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Concept
Maratha (caste)
Summary
The Maratha caste is composed of 96 clans, originally formed in the earlier centuries from the amalgamation of families from the peasant (Kunbi), shepherd (Dhangar), pastoral (Gavli), blacksmith (Lohar), carpenter (Sutar), Bhandari, Thakar and 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 Empire, founded by Shivaji, a Maratha Kunbi by caste. Many Marathas were granted hereditary fiefs by the Sultanates, and Mughals for their service.
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 percent of the total population of the state and dominate the power structure in Maharashtra because of their numerical strength, especially in the rural society.
According to 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". They are the dominant caste in rural areas and mainly constitute the landed peasantry. As of 2018, 80% of the members of the Maratha caste were farmers.
Marathas are subdivided into 96 different clans, known as the 96 Kuli Marathas or Shahānnau Kule. 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.
There is not much social distinction between the Marathas and Kunbis since the 1950s.
The Maratha king Shivaji founded the Maratha empire that included warriors and other notables from Maratha and several other castes from Maharashtra. This empire was dominant in India for much of the 18th century.
Maratha Empire
The term Maratha referred broadly to all the speakers of the Marathi language.
Official source
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