Marathi peopleThe Marathi people (मराठी लोक) or Marathis (मराठी) are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a Marathi-speaking state of India in 1960, as part of a nationwide linguistic reorganization of the Indian states. The term "Maratha" is generally used by historians to refer to all Marathi-speaking peoples, irrespective of their caste; however, now it may refer to a Maharashtrian caste known as the Maratha.
AurangabadAurangabad (), officially known as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, also spelt Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the fifth-most populous urban area in Maharashtra after Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik with a population of 1,175,116. The city is known as a major production center of cotton textile and artistic silk fabrics.
PunePune (puɳe; pronˈpuːnə), previously known as Poona, (the official name from 1818 until 1978) is a city in Maharashtra state in the Deccan plateau in Western India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Pune district, and of Pune division. The city of Pune is part of Pune Metropolitan Region. Pune is one of the largest IT hubs in India. It is also one of the most important automobile and manufacturing hubs of India. Pune is often referred to as "Oxford of the East" because of highly regarded educational institutions in the city.
HyderabadHyderabad (ˈhaɪdərəbæd ; ˈɦaɪ̯daraːbaːd, ˈɦɛːdəɾaːbaːd) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much of Hyderabad is situated on hilly terrain around artificial lakes, including the Hussain Sagar lake, predating the city's founding, in the north of the city centre. According to the 2011 Census of India, Hyderabad is the fourth-most populous city in India with a population of 6.
MaharashtraMaharashtra (məhɑːˈrɑːʃtrə; məhaɾaːʂʈɾə, abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to the southeast and Chhattisgarh to the east, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to the north, and the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the northwest.
Delhi SultanateThe Delhi Sultanate, or the Sultanate of Delhi, was a Muslim empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent during the period of Medieval India, for 320 years (1206–1526). Following the invasion of South Asia by the Ghurid dynasty, five largely unrelated dynasties ruled over the Delhi Sultanate sequentially: the Mamluk dynasty (1206–1290), the Khalji dynasty (1290–1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414), the Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451), and the Lodi dynasty (1451–1526).
AurangzebMuhi al-Din Muhammad (1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known as Aurangzeb (ˌaʊɹəŋˈzɛb Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir I (ɐlˈæmɡɪ͡ɹ Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling from July 1658 until his death in 1707. Under his emperorship, the Mughal Empire reached its greatest extent with territory spanning nearly the entirety of the Indian subcontinent.
Ellora CavesEllora Caves are a multi-religious rock-cut cave complex with inscriptions dating from the period 6th century CE onwards, located in the Aurangabad District of Maharashtra, India. There are over 100 caves at the site, all excavated from the basalt cliffs in the Charanandri Hills, 34 of which are open to public. These consist of 17 Hindu (caves 13–29), 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves. Each group represents deities and mythologies prevalent in the 1st millennium CE, as well as monasteries of each respective religion.
Ajanta CavesThe Ajanta Caves are 29 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in the Aurangabad District of Maharashtra state in India. Ajanta Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Universally regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, the caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotions through gesture, pose and form.
ShivajiShivaji (Shivaji Shahaji Bhosale; ʃiʋaːd͡ʒiˑ bɦoˑs(ə)leˑ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also known as Chhatrapati Shivaji, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur which formed the genesis of the Maratha Empire. In 1674, he was formally crowned the Chhatrapati of his realm at Raigad Fort. Over the course of his life, Shivaji engaged in both alliances and hostilities with the Mughal Empire, the Sultanate of Golkonda, Sultanate of Bijapur and the European colonial powers.
