Revision as of 00:40, 18 March 2021

Early 1900s photograph of statue of Maratha leader, Bimbaji Bhonsla [sic], in armour.
Incidentally, Bimbaji Bhonsla was the a son and heir of the Raja of Nagpur, Raghuji Bhonsla. In 1758, Bimbaji Bhonsla succeeded, and ruled at Ratanpur for nearly thirty years; and when he died, his widow, Anandi Bai, held the real authority till about 1800.

Maratha, Mahratta

From The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India

By R. V. Russell

Of The Indian Civil Service

Superintendent Of Ethnography, Central Provinces

Assisted By Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner

Macmillan And Co., Limited, London, 1916.

NOTE 1: The 'Central Provinces' have since been renamed Madhya Pradesh.

NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from the original book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot these footnotes gone astray might like to shift them to their correct place.

The military caste of southern India which manned the armies of Sivaji, and of the Peshwa and other princes of the Maratha confederacy. In the Central Provinces the Marathas numbered 34,000 persons in 191 1, of whom Nagpur contained 9000 and Wardha 8000, while the remainder were distributed over Raipur, Hoshangabad and Nimar. In Berar their strength was 60,000 persons, the total for the combined province being thus 94,000. The caste is found in large numbers in Bombay and Hyderabad, and in 1901 the India Census tables show a total of not less than five million persons belonging to it.

It is difficult to avoid confusion in the use of the term Maratha, which signifies both an inhabitant of the area in which the Marathi language is spoken, and a member of the caste to which the general name has in view of their historical importance been specifically applied. The native name for the Marathi-speaking country is Maharashtra, which has been variously interpreted as * The great country ' or ' The country of the Mahars.' ^ A third explanation of the name ' Sir II. Risley's India Census Report (1901), Ethnographic Appendices, p. 93. 198

is from the Rashtrakuta dynasty which was dominant in this area for some centuries after A.D. 750. The name Rashtrakuta was contracted into Rattha, and with the prefix of Maha or Great might evolve into the term Maratha. The Rashtrakutas have been conjecturally identified with the Rathor Rajputs.

The Ndsik Gazetteer^ states that in 246 I5.C. Maharatta is mentioned as one of the places to which Asoka sent an embassy, and Maharashtraka is recorded in a Chalukyan inscription of A.D. 580 as including three provinces and 99,000 villages. Several other references are given in Sir J, Campbell's erudite note, and the name is therefore without doubt ancient. But the Marathas as a people do not seem to be mentioned before the thirteenth or fourteenth century." The antiquity of the name would appear to militate against the derivation from the Rashtrakuta dynasty, which did not become prominent till much later, and the most probable meaning of Maharashtra would therefore seem to be ' The country of the Mahars.' Maharatta and INIaratha are presumably derivatives from Maharashtra.

The Marathas are a caste formed from military service, 3. Origin and it seems probable that they sprang mainly from the ^^^^ q°^'" peasant population of Kunbis, though at what period they the caste, were formed into a separate caste has not yet been determined. Grant - Duff mentions several of their leading families as holding offices under the Muhammadan rulers of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the Nimbhalkar, Gharpure and Bhonsla ; ^ and presumably their clansmen served in the armies of those states. But whether or no the designation of Maratha had been previously used by them, it first became prominent during the period of Sivaji's guerilla warfare against Aurangzeb. The Marathas claim a Rajput origin, and several of their clans have the names of Rajput tribes, as Chauhan, Panwar, Solanki and Suryavansi. In 1836 Mr. Enthoven states,"* the Sesodia Rana of Udaipur, the head of the purest Rajput house, was satisfied from inquiries conducted by an ' P. 48, footnote. but Blionsla is adopted in deference - Ndsik Gazetteer, ibidem. Elphin- to established usage, stone's History, p. 246. ^ Bombay Census Report (1901), 3 The proper spelling is Bhosle, pp. 184-185.'

agent that the Bhonslas and certain other families had a right to be recognised as Rajputs. Colonel Tod states that Sivaji was descended from a Rajput prince Sujunsi, who was expelled from Mewar to avoid a dispute about the succession about A.D. 1300. Sivaji is shown as 13th in descent from Sujunsi. Similarly the Bhonslas of Nagpur were said to derive their origin from one Bunbir, who was expelled from Udaipur about 1541, having attempted to usurp the kingdom.^ As Rajput dynasties ruled in the Deccan for some centuries before the Muhammadan conquest, it seems reasonable to suppose that a Rajput aristocracy may have taken root there.

This was Colonel Tod's opinion, who wrote : " These kingdoms of the south as well as the north were held by Rajput sovereigns, whose offspring, blending with the original population, produced that mixed race of Marathas inheriting with the names the warlike propensities of their ancestors, but who assume the names of their abodes as titles, as the Nimalkars, the Phalkias, the Patunkars, instead of their tribes of Jadon, Tuar, Pilar, etc." ^ This statement would, however, apply only to the leading houses and not to the bulk of the Maratha caste, who appear to be mainly derived from the Kunbis. In Sholapur the Marathas and Kunbis eat together, and the Kunbis are said to be bastard Marathas.^ In Satara the Kunbis have the same division into 96 clan's as the Marathas have, and many of the same surnames.* The writer of the Satdj^a Gazetteer says :

^ " The census of 1 8 5 i included the Marathas with the Kunbis, from whom they do not form a separate caste. Some Maratha families may have a larger strain of northern or Rajput blood than the Kunbis, but this is not always the case. The distinction between Kunbis and Marathas is almost entirely social, the Marathas as a rule being better off, and preferring even service as a constable or messenger to husbandry." Exactly the same state of affairs prevails in the Central Provinces and Berar, where the body of the caste are commonly known as Maratha Kunbis.

In Bombay the Marathas will take daughters from the Kunbis in marriage for their sons, though they will not give their daughters ' Rt'ijaslhdfi, i. 269. ^ Ibidem, ii. 420. ^ Sholapur Gazetteer, p. 87. "^ Satara Gazetteer, p. 64. *< Ibidem, p. 75.

in return. But a Kunbi who has got on in the world and become wealthy may by sufficient payment get his sons married into Maratha families, and even be adopted as a member of the caste.' In 1798 Colonel Tone, who commanded a regiment of the Peshwa's army, wrote ^ of the Marathas : " The three great tribes which compose the Maratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd, and the Goala or cowherd ; to this original cause may perhaps be ascribed that great simplicity of manner which distinguishes the Maratha people." It seems then most probable that, as already stated, the\ Maratha caste was of purely military origin, constituted from the various castes of Maharashtra who adopted military service, though some of the leading families may have had Rajputs for their ancestors. Sir D. Ibbetson thought that a similar relation existed in past times between the Rajpijts^ and Jats, the landed aristocracy of the Jat caste being gradually admitted to Rajput rank.

The Khandaits or swordsmen of Orissa are a caste formed in the same manner from military service. In the Imperial Gazetteer Sir H. Risley suggests that the Maratha people were of Scythian origin : " The physical type of the people of this region accords fairly well with this theory, while the arguments derived from language and religion do not seem to conflict with it. . . . On this view the wide-ranging forays of the Marathas, tlieir guerilla methods of warfare, their unscrupulous dealings with friend and foe, their genius for intrigue and their consequent failure to build up an enduring dominion, might well be regarded as inherited from their Scythian ancestors."

In the Central Provinces the Marathas are divided into 4- i^-^o- 96 exogamous clans, known as the Chhanava Kule, which %^^^^_ marry with one another. During the period when the Bhonsia family were rulers of Nagpur they constituted a sort of inner circle, consisting of seven of the leading clans, with whom alone they intermarried ; these are known as the Satghare or Seven Houses, and consist of the Bhonsia, Gujar, Ahirrao, Mahadik, Sirke, Palke and Mohte clans. ^ Bombay Census Report (1907), ^ J^etter on the Marathas (India ibidem. Office Tracts).

These houses at one time formed an endogamous group, marrying only among themselves, but recently the restriction has been relaxed, and they have arranged marriages with other Maratha families. It may be noted that the present representatives of the Bhonsla family are of the Gujar clan to which the last Raja of Nagpur, Raghuji III., belonged prior to his adoption. Several of the clans, as already noted, have Rajput sept names ; and some are considered to be derived from those of former ruling dynasties ; as Chalke, from the Chalukya Rajput kings of the Deccan and Carnatic; More, who may represent a branch of the great Maurya dynasty of northern India ; Salunke, perhaps derived from the Solanki kings of Gujarat ; and Yadav, the name of the kings of Deogiri or Daulatabad.^ Others appear to be named after animals or natural objects, as Sinde from sindi the date-palm tree, Ghorpade from ghorpad the iguana ; or to be of a titular nature, as Kale black, Pandhre white, Bhagore a renegade, Jagthap renowned, and so on.

The More, Nimbhalkar, Ghatge, Mane, Ghorpade, Dafle, Jadav and Bhonsla clans are the oldest, and held prominent positions in the old Muhammadan kingdoms of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar. The Nimbhalkar family were formerly Panwar Rajputs, and took the name of Nimbhalkar from their ancestral village Nimbalik. The Ghorpade family are an offshoot of the Bhonslas, and obtained their present name from the exploit of one of their ancestors, who scaled a fort in the Konkan, previously deemed impregnable, by passing a cord round the body of a ghorpad or iguana.^

A noticeable trait of these Maratha houses is the fondness with which they clung to the small estates or villages in the Deccan in which they had originally held the office of a patel or village headman as a zvatan or hereditary right, even after they had carved out for themselves principalities and states in other parts of India. The present Bhonsla Raja takes his title from the village of Deor in the Poona country. In former times we read of the Raja of Satara clinging to the watans he had inherited from Sivaji after he had lost his crown in all but the name ; Sindhia was always termed ^ Saldra Gazetteer, p. 75- 2 Grant-Duff, 4th edition (1878), vol. i. pp. 70-72.

patcl or village headman in the revenue accounts of the villages he acquired in Nimfir ; while it is said that Ilolkar and the Panwar of Dhar fought desperately after the British conquest to recover the pateli rights of Deccan villages which had belonged to their ancestors.^ Besides the 96 clans there are now in the Central 5. Other Provinces some local subcastes who occupy a lower position ^"visions and do not intermarry with the Marathas proper.

Among these are the Deshkar or ' Residents of the country ' ; the Waindesha or those of Berar and Khandesh ; the Gangthade or those dwelling on the banks of the Godavari and Wainganga

and the Ghatmathe or residents of the Mahadeo

plateau in Berar. It is also stated that the Marathas are divided into the K/iasi or ' pure ' and the KJiarcJii or the descendants of handmaids. In Bombay the latter are known as the Akarmashes or i i vidshas, meaning that as twelve mdshas make a tola, a twelfth part of them is alloy. A man must not marry in his own clan or that of his 6. Social mother.

A sister's son may be married to a brother's daughter, but not vice versa. Girls are commonly married between five and twelve years of age, and the ceremony resembles that of the Kunbis. The bridegroom goes to the bride's house riding on horseback and covered with a black blanket. When a girl first becomes mature, usually after marriage, the Marathas perform the Shantik ceremony. The girl is secluded for four days, after which she is bathed and puts on new clothes and dresses her hair and a feast is given to the caste-fellows.

Sometimes the bridegroom comes and is asked whether he has visited his wife before she became mature, and if he confesses that he has done so a small fine is imposed on him. Such cases are, however, believed to be rare. The Marathas proper forbid widow-marriage, but the lower groups allow it. If a maiden is seduced by one of the caste she may be married to him as if she were a widow, a fine being imposed on her family ; but if she goes wrong with an outsider she is finally expelled. Divorce is not ostensibly allowed but may be concluded by agreement between the parties. A wife who commits adultery is cast off and expelled from the caste. The caste burn their ' Forsyth, Ni/iiar Settlement Report.

dead when they can afford it and perform the shrdddh ceremony in the month of Kunwdr (September), when oblations are offered to the dead and a feast is given to the caste-fellows. Sometimes a tomb is erected as a memorial to the dead, but without his name, and is surmounted usually by an image of Mahadeo. The caste eat the flesh of clean animals and of fowls and wild pig, and drink liquor. Their rules about food are liberal like those of the Rajputs, a too great stringency being no doubt in both cases incompatible with the exigencies of military service.

They make no difference between food cooked with or without water, and will accept either from a Brahman, Rajput, Tirole Kunbi, Lingayat Bania or Phulmali. The Marathas proper observe the parda system with regard to their women, and will go to the well and draw water themselves rather than permit their wives to do so. The women wear ornaments only of gold or glass and not of silver or any baser metal. They are not permitted to spin cotton as being an occupation of the lower classes. The women are tattooed in the centre of the forehead with a device resembling a trident.

The men commonly wear a turban made of many folds of cloth twisted into a narrow rope and large gold rings with pearls in the upper part of the ear. Like the Rajputs they often have j their hair long and wear beards and whiskers. They assume j the sacred thread and invest a boy with it when he is seven or eight years old or on his marriage. Till then they let the hair grow on the front of his head, and when the thread ceremony is performed they cut this off and let the cJioti or scalp-lock grow at the back. In appearance the men are often tall and well-built and of a Hght wheat-coloured complexion.

7. Reii- The principal deity of the Marathas is Khandoba, a sio'i- warrior incarnation of Mahadeo. He is supposed to have been born in a field of millet near Poona and to have led the people against the Muhammadans in early times. He had a watch-dog who warned him of the approach of his enemies, and he is named after the kJianda or sword which he always carried. In Bombay^ he is represented on horseback with ^ Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xviii. part i. pp. 413-414.

two women, one of the Bania caste, his wedded wife, in front of him, and another, a Uhangarin, his kept mistress, behind. He is considered the tutelary deity of the Maratha country, and his symbol is a bag of turmeric powder known as bJianddr. The caste worship Khandoba on Sundays with rice, flowers and incense, and also on the 21st day of Magh (January), which is called CJiaiupa SasJitJii and is his special festival. On this day they will catch hold of any dog, and after adorning him with flowers and turmeric give him a good feed and let him go again.

The Marathas are generally kind to dogs and will not injure them. At the Dasahra festival the caste worship their horses and swords and go out into the field to see a blue-jay in memory of the fact that the Maratha marauding expeditions started on Dasahra. On coming back they distribute to each other leaves of the shami tree [BaiiJiinia raceinosd) as a substitute for gold. It was formerly held to be fitting among the Hindus that the warrior should ride a horse (geldings being unknown) and the zamindar or landowner a mare, as more suitable to a man of peace. The warriors celebrated their Dasahra, and worshipped their horses on the tenth day of the light fortnight of Kunwdr (September), while the cultivators held their festival and worshipped their mares on the ninth day.

It is recorded that the great Raghuji Bhonsla, the first Raja of Nagpur, held his Dasahra on the ninth day, in order to proclaim the fact that he was by family an agriculturist and only incidentally a man of arms.' The Marathas present the somewhat melancholy spec- 8. Present tacle of an impoverished aristocratic class attempting to fhT caste° maintain some semblance of their former position, though they no longer have the means to do so. They flourished during two or three centuries of almost continuous war, and became a wealthy and powerful caste, but they find a difficulty in turning their hands to the arts of peace.

Sir R. Craddock writes of them in Nagpur : " Among the Marathas a large number represent connections of the Bhonsla family, related by marriage or by illegitimate descent to that house. A considerable proportion of the Government political pensioners are Marathas. ^ Elliott, HoshatigabCid Settlement Report.

Many of them own villages or hold tenant land, but as a rule they are extravagant in their living ; and several of the old Maratha nobility have fallen very much in the world. Pensions diminish with each generation, but the expenditure shows no corresponding decrease. The sons are brought up to no employment and the daughters are married with lavish pomp and show. The native army does not much attract them, and but few are educated well enough for the dignified posts in the civil employ of Government.

It is a question whether their pride of race will give way before the necessity of earning their livelihood soon enough for them to maintain or regain some of their former position. Otherwise those with the largest landed estates may be saved by the intervention of Government, but the rest must gradually deteriorate till the dignities of their class have become a mere memory. The humbler members of the caste find their employment as petty contractors or traders, private servants, Government peons, sowars, and hangers-on in the retinue of the more important families. " What ^ little display his means afford a Maratha still tries to maintain. Though he may be clad in rags at home, he has a spare dress which he himself washes and keeps with great care and puts on when he goes to pay a visit.

He will hire a boy to attend him with a lantern at night, or to take caVe of his shoes when he goes to a friend's house and hold them before him when he comes out. Well-to-do Marathas have usually in their service a Brahman clerk known as divdnji or minister, who often takes advantage of his master's want of education to defraud him. A Maratha seldom rises early or goes out in the morning. He will get up at seven or eight o'clock, a late hour for a Hindu, and attend to business if he has any or simply idle about chewing or smoking tobacco and talking till ten o'clock.

He will then bathe and dress in a freshly-washed cloth and bow before the family gods which the priest has already worshipped. He will dine, chew betel and smoke tobacco and enjoy a short midday rest. Rising at three, he will play cards, dice or chess, and in the evening will go out walking or riding or ' The following description is taken Sir II. II, Risley's India Census Report from the Ethnographic Appendices to of 190 1.

pay a visit to a friend. He will come back at eight or nine and go to bed at ten or eleven. But Marathas who have estates to manage lead regular, fairly busy lives." Sir D. Ibbetson drew attention to the fact that the rising 9. Nature of the Marathas against the Muhammadans was almost the ^^a'rtha only instance in Indian history of what might correctly be insurreccalled a really national movement. In other cases, as that of the Sikhs, though the essential motive was perhaps of the same nature, it was obscured by the fact that its ostensible tendency was religious. The gurus of the Sikhs did not call on their followers to fight for their country but for a new religion.

This was only in accordance with the Hindu intellect, to which the idea of nationality has hitherto been foreign, while its protests against both alien and domestic tyrannies tend to take the shape of a religious revolt. A similar tendency is observable even in the case of the Marathas, for the rising was from its inception largely engineered by the Maratha Brahmans, who on its success hastened to annex for themselves a leading position in the new Poona state.

And it has been recorded that in calling his countrymen to arms, Sivaji did not ask them to defend their hearths and homes or wives and children, but to rally for the protection of the sacred persons of Brahmans and cows. Although the Marathas have now in imitation of the 10. Rajputs and Muhammadans adopted the parda system, this wo^meatn is not a native custom, and women have played quite an past times, important part in their history. The women of the household have also exercised a considerable influence and their opinions are treated with respect by the men. Several instances occur in which women of high rank have successfully acted as governors and administrators.

In the Bhonsla family the Princess Baka Bfii, widow of Raghuji II., is a conspicuous instance, while the famous or notorious Rani of Jhansi is another case of a Maratha lady who led her troops in person, and was called the best man on the native side in the Mutiny. This article may conclude with one or two extracts to n. The give an idea of the way in which the Maratha soldiery took i^orseman the field. Grant Duff describes the troopers as follows : in the field.

"The Maratha horsemen are commonly dressed in a pair of hght breeches covering the knee, a turban which many of them fasten by passing a fold of it under the chin, a frock of quilted cotton, and a cloth round the waist, with which they generally gird on their swords in preference to securing them with their belts. The horseman is armed with a sword and shield ; a proportion in each body carry matchlocks, but the great national weapon is the spear, in the use of which and the management of their horse they evince both grace and dexterity.

The spearmen have generally a sword, and sometimes a shield ; but the latter is unwieldy and only carried in case the spear should be broken. The trained spearmen may always be known by their riding very long, the ball of the toe touching the stirrup ; some of the matchlockmen and most of the Brahmans ride very short and ungracefully. The bridle consists of a single headstall of cotton-rope, with a small but very severe flexible bit." 12. Cavalry The following account of the Maratha cavalry is given in General Hislop's Summary of tJie MardtJia and Pinddri Campaigns of i 8 1 7- 1 8 1 9 : " The Marathas possess extraordinary skill in horsemanship, and so intimate an acquaintance with their horses, that they can make their animals do anything, even in full speed, in halting, wheeling, etc.; they likewise use the spear with remarkable dexterity, sometimes in full gallop, grasping their spears short and quickly sticking the point in the ground ; still holding the handles, they turn their horse suddenly round it, thus performing on the point of a spear as on a pivot the same circle round and round again.

Their horses likewise never leave the particular class or body to which they belong ; so that if the rider should be knocked off, away gallops the animal after its fellows, never separating itself from the main body. Every Maratha brings his own horse and his own arms with him to the field, and possibly in the interest they possess in this private equipment we shall find their usual shyness to expose themselves or even to make a bold vigorous attack. But if armies or troops could be frightened by appearances these horses of the Marathas would dishearten the bravest, actually darkening the plains with their numbers and clouding the horizon with 1 1

dust for miles and miles around. A little fighting, however, goes a great way with them, as with most others of the native powers in India." On this account the Marathas were called razdJi-bazdn or lance-wielders. One Muhammadan historian says : " They so use the lance that no cavalry can cope with them. Some 20,000 or 30,000 lances are held up against their enemy so close together as not to leave a span between their heads. If horsemen try to ride them down the points of the spears are levelled at the assailants and they are unhorsed.

While cavalry are charging them they strike their lances against each other and the noise so frightens the horses of the enemy that they turn round and bolt." ^ The battle-cries of the Marathas were, ' Har^ Har Mahddeo,' and ' Gopdl, Gopdl! ^ An interesting description of the internal administration 13. of the Maratha cavalry is contained in the letter on the ^"^"^7 Marathas by Colonel Tone already quoted. But his account tration. must refer to a period of declining efficiency and cannot represent the military system at its best : " In the great scale of rank and eminence which is one peculiar feature of Hindu institutions the Maratha holds a very inferior situation, being just removed one degree above those castes which are considered absolutely unclean. He is happily free from the rigorous observances as regards food which fetter the actions of the higher castes.

He can eat of all kinds of food with the exception of beef ; can dress his meal at all times and seasons ; can partake of all victuals dressed by any caste superior to his own ; washing and praying are not indispensable in his order and may be practised or omitted at pleasure. The three great tribes ! which compose the Maratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd and the Goala or cowherd ; to this original cause may perhaps be ascribed that great simplicity of manner which distinguishes the Maratha people.

Homer mentions princesses going in person to the fountain to wash their household linen. I can affirm having seen the daughters of a prince who was able to bring an army into the field much larger than the whole Greek con-

• Irvine's Army of the JMughah, - Ibido/i, p. 232. Gopal is a name

p. 82. of Krishna. VOL. IV P 2 1 o

federacy, making bread with their own hands and otherwise employed in the ordinary business of domestic housewifery. I have seen one of the most powerful chiefs of the Empire, after a day of action, assisting in kindling a fire to keep himself warm during the night, and sitting on the ground on a spread saddle-cloth dictating to his secretaries. " The chief military force of the Marathas consists in their cavalry, which may be divided into four distinct classes : First the Khasi Pagah or household forces of the prince ; these are always a fine well-appointed body, the horses excellent, being the property of the Sirkar, who gives a monthly allowance to each trooper of the value of about eight rupees.

The second class are the cavalry furnished by the Silladars,^ who contract to supply a certain number of horse on specified terms, generally about Rs. 35a month, including the trooper's pay. The third and most numerous description are volunteers, who join the camp bringing with them their own horse and accoutrements ; their pay is generally from Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 a month in proportion to the value of their horse.

There is a fourth kind of native cavalry called Pindaris, who are mere marauders, serve without any pay and subsist but by plunder, a fourth part of which they give to the Sirkar ; but these are so very licentious a body that they are not employed but in one or two of the Maratha services. " The troops collected in this manner are under no discipline whatever and engage for no specific period, but quit the army whenever they please ; with the exception of furnishing a picquet while in camp, they do no duty but in the day of battle.

" The Maratha cavalry is always irregularly and badly paid ; the household troops scarcely ever receive money, but are furnished with a daily allowance of coarse flour and .some other ingredients from the bazar which just enable them to exist. The Silladar is very nearly as badly 1 Lit. armour-bearers. Colonel kind of coat -of- mail worn by the Tone writes : " I apprehend from the Maratha horsemen, known as a betita, meaning of this term that it was for- which resembles our ancient hauberk ; merly the custom of this nation, as it is made of chain work, interlinked was the case in Europe, to appear in throughout, fits close to the body and armour. I have frequently seen a adapts itself to all its motions."

situated. In his arrangements with the State he has allotted to him a certain proportion of jungle where he pastures his cattle ; here he and his family reside, and his sole occupation when not on actual service is increasing his Pagah or troop by breeding out of his marcs, of which the Maratha cavalry almost entirely consist. There are no people in the world who understand the method of rearing and multiplying the breed of cattle equal to the Marathas.

It is by no means uncommon for a Sillildar to enter a service with one mare and in a {qv^ years be able to muster a very respectable Pagah. They have many methods of rendering the animal prolific ; they back their colts much earlier than v/e do and they are consequently more valuable as they come sooner on the cfTective strength.

" When called upon for actual service the Silladar is obliged to give muster. Upon this occasion it is always necessary that the Brahman who takes it should have a bribe ; and indeed the Hazri, as the muster is termed, is of such a nature that it could not pass by any fair or honourable means. Not only any despicable tattiis are substituted in the place of horses but animals are borrowed to fill up the complement. Heel-ropes and grain-bags are produced as belonging to cattle supposed to be at grass ; in short every mode is practised to impose on the Sirkar, which in turn reimburses itself by irregular and bad payments ; for it is always considered if the Silladars receive six months' arrears out of the year that they are exceedingly well paid.

The Volunteers who join the camp are still worse situated, as they have no collective force, and money is very seldom given in a Maratha State without being extorted. In one word, the native cavalry are the worstpaid body of troops in the world. But there is another grand error in this mode of raising troops which is productive of the worst effects. Every man in a Maratha camp is totally independent ; he is the proprietor of the horse he rides, which he is never inclined to risk, since without it he can get no service. This single circumstance destroys all enterprise and spirit in the soldier, whose sole business, instead of being desirous of distinguishing himself, is to keep out of the way of danger ; for notwithstanding Dharna.

every horseman on entering a service has a certain value put upon his horse, yet should he lose it even in action he never receives any compensation or at least none proportioned to his loss. If at any time a Silladar is disgusted with the service he can go away without meeting any molestation even though in the face of an enemy. In fact the pay is in general so shamefully irregular that a man is justified in resorting to any measure, however apparently unbecoming, to attain it.

It is also another very curious circumstance attending this service that many great Silladars have troops in the pay of two or three chiefs at the same time, who are frequently at open war with each other. 14. Sitting " To recover an arrear of pay there is but one known mode which is universally adopted in all native services, the Mughal as well as the Maratha ; this is called Dharna,^ which consists in putting the debtor, be he who he will, into a state of restraint or imprisonment, until satisfaction be given or the money actually obtained.

Any person in the Sirkar's service has a right to demand his pay of the Prince or his minister, and to sit in Dharna if it be not given ; nor will he meet with the least hindrance in doing so ; for none would obey an order that interfered with the Dharna, as it is a common cause ; nor does the soldier incur the slightest charge of mutiny for his conduct, or suffer in the smallest manner in the opinion of his Chief, so universal is the custom.

The Dharna is sometimes carried to very violent lengths and may either be executed on the Prince or his minister indifferently, with the same effect ; as the Chief always makes it a point of honour not to eat or drink while his Diwan is in duress ; sometimes the Dharna lasts for many days, during which time the party upon whom it is exercised is not suffered to eat or drink or wash or pray, or in short is not permitted to move from the spot where he sits, which is frequently bare-headed in the sun, until the money or security be given ; so general is this mode of recovery that I suppose the Maratha Chiefs may be said to be nearly one-half of their time in a state of Dharna.

' In order to obtain redress by would be held to have committed a Dharna the creditor or injured person mortal sin and would be haunted by his would sit starvinp; himself outside his ghost ; see also article on Ehat. The debtor's door, and if he died the latter accounthere given must be exaggerated. armies.

"In the various Maratha services there arc very little 15. The more than a bare majority who are Marathas by caste, and '" ^""^^" very few instances occur of their ever entering into the infantry at all. The sepoys in the pay of the different princes are recruited in Hindustan, and principally of the Rajput and Purbia caste ; these are perhaps the finest race of men in the world for figure and appearance ; of lofty stature, strong, graceful and athletic ; of acute feelings, high military pride, quick, apprehensive, brave, prudent and economic ; at the same time it must be confessed they are impatient of discipline, and naturally inclined to mutiny. They are mere soldiers of fortune and serve only for their pay.

There are also a great number of Musalmans who serv5 in the different Maratha armies, some of whom have very great commands.

" The Maratha cavalry at times make very long and 16. Charrapid marches, in which they do not suffer themselves to ^^^^^^ be interrupted by the monsoon or any violence of weather. Maratha In very pressing exigencies it is incredible the fatigue a, Maratha horseman will endure ; frequently many days pass without his enjoying one regular meal, but he depends entirely for subsistence on the different corn-fields through which the army passes : a {q.\n heads of juari, which he chafes in his hands while on horseback, will serve him for the day ; his horse subsists on the same fare, and with the addition of opium, which the Marathas frequently administer to their cattle, is enabled to perform incredible marches."

The above analysis of the Maratha troops indicates that their real character was that of freebooting cavalry, largely of the same type as, though no doubt greatly superior in tone and discipline to the Pindaris. Like them they lived by plundering the country. " The Marathas," Elphinstone remarked, " are excellent foragers. Every morning at daybreak long lines of men on small horses and ponies are seen issuing from their camps in all directions, who return before night loaded with fodder for the cattle, with firewood torn down from houses, and grain dug up from the pits where it had been concealed by the villagers ; while other detachments go to a distance for some days and collect proper214

tionately larger supplies of the same kind." ^ They could thus dispense with a commissariat, and being nearly all mounted were able to make extraordinarily long marches, and consequently to carry out effectively surprise attacks and when repulsed to escape injury in the retreat.

Even at Panipat where their largest regular force took the field under Sadasheo Rao Bhao, he had 70,000 regular and irregular cavalry and only 15,000 infantry, of whom 9000 were hired sepoys under a Muhammadan leader. The Marathas were at their best in attacking the slow-moving and effeminate Mughal armies, while during their period of national ascendancy under the Peshwa there was no strong military power in India which could oppose their forays.

When they were by the skill of their opponents at length brought to a set battle, their fighting qualities usually proved to be distinctly poor. At Panipat they lost the day by a sudden panic and flight after Ibrahim Khan Gardi had obtained for them a decided advantage ; while at Argaon and Assaye their performances were contemptible. After the recovery from Panipat and the rise of the independent Maratha states, the assistance of European officers was invoked to discipline and train the soldiery.^ ^ Elphinstone's Histojy, 7th ed. p. 748. ^ Ibidem, p. 753.

Theories about the origins of the Marathas

By Ashok Harsana, K. V. Ramakrishna Rao, Omar al Hashim, T.Selvam, Star Rahu

World Historia

Maratha empire came in historical focus during their conflict with Mughal empire. Ofcourse their founder was Shiva-ji and Maratha history during and after His rule is well known but not much is known about the pre-Shiva-ji history of Marathas.

Scytho-Dravindian origin

Risley's theory of the Scytho-Dravindian origin of the Marathas is now discarded, it cannot be denied that there exists a great admixture of aboriginal tribal elements in the Marathas, of all grades. Several Maratha clans are totemic: Khandoba (sword father) and Bhavani (mother goddess), the two chief deities of the Marathas, are aboriginal in character.

Arab accounts

References to the Marathas and their country are found in accounts by the Arab geographer, Al Biruni (1030 AD), Friar Jordanus (c.1326) and Ibn Batuta (1340), the African traveller. The Marathas came into political prominence only in the 17th century under Shiva-ji.

Rise

Historians such as Grant Duff attribute their rise to fortuitous circumstances - "like a conflagration in the forests of Sahyadri mountains" - while Justice Ranade ascribes it to genuine efforts made by Maratha chiefs serving under the Deccani sultans.

• Every time, whenever a royal family / clan, or a family / clan becoming “royal” (by virtue of ruling) became dominant, they may be identified as dynasty / Kingdom.

• Titles are often converted into clan / Royal family / dynasty.

• But, even feudatories become dominant at times and they cannot be considered as Kingdoms.

• Thousands of names of clan / family / lineages are recorded in the inscriptions and all cannot become kingdoms.

• In many cases, they have issued coins also.

• Descendancy cannot decide ascendancy unless, one prove valour. Theorization of origins would lead to interpretation with motive.

• Ideologization of theories make one group pitted against another group for the implied purpose, as “Marathas” are pitted against “Moghuls”.

• Bhosle / Bhonsle, Ranas, Yadhavas, Nimbalkars come under the category of Marathas.

Bhandarkar has pointed out his method of even creating new dynasties or merging two or three to one.

Therefore, Marathas cannot be considered as separate warrior class or family, but emerged dominant during the period for the purpose.

Rashtrika?

The word Maratha is perhaps derived from the word Rashtrikas.

Rashtrikas were residing in the same Region in the times of the Mauryan King Asoka The Great. It is inscribed in rock edicts that he sent his missionaries to the Rashtrikas, the dwellers of Dandaka forest. These fierce independent minded people called themselves Maha-rashtrikas (Maha means great). In Course of time this word corrupted to Maratha.

You can still notice the name of the state after them is MahaRashtra which tells you their original Clan name.

Marathas at the time of Mughal Empire

After fall of Kingdom of Yadavas to Allauddin Khilji (14th century AD), they lost their independence but acquired political and military experience for next two centuries by serving under muslim sultanates of Deccan.

Metal workers of Maratta

Interestingly, in Manimekhalai (a post-Sangam Tamil work dated to first centuries), it is mentioned that the metal technicians of Magadha came to Tamilagam to build a Mantap along with minute metal workers of Maratta, Blacksmiths of Avanti, carpenters of Yavanam and of course that of experts of Tamilagam (19.107-111). This also proves the unity and integrity of building technology of Bharat.

Can those metal workers of Maratta of that period could have any connection with the Marathas, we discuss about? May be they could be same Marathas as the word Maratha is also referred to as maratta. [Indpaedia note: It is more likely that the metal workers came from the same region as the Marathas, but were not the same people.]

The Bhosles

Maloji Bhosle

One Maloji Bhosle rose to power in 1595 AD. He was also feudatory to the Mughal Emperor through the Nizam of Ahmednagar. His son Shah Ji Bhosle rebelled against The Mughals but was defeated and captured. He later got his rule back. His wife Jijabai was a lady of extraordinary intellect and was solely responsible for making Shiva-ji's career as the independent Hindu King in muslim (Mughal) dominated Indian scenario, She was from the Royal family of Yadavs (or Jadhavs).

The great Chhatrapati Shiva-ji

Shiva-ji was born at Shivneri fort in 1627 . Shahaji gave part of his `Jagir' or fiefdom (included Pune, Supe and Chakan) to his wife Jijabai and son Shiva-ji. Shiva-ji at very young age realized the importance of guerilla warfare and taking advantage of growing weakness of Deccan sultanates, seized many forts in western Maharashtra and became the most famous Marathas rule by 1674 by taking the title of Raja and Chhatrapati.

Shiva-ji's coronation laid the foundation of Maratha dynasty which ruled major part of cental India for next 2 centuries. Shiva-ji died bit prematurely at age of 50 in 1680 AD. At his death his vast kingdom consisted of almost whole of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, part of Gujrath and Tamilnadu states of modern India

After Shiva-ji

His son Shambhuji ruled for a short period of time. His second son Rajaram (who was married to the daugther of Shiva-ji's Supreme commander ParatapRao Gujar) took the charge after it. He also died fighting Mughals, His wife 'The Barve Tarabai' ruled the Marathas as a representative of her son and started many campaigns against Mughals. After that Pehswas, Holkars, Gayakwads and Shindes came into power one after the other and razed the Mughals kingdom at last.

Maratha Clans

Maratha community is made of 60 Somvanshi and 36 Suryavanshi clans Thus the total number of clans of Marathas is 96.

There are five Royal Clans in Marathas namely

Bhosle, Gujar, Mohite, Jadhav, Ahirrav.

These royal clans were considered the highest among Marathas and would intermerry among these clans only.

Clans

There are 96 kuli clan s of Royal Marathas and each of them is ancient .

True Maratha Scattered due to their native place,heroic deed,Migration and some acts. example of Maratha Scattering as

Parmar - Panwar - Powar - Puar -Dalvi - Nimbalkar - Naik Nimbalkar - Khardekar etc.

in above relation all clans are descendant of Hindu king related to Parmara .now rajput helds name Panwar at chhattarpur ,Pawar/Puar Marathas at Dhar ,Dewas , while Dalvi are their branches welknown Deshmukh of Lakhimpur ,in case of Nimbalkar they accquire their name due to Village Nimbalak,tal- Phaltan,Dist-satara,Maharashtra and among them Ruler Nimbalkar known as Naik Nimbalkar of Phaltan, whose one of the Branch ruled Kharda place ,welknown as Khardekar Clan.

Bhosale- Sisode - Ghorpade -Kharade-Dekhale- Divekar-Kanase etc.

Above Bhosale clan who migrated from western maharashtra to Khandesh known as Dekhale , Village Kharadi causes Kharade , Bhosale when assisted king Shiva-ji by lightening torch known as Diva in Marathi causes Divekar etc.

Yadav - Jadhav - Jadhavrao

here , Yadav traces their origin from Rajput clan who supposed to be Lord Krishna's Descendant and further they converted into Jadhav due to language and Some Jadhav who served Sultanets refered as Rao title called as Jadhav-rao .

also More from Jawali ruler ,received Rao TITLE AS He recognised as Chandrarao, While Nimbalkar ,who receives surdeshmukhi of 84 villages receives title of Naik equivalent to King, Sawant can be supposed to be samants / knights under shilahara dynasty.

In above manner Maratha Clan Scattered from original 96 kuli clans.

About five families in Maratha,i.e. pure Maratha among 96 ,there are five groups of clans which closely resembles each other by means of Totem { Devak }, Traditions ,Old Royal Links etc. These Five clans highly disputed.there is no certain five clans which can be considered as high.

Each and every clan among Royal 96 kuli has its own characteristics. According Royalty,Bravery ,Kshatriya Arya Origin , Rishi's Created 96 kuliULI Maratha list.

This list is not available partiucularly but some clans in Maratha Dominated Maharashtra political Scene is welknown.

Yadav ,Shilahar,Hoysal,Rajputs,Regional Rulers Constitutes Maratha Cast which is referred as Pure High Marathas.

Some cultivators in Maharashtra,are also descendants of Royal dynasties they married with Royal Marathas and Constitute Kunabi Maratha Cast.

REMEMBER WELL, that Kunabi means farmer from all castes but Maratha Royal 96 kuli CLANS USED TO MARRY WITH Royal Revenue collectors from their cast only.

In Maratha, the Kadu Maratha word denotes the Maratha from low background i.e. One who married and keeps relationships With low caste and even other than Maratha Caste.

Maratha word taken as comprehensive manner as Maharashtriyan which Conclude Maratha,Brahman and other residents of Maharashtra.

But Maratha is the main term for Specific Community who belongs Kshatriya Arya Origin and descendants of Royal Dynasties.Maratha Ocurring prominantly in Maharashtra and states boardering to it.

Sath Ghare / Seven Clans Among Maratha is term come into existance only when Bhosale Sardar,the general of Maratha confederecy , selects 7 clans among 96 for marriage.

It is due to Several Royal 96 kuli Clans like Bhoite,Ghorpade,Kate and others don't marry with Bhosale due to same Devak Worship and traditiona similarity.

These Seven Clans : Phalke ,Shirke, Mohite ,Jadhav and some others.

Panchkuli and Saptakuli

Panchkuli does not exist but its existence is due to Maratha Consideration of Supremeness and comparison in between them.

it is highly controversial as One contains Yadav,Jadhav because they ruled Maharashtra ,but they lack Parmara, Kadamba,Nikumbha,Nala,Sind,Vasusen,Shilahar,Rashtrkuta etc. kings Descendants like Pawar,Kadam,Nikam,Nalawade,Shinde,Jagtap,Shelar,Rothe/ Rathod.

About another configuration they contains Rajput considered Marathas like Sisode / sisodiya,Bhosale/ Gehlot,Rathod -Ghatge ,Solanki - Salunkhe, Bhati - Bhoite ,Rana - Rane,Chouhan - Chavan ,Tomar - Taware etc. clans.

About another list : which includes Vanshas of Bramha,Surya,Hari etc. such clans like Gaikwad , Ingale,Dabhade,Dhamdhere ,others.

Another list says that clans like Gujars,JAT ,Angre ,Ahir rao, Kshirsagar,dhampal,shankhapal etc. clans are Panchkuli's.

While Maratha's Revenue collecting Powers like

Shitole,Pisal,Kakade,Shirke,Sawant,Hande,Nimbalkar,Jedhe,Mohite's etc. termed as Panchkuli Marathas.

Other Maratha clans like Mahadik , More ,Chalukya who supposed to be emperors are also consider himself Panchkuli. etc.

True fact about Maratha there is no gradation in between them but according historic records each Maratha clan considered himself great.

All the 96 kuli clans of Marathas are equivalents as they have blue blood / Royal Kshatriya Blood.

Due to population increase Maratha clans are now creating debacles who is 96 kuli or not / who is panchkuli or not.

Maratha's Royalty only based only on Royal 96 kuli clan Configuration and not on Panch kuli or saptakuli .

AFTER 1947

Influemce, dominance

In politics

1962- 2006

13 of 19 Maharashtra CMs and 1,336 of 2,430 MLAs between 1962 and 2006 were Marathas

Areas of dominance

2016

Kiran Tare , The angry Maratha “India Today” 13/10/2016

India Today , October 24,2016