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The state Government of Maharashtra does not recognise a group called Maratha-Kunbi. [36] According to Irawati Karve, the Marata-Kunbi form over 40% of the population of Western Maharashtra. [37] Later in 1990, Lele records that the Maratha-Kunbi group of castes account for 31% of the population, distributed over the whole of Maharashtra. [30]
The term Maratha referred broadly to all the speakers of the Marathi language. [33] [3] 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. [34]
Shivaji was the founder of the Maratha Empire in the Indian subcontinent. This article describes Shivaji's life from his birth until the age of 19 years (1630–1649). Shivaji was born at the hill fort of Shivneri on 1 March 1630, which corresponds to 19 February 1630 of the Julian calendar used by the contemporary English traders in India.
The rise of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party in recent years have not dented Maratha caste representation in the Maharashtra Legislative assembly. [87] After the Maratha-Kunbi cluster, the scheduled caste (SC) Mahars are numerically the second-largest community among the Marathi people in Maharashtra.
For the better part of its existence, politics of the state was also dominated by the mainly rural Maratha–Kunbi caste, [143] which accounts for 31% of the population of Maharashtra. They dominated the cooperative institutions, and with the resultant economic power, controlled politics from the village level up to the Assembly and Lok Sabha .
In Maratha society, membership of a Kul or clan is acquired in a patrilineal manner. People belonging to a clan usually have a common surname, a common clan deity, and a common clan totem . [12] Various lists have been compiled, purporting to list the 96 "true Maratha" clans, but these lists vary greatly and are disputed.
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 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.
Maratha Empire. 1713: Chatrapati Shahu I becomes a puppet of the Peshwas (Bhat Family) 1818: Third Anglo-Maratha War leads to British East Indian Company control of Maratha territory and the creation of Satara State under British suzerainty; Bhonsle States. 1849: annexation of the Satara State by the East India Company