics in India|date=2000|publisher=Mittal Publications|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788170997320|page=27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9kQcBmKcOsC&pg=PA27}}</ref> The domination by Marathas of the cooperative institutions and with it the rural economic power allowed the community to control politics from the village level up to the Assembly and [[Lok Sabha]] seats.<ref name="Routledge">{{cite book|last1=Vora|first1=Rajendra|editor1-last=Kumar|editor1-first=Sanjay|editor2-last=Jaffrelot|editor2-first=Christophe|title=Rise of the plebeians? : the changing face of Indian legislative assemblies|date=2009|publisher=Routledge|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-0415460927|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Bharatiya+Janata+Party%22+maharashtra+maratha+brahmin&pg=PP1|chapter=Chapter 7 Maharashtra or Maratha Rashtra|access-date=9 October 2020|archive-date=26 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926021642/https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Bharatiya+Janata+Party%22+maharashtra+maratha+brahmin&pg=PP1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Popular Prakashan">{{cite book|editor-last=Kulkarni|editor-first=A.R.|editor-last2=Wagle|editor-first2=N.K.|last=Sirsikar|first=V.M.|title=State intervention and popular response : western India in the nineteenth century|date=1999|publisher=Popular Prakashan|location=Mumbai|isbn=81-7154-835-0|page=9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t7f0JEWk6HMC&q=congress+%22sugar+lobby%22+maharashtra&pg=PR7|access-date=9 October 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084505/https://books.google.com/books?id=t7f0JEWk6HMC&q=congress+%22sugar+lobby%22+maharashtra&pg=PR7|url-status=live}}</ref> Since the 1980s, this group has also been active in setting up private educational institutions.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dahiwale|first1=S. M.|title=Consolidation of Maratha Dominance in Maharashtra Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 30, No. 6 (Feb. 11, 1995), pp. 336–342 Published by|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|date=1995|volume=30|issue=6|pages=336–342|jstor=4402382}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kurtz|first1=Donald V.|title=Contradictions and conflict : a dialectical political anthropology of a University in Western India|date=1994|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden [u.a.]|isbn=978-9004098282|page=50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0X5DquN8LkIC&q=ckp+prabhu+marathi&pg=PR7|access-date=9 October 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084456/https://books.google.com/books?id=0X5DquN8LkIC&q=ckp+prabhu+marathi&pg=PR7|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Language and society : steps towards an integrated theory|last1=Singh|first1=R.|last2=Lele|first2=J.K.|date=1989|publisher=E.J. Brill |location=Leiden|isbn=9789004087897|pages=32–42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PLiAlGzLFQC}}</ref> Major past political figures of Congress party from Maharashtra such as [[Panjabrao Deshmukh]], [[Keshavrao Jedhe]], [[Yashwantrao Chavan]],<ref name="Popular Prakashan"/> [[Shankarrao Chavan]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baviskar |first1=B. S. |title=Cooperatives in Maharashtra: Challenges Ahead |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |date=2007 |volume=42 |issue=42 |pages=4217–4219 |jstor=40276570}}</ref> and [[Vilasrao Deshmukh]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA225|page=225|title=Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies (Exploring the Political in South Asia)|editor1=Christophe Jaffrelot|editor2=Sanjay Kumar|publisher=Routledge India|year=2009|quote=Vilasrao Deshmukh (from Congress), a Maratha from Marathwada|isbn=9781136516627|access-date=22 April 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084456/https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA225|url-status=live}}</ref> have been from this group.
[[Sharad Pawar]], who has been a towering figure in Maharashtrian and national politics, belongs to this group.<ref>{{cite book|title=India's 2009 Elections: Coalition Politics, Party Competition and Congress Continuity|publisher=SagePublications Pvt. Ltd|editor1=Paul Wallace|editor2=Ramashray Roy|date=9 May 2011|page=252|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZ6HAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA252|quote=...Sharad Pawar, the founder of the NCP and also described as the Maratha Strong Man, who has been...|isbn=9788132107743|access-date=7 April 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084512/https://books.google.com/books?id=wZ6HAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA252|url-status=live}}</ref>

The state has had many Maratha government ministers and officials, as well as in local municipal councils, and panchayats. Marathas comprise around 32 per cent of the state population.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9kQcBmKcOsC&pg=PA27 |page=27 |title=Grassroot Politics in India |first=Sumita |last=Mishra |publisher=Mittal Publications |location=New Delhi |year=2000 |isbn=9788170997320}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=New Farmers' Movements in India |editor-first=Tom |editor-last=Brass |first=D. N. |last=Dhanagare |publisher=Routledge/Frank Cass |location=Ilford |year=1995 |isbn=9780714646091 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_JRM7CCrMUC&pg=PA80 |page=80 |chapter=The Class Character and Politics of the Farmers' Movement in Maharashtra during the 1980s}}</ref> 10 out of 16 [[List of Chief Ministers of Maharashtra|chief ministers of Maharashtra]] hailed from the Maratha community as of 2012.<ref>Economic and Political Weekly: January 2012 First Volume p. 45</ref>

The rise of the Hindu Nationalist [[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]] and [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] in recent years have not dented Maratha representation in Maharashtra Legislative assembly.<ref name="Routledge"/>

[[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]]'s strength mainly came from the Maratha support which it drew away from the Congress.<ref>{{cite book|title=Caste, Class, and Capital: The Social and Political Origins of Economic Policy in India|author=Kanta Murali|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2017|pages=236–237|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RFLTDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA236|quote=Shiv Sena's strength primarily came from Maratha support, which it drew away from the Congress|isbn=9781107154506|access-date=12 September 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084559/https://books.google.com/books?id=RFLTDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA236|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1990, 24 MLAs elected from Shiv Sena were Marathas which increased to 33 in 2004 (more than 50%). Thus, researcher Vora concludes that the [[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]] has been emerging as a "Maratha Party".<ref>{{cite book|quote=The Shiv Sena is emerging as another Maratha party if we go by the number of Marathas elected on its ticket in the last four elections to the Vidhan Sabha.|pages=240, 241|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA240|editor1=Christophe Jaffrelot|editor2=Sanjay Kumar|author=Rajendra Vora|title=Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies|isbn=9781136516627|date=4 May 2012|publisher=Routledge |access-date=11 October 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084522/https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA240|url-status=live}}</ref>

Maratha Seva Sangh, a Maratha caste based organisation and its youth wing [[Sambhaji Brigade]] came into the political scene after the [[Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute#Vandalism in 2004|BORI attack]]. The group distances itself from the Hindu nationalist parties like the [[BJP]] and [[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]] and invokes a secular anti-Brahmin genealogy from [[Shivaji]], [[Tukaram]], [[Jyotirao Phule]] and [[B. R. Ambedkar]]. In late 2004, Maratha Seva Sangh announced that they had established a new religion called ''Shiv Dharma'' to protest "Vedic Brahminism" and oppose Hinduism. The details of this are published in ''Jijau Brigade va Sambhaji Brigade Sanskarmala, Maratha Sanskarmala I''.<ref name="Deshpande2007">{{cite book|author=Prachi Deshpande|title=Creative Pasts: Historical Memory and Identity in Western India, 1700–1960|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96qrAgAAQBAJ|year=2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-12486-7|pages=266–267|quote=As many commentators noted after the BORI attack, the Maratha Seva Sangh and the Sambhaji Brigade seemed to suddenly on the political scene. There has yet been no substantiated scholarly or journalistic studies of this movement, which is a caste based Maratha led organization of Marathi society focused on rural youth belonging to the broad Maratha caste cluster...The Maratha Seva Sangh, for instance, consciously distances itself from the Hindu nationalist parties such as the BJP and Shiv Sena in invoking a secular anti-Brahman genealogy from Shivaji and Tukaram in the seventeenth century to Jyotirao Phule and B.R.Ambedkar in the nineteenth and twentieth. The Sambhaji Brigade is its youth wing. In late 2004, the group announced the establishment of a new religion, "Shiv Dharma", as a protest against Vedic Brahmanism and counterpoint to Hinduism, See Maratha Seva Sangh, Jijau Brigade va Sambhaji Brigade Sanskarmala, Maratha Sanskarmala I(Nagpur: N.p., n.d.). I am grateful to Lee Schlesinger for making this pamphlet available to me.|access-date=27 September 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084523/https://books.google.com/books?id=96qrAgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Military service==
[[File:Arms of Maratha History of India 1906.jpg|300px|thumb|Weapons used by soldiers of Maratha empire.]]
The Duke of Wellington, after defeating the Marathas, noted that the Marathas, though poorly led by their Generals, had regular infantry and artillery that matched the level of that of the Europeans and warned other British officers from underestimating the Marathas on the battlefield. He cautioned one British general that: "You must never allow Maratha infantry to attack head on or in close hand to hand combat as in that your army will cover itself with utter disgrace".<ref>Lee, Wayne (2011). Empires and Indigenes: Intercultural Alliance, Imperial Expansion, and Warfare in the Early Modern World. NYU Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8147-6527-2}}. Pg. 85 [https://books.google.com/books?id=xatMrooibacC&pg=PA85]</ref>

[[Norman Gash]] says that the Maratha infantry was equal to that of British infantry. After the Third Anglo-Maratha war in 1818, Britain listed the Marathas as one of the Martial Races to serve in the British Indian Army although it was unclear whether this categorisation referred to the Maratha caste or a subset of some Marathi castes.<ref>Gash, Norman (1990). Wellington: Studies in the Military and Political Career of the First Duke of Wellington. Manchester University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7190-2974-5}}. Pg. 17
[https://books.google.com/books?id=eCC8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA17] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084607/https://books.google.co.in/books?id=eCC8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA17&redir_esc=y|date=14 April 2023}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=U5FdJnnDhSwC&pg=PA189 Creative Pasts: Historical Memory And Identity in Western India, 1700–1960] From book: "In the early twentieth century, the Marathas were identified as a "martial race" fit for the imperial army, and recruitment of Marathas increased after World War I."</ref> Despite praising the military prowess of the Marathas, the British considered them inferior to Sikhs and Gurkhas in terms of other masculine traits due to prevailing Christian notions of being a "man at arm" in battlefield i.e., they disapproved of Maratha utilisation of guerrilla warfare in combat along with their uncharitable and ruthless attitudes.<ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=F165bWv7goQC&q=maratha+non+martial+race&pg=PA28| title= Make Me a Man!: Masculinity, Hinduism, and Nationalism in India| publisher= University of new York| work= History| date= 2005| author= S Banerjee| pages= 32| isbn= 9780791483695| access-date= 9 October 2020| archive-date= 16 August 2022| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220816230108/https://books.google.com/books?id=F165bWv7goQC&q=maratha+non+martial+race&pg=PA28| url-status= live}}</ref> However, racial theories have been discredited.<ref>{{cite book|title=Religious Traditions in Modern South Asia|editor1=Jacqueline Suthren Hirst|editor2=John Zavoss|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bBOpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA280|isbn=9781136626685|access-date=27 July 2018|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414084418/https://books.google.com/books?id=bBOpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA280|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]], commander-in-chief of the Indian Army 1885–1893, who came up with the "[[Martial Race]]" theory, stated that in order to improve the quality of the army, there was a need to use "more warlike and hardy races" instead of the current sepoys from Bengal, the Tamils, Telugus and the Marathas. Based on this theory, [[Gurkhas]] and [[Sikhs]] were recruited by the British army and they were "construed as martial races" in preference to other races in India.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4GqdfG0EU8C&pg=PA26 |page=26 |title=Gorkhaland Movement: A Study in Ethnic Separatism |first=Amiya K. |last=Samanta |publisher=APH Publishing |location=New Delhi |year=2000 |isbn=9788176481663 |access-date=3 October 2012|quote=The first step towards improving the quality of the army was to substitute men of more warlike and hardy races for the Hindustani sepoys of Bengal, the Tamils and Telugus of Madras and the so called Marathas of Bombay.}}</ref> Historian Sikata Banerjee notes a dissonance in British military opinions of the Maratha, wherein the British portrayed them as both "formidable opponents" and yet not "properly qualified" for fighting in the western manner, criticising the Maratha [[guerrilla]] tactics as an improper way of war. Banerjee cites an 1859 statement as emblematic of this disparity: {{blockquote|There is something noble in the carriage of an ordinary Rajput, and something vulgar in that of the most distinguished Mahratta. The Rajput is the most worthy antagonist, the Mahratta the most formidable enemy.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F165bWv7goQC&pg=PA33 |page=33 |title=Make Me a Man!: Masculinity, Hinduism, and Nationalism in India |first=Sikata |last=Banerjee |publisher=SUNY Press |location=Albany, NY |year=2005 |isbn=9780791463673 |access-date=2012-10-03}}</ref>}}

The [[Maratha Light Infantry]] regiment is one of the "oldest and most renowned" regiments of the Indian Army.<ref name="Edwards2003">{{cite book|author=Frank Edwards|title=The Gaysh: A History of the Aden Protectorate Levies 1927–61 and the Federal Regular Army of South Arabia 1961–67|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZux-2ZPoaIC&pg=PA86|access-date=15 September 2013|year=2003|publisher=Helion & Company Limited|isbn=978-1-874622-96-3|pages=86–}}</ref> Its First Battalion, also known as the ''Jangi Paltan'' ("Warrior Platoon"),<ref name="Perkins1994">{{cite book|author=Roger Perkins|title=Regiments: Regiments and Corps of the British Empire and Commonwealth, 1758–1993 : a Critical Bibliography of Their Published Histories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xn4sAAAAYAAJ|access-date=15 September 2013|year=1994|publisher=Roger Perkins|isbn=978-0-9506429-3-2}}</ref> traces its origins to 1768 as part of the Bombay Sepoys.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The battle cry of Maratha Light Infantry is ''Bol Shri Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai!'' ("Hail Victory to Emperor Shivaji!") in tribute to the Maratha sovereign and their motto is ''Shatrujeet'' (victory over enemy).<ref>{{cite book|title=Indian Army: A Reference Manual|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ziDfAAAAMAAJ&q=Bol+Shri+Chattrapati+Shivaji+Maharaj+ki+Jai|year=2000|page=89|publisher=Reliance Publishing House/ Reliance Books|author=Gautam Sharma|isbn=9788175101142|access-date=12 August 2020|archive-date=16 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816230103/https://books.google.com/books?id=ziDfAAAAMAAJ&q=Bol+Shri+Chattrapati+Shivaji+Maharaj+ki+Jai|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Maratha clan system]]
* [[List of Maratha dynasties and states]]
* [[List of Maratha people|List of notable Maratha People]]
* [[Marhatta (region)|Marhatta region]]
* [[Maratha reservation agitation]]
* [[Thanjavur Marathi people]]
* [[Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh)|Marathi People in Uttar Pradesh]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{notelist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Asher|first1=Catherine B.|last2=Talbot|first2=Cynthia|title=India Before Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvaGuaJIJgoC|access-date=20 October 2013|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-80904-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Bayly|first=Christopher Alan|author-link=Christopher Bayly|title=Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fX2zMfWqIzMC|access-date=20 October 2013|year=1990|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-38650-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Bayly|first=Susan|title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC|access-date=20 October 2013|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-79842-6}}
* {{cite book |first=Thomas Blom |last=Hansen |title=Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-y3iNt0djbQC&pg=PA31 |year=2001 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-08840-3 }}
* {{cite book |first=Douglas E. |last=Haynes |title=Contesting Power: Resistance and Everyday Social Relations in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fmLgwzHwmtoC&pg=PA65 |year=1992 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07585-6 }}
* {{cite book|last=Ludden|first=David|title=India and South Asia: A Short History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxxttgAACAAJ|year=2013|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=978-1-85168-936-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Ludden|first=David|title=An Agrarian History of South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHi62S7vZlsC|access-date=20 October 2013|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-36424-9}}
* {{cite book|last1=Metcalf|first1=Barbara D.|author-link1=Barbara D. Metcalf|last2=Metcalf|first2=Thomas R.|author-link2=Thomas R. Metcalf|title=A Concise History of Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iuESgYNYPl0C|access-date=20 October 2013|date=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-45887-0}}
* {{cite book |first=Rosalind |last=O'Hanlon |title=Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in Nineteenth-Century Western India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kMrsTj1NeYC |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52308-0 }}
* {{cite book|last=Robb|first=Peter|title=A History of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQ-2VH1LO_EC&pg=GBS.PT31.w.1.2.18|year=2011|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-34549-2}}
* {{Cite book |first=K. S. |last=Singh |title=India's Communities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9MVAQAAMAAJ |year=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-563354-2 }}
* {{cite book|last=Stein|first=Burton|author-link=Burton Stein|title=A History of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC|access-date=20 October 2013|year=2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-2351-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Wink|first=André|title=Land and Sovereignty in India: Agrarian Society and Politics Under the Eighteenth-Century Maratha Svarājya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kGL3IQAACAAJ|access-date=20 October 2013|year=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-05180-4}}

{{Ethnic and social groups of Goa and the Konkan}}{{Social groups of Maharashtra}}

[[Category:Social groups of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Indian castes]]
[[Category:Marathi people]]
[[Category:Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Social groups of Goa]]