Main article:
History of Maharashtra,
Maratha Empire, and
See also United Maharashtra Movement:
Chronology of the State of Maharashtra
The Demabad Hoard, a late Harappan figure from the Indus Valley Civilization
2nd century BCE
Karla Caves are a group of Buddhist caves near Lonavala
Numerous late Harappan or Chalcolithic sites associated with the Jorve culture have been discovered throughout the state. The largest settlement of the culture has been found at Daimabad. During this period there were earthen ramparts, as well as an elliptical temple with a fire pit. During the late Harappan period, there was a large-scale migration of people from Gujarat to North Maharashtra.
Maharashtra was under the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Around 230 BC, Maharashtra came under the rule of the Satavahana dynasty which ruled for the next 400 years. The great ruler of Satavahana dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni.
The Satavahana dynasty was followed by the Western Satraps, the Gupta Empire, the Gurjara-Pratihara, the Vakatakas, the Kadambas, the Chalukya Empire, the Rashtrakuta dynasty, and the Western Chalukya and Yadava dynasties. Buddhist _The Ajanta Caves in present-day Aurangabad show the influence of the Satavahana and Vakataka styles. It is possible that the caves were dug during this period. [25]
The Chalukya dynasty ruled from the 6th to the 8th century and the two major rulers were Pulakeshin II, who defeated the northern Indian emperor Harsha, and Vikramaditya II, who defeated the Arab invaders in the 8th century. The Rashtrakuta dynasty ruled Maharashtra from the 8th to the 10th century. The Arab traveler Suleiman al Mahri described Amoghavarsha, ruler of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, as “one of the four great kings of the world”.
The Shilahara dynasty began as the owner of the Rashtrakuta dynasty that ruled the Deccan plateau between the eighth and tenth centuries. From the early 11th century to the 12th century, the Deccan plateau, which includes a significant part of Maharashtra, was dominated by the Western Chalukya Empire and the Chola dynasty.
During the reigns of Raja Raja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I, Jayasimha II, Somesvara I and Vikramaditya VI, several battles took place between the Western Chalukya Empire and the Chola dynasty on the Deccan plateau.
In the early 14th century, the Yadav dynasty, which ruled most of present-day Maharashtra, was overthrown by the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji.
Later, Muhammad bin Tughlaq conquered part of the Deccan and temporarily shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in Maharashtra. After the fall of the Tughlaqs in 1347, the local Bahmani Sultanate of Gulbarga ruled the region for the next 150 years.
After the breakup of the Bahamani Sultanate in 1518, Maharashtra was divided into five Deccan Sultanates: Nizamshah of Ahmadnagar, Adilshah of Bijapur, Qutbshah of Golconda, Bidarshah of Bidar and Imadshah of Elitchpur. These states were often at war with each other. United, they decisively defeated the southern Vijayanagara Empire in 1565. The present-day area of Mumbai was ruled by the Sultanate of Gujarat before being conquered by Portugal in 1535, and the Farooqi dynasty ruled the Khandesh region between 1382 and 1601.
Joining the Mughal Empire. Malik Ambar, ruler of the Nizamshahi dynasty of Ahmednagar from 1607 to 1626, [32] Murtaza Nizam Shah II grew in power and strength and raised a large army. Malik Ambar is said to have been an advocate of guerilla warfare in the Deccan region. Malik Ambar helped the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Delhi against his stepmother Nur Jahan, who wanted to install her daughter-in-law on the throne.
Bibi Ka Maqbara ,
A replica of the Taj Mahal, built during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
Gateway in South Mumbai
Statue of Shivaji in front of India
In the early 17th century, Shahaji Bhosale, an ambitious local general who had served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Mughals and the Adil Shahs of Bijapur at different periods throughout his career, attempted to establish his own independent state. His son Shivaji succeeded in establishing the Maratha Empire, which was expanded in the 18th century by the Peshwas of the Bhat family in Pune.
The Marathas under the Peshwas, the Bhosles of Nagpur, the Gaikwads of Baroda, the Holkars of Indore, the Scindias of Gwalior and the Dewas and Poors of Dhar defeated the Mughals and conquered large territories in the northern and central parts of the Indian subcontinent. At its peak, the Maratha Empire covered much of the subcontinent, covering more than 2.8 million km2. The Marathas are largely credited with ending the Mughal rule in India. After the defeat by Ahmad Shah Abdali’s Afghan forces in the Third Battle of Panipat
The Marathas developed a powerful navy in the 1660s, which dominated the territorial waters of India’s west coast from Bombay to Sawantwadi. It resisted British, Portuguese, Dutch and Siddi naval vessels and controlled their naval ambitions. The Maratha navy was dominant by the 1730s, was in decline by the 1770s, and ceased to exist by 1818.
There are no more than two great powers in India, the British and the Marathas, and every other state acknowledges the influence of one or the other. Every inch we retreat will fall into their possession.- Charles Metcalfe, one of the British officers in India and later Acting Governor-General, wrote in 1806.
The British East India Company conquered Mumbai in the early 17th century and made it one of their major trading ports. During the 18th century, the company gradually expanded the areas under its control.
GIPR Company’s Bombay-Poona Mail Train in 1907
The British ruled western Maharashtra as part of the Bombay Presidency, which covered the region from Karachi to the northern Deccan in Pakistan. Many Maratha states survived as princely states, retaining their autonomy in return for accepting British suzerainty.
Nagpur, Satara and Kolhapur were the largest institutions in the region; In 1848 Satara was annexed to the Bombay Presidency and in 1853 Nagpur was annexed to form Nagpur Province, later part of the Central Provinces.
Berar, part of which was annexed to the British in 1853 by the Nizam of Hyderabad, was annexed to the Central Provinces in 1903. However, a large region called Marathwada remained part of the Nizam’s Hyderabad state throughout the British period. The British ruled the Maharashtra region from 1818 to 1947 and influenced every aspect of its people’s lives. He brought about many changes in the legal system, created modern means of transport including roads and railways, took various steps to educate the masses, including the previously marginalized people. class and women, established universities based on Western methods and science, technology, and Western medicine, standardized the Marathi language, and introduced it widely.
Media using modern printing technology. There were many Marathi leaders in the War of Independence of 1857, although the fighting took place mainly in northern India. The modern struggle for freedom began to take shape in the late 1800s with leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Feroz Shah Mehta, and Dadabhai Naoroji assessing the Company’s rules and their consequences. Jotirao Phule was a pioneer of social reform in Maharashtra region in the late 19th century. His social work was done by Shahu, the kings of Kolhapur and later by B.R. Ambedkar continued. After partial autonomy was granted to the states by the Government of India Act 1935, BG Kher became the first Chief Minister of the trilingual Bombay Presidency government led by the Congress Party.
After Indian independence, the principalities and jaghirs of the Deccan States Agency were merged into Bombay State, which was created in 1950 from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency. The Presidency state was expanded by adding the predominantly Marathi-speaking region of Marathwada (Aurangabad division) from the erstwhile Hyderabad state and Vidarbha region from Madhya Pradesh and Berar.
The southern part of Bombay State was given to Mysore. In the 1950s, the Marathi people strongly opposed the bilingual Bombay state under the banner of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti. Key leaders of the committee include Keshavrao Jedhe, S.M. Joshi, Shripad Amrit Dange, Prahlad Keshav Atre and Gopalrao Khedkar.
The main demand of the committee was that Mumbai should be the capital with a Marathi speaking state. In the Gujarati-speaking parts of the state, a similar Mahagujarat movement demanded a separate Gujarat.A state with a Gujarati-majority section.
After years of protests, in which 106 people died among the protesters, and the election of the committee in the 1957 elections, the central government led by Prime Minister Nehru bowed to public pressure and divided the Bombay state into two new states, Maharashtra and Gujarat. May 1960.
The state is in dispute with Karnataka regarding the Belgaum and Karwar region. The Maharashtra government was unhappy with the 1957 demarcation and filed a petition with the Ministry of Home Affairs of India. Before the country’s independence, Maharashtra claimed all of the then Bombay Presidency, 814 villages and 3 townships in Belagoon, Karwar and Nippani. [Maharashtra’s petition to the Supreme Court of India, challenging Belagon, is currently pending
dance
Planting presentation
Marathi dance forms come from folk tradition. Lavani is a popular dance form of the state. Bhajans, kirtans and abhangas of the Varkari sect (Vaishnava devotees) have a long history and are part of their daily rituals. Koli dance (called ‘Koligee’) is one of the most popular dances of Maharashtra. As the name suggests, it is associated with the fishing people of Maharashtra, known as Kolis. Popular for their unique identity and liveliness, their dances represent their profession. This type of dance is represented by both men and women. They are divided into two groups while dancing. These fishermen demonstrate the movements of the waves and cast their nets during their Koli dance performance.
Theater
Main article:
Marathi theatre
dramatist
Vijay Tendulkar
Modern theater in Maharashtra has its origins in the British colonial period in the mid-19th century. It is primarily composed in the Western tradition but also includes genres such as sangeet natak (musical drama). In recent decades, Marathi Tamasha has also been involved in some experimental dramas. The repertoire of Marathi theater ranges from humorous social dramas, farces, historical dramas and musicals, to experimental dramas and serious dramas. Marathi dramatists like Vijay Tendulkar, P. L. Deshpande, Mahesh Elkunchwar, Ratnakar Matkari and Satish Alekar have influenced theater across India. Apart from Marathi theatre, Maharashtra and particularly Mumbai has a long tradition of theater in other languages such as Gujarati, Hindi and English.
The National Center for the Performing Arts (NCP) is a multi-venue, multi-purpose cultural center in Mumbai that hosts programs in music, dance, theatre, film, literature and photography from India as well as elsewhere. It also presents new and innovative work in the field of performing arts.