Marathas (redirected from Maratha)

Marathas or Mahrattas (both: mərăt`əz, mərä`təz), Marathi-speaking people of W central India, known for their ability as warriors and their devotion to Hinduism. From their homeland in Maharashtra their chieftains rose to power in the 17th cent. The Marathas helped bring about the fall of the Mughal empire and were the most determined rivals to British supremacy in India. Under the leadership of Śivaji, power was extended throughout the Deccan and much of S India. By the mid-18th cent. the Marathas, with their capital at Pune, were the leading power in India, but their domain soon split into several territories. In the early 18th cent. power passed to a succession of Brahmans who had been serving as peshwas (prime ministers) to the weaker descendants of Śivaji. Great Britain waged several wars with the Marathas, finally subduing them in 1818. The major states of the Maratha confederation included Baroda, Gwalior, and Indore. During the nationalist period, Marathas played a leading part.

Bibliography

See J. G. Duff, History of the Mahrattas (rev. ed. 1921, repr. 1971); Rao Bahadur G. S. Sardesai, New History of the Marathas (3 vol., 1957, repr. 1986); M. G. Ranade, Rise of the Maratha Power (1962); R. Kumar, Western India in the Nineteenth Century (1968).

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Marathas 

a people in India, the principal population of the state of Maharashtra; small groups of Marathas also live in neighboring states. Population, approximately 47 million (1971, estimate).

The Marathas speak Marathi. Most of the Marathas profess Hinduism; the rest adhere to Jainism, Islam, and Christianity. The chief occupation is farming. A diversified handicrafts industry and old traditions of maritime trade contributed to the development of capitalism and the formation of a working class and national bourgeoisie earlier than among many other peoples of India.

In the 15th century, the Russian merchant Afanasii Nikitin visited the Marathas. His description of the life and customs of the Indians relates mainly to the Marathas. Throughout the course of many centuries, the Marathas waged a stubborn struggle against the Great Mogul Empire (under the leadership of Sivaji in the 17th century), with the Portuguese, and later the English colonialists. The Maratha territory was seized by the English as a result of the Anglo-Maratha wars. After India achieved independence (1947), the national state of Maharashtra was created in 1960.

REFERENCES

Narody luzhnoi Azii. Moscow, 1963.
Enthoven, R. The Tribes and Castes of Bombay, vols. 1-3. Bombay, 1920-22.
Sardesai, G. S. New History of the Marathas, vols. 1-3. Bombay, 1946-48.
Kincaid, C. A., and D. B. Parasnis Rao Bahadur. A History of the Maratha People. Delhi [et al.] 1968.

M. K. KUDRIAVTSEV