WHO AND WHAT ARE THE MARATHAS?

— Mohan guruswami —

The Maratha “group of castes” was traditionally a largely rural class of peasant cultivators, landowners, and warriors. They reside primarily in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Marathas are subdivided into 96 different clans, known as the 96 Kuli Marathas or Shahānnau Kule.

The term “Maratha” originally referred to the speakers of the Marathi language. In the 17th century, it emerged as a designation for soldiers serving in the armies of Deccan sultanates (and later Shivaji Maharaj). A number of Maratha warriors, including Shivaji’s father, Shahaji, originally served in those Muslim armies.

By the 19th century, the term Maratha had several interpretations in the British administrative records. In the Thane District Gazetteer of 1882, the term was used to denote elite layers within various castes: for example, “Maratha-Agri” within Agri caste, “Maratha-Koli” within Koli caste and so on. In the Pune District, the words Kunbi and Maratha had become synonymous, giving rise to the Maratha-Kunbi caste complex. The Pune District Gazetteer of 1882 divided the Kunbis into two classes: Marathas and other Kunbis. The 1901 census listed three groups within the Maratha-Kunbi caste complex: “Marathas proper”, “Maratha Kunbis” and Konkan Maratha.

in the early 19th century, Kunbis, who were agriculturists and the Marathas who claimed Rajput descent and Kshatriya status – were distinguished by their customs related to widow remarriage. The Kunbis allowed it and the higher status Marathas prohibited it.

The Maratha population was more than 31% in Western Maharashtra and the Kunbi was 7%, whereas the upper castes – Brahmins, Saraswats, Prabhus(CKPs, Pathare Prabhus) were only about 4% of the population. The Other Backward Class population (other than the Kunbi) was 27% while the population of the Mahars was 8%.

The varna of the Maratha is a contested issue, with arguments for their being of the Kshatriya (warrior) varna, and others for their being of Shudra origins. This issue was the subject of antagonism between the Brahmins and Marathas, dating back to the time of Shivaji. In 1674 controversy erupted amongst the Brahmins of Shivaji’s court when they refused to crown Shivaji as a king because that status was reserved for those of the kshatriya (warrior) varna in Hindu society. Shivaji was descended from a line of headmen of farming villages, and the Brahmins accordingly categorised him as being of the shudra (cultivator) varna. They noted that Shivaji had never had a sacred thread ceremony, and did not wear the thread, which a kshatriya would.

Shivaji then summoned Gaga Bhatt, a pandit of Varanasi, who stated that he had found a genealogy proving that Shivaji was descended from the Sisodia Rajputs, and thus indeed a kshatriya, albeit one in need of the ceremonies befitting his rank. To enforce this status, Shivaji was given a sacred thread ceremony, and remarried his spouses under the Vedic rites expected of a kshatriya,

By the late 19th century moderate Brahmins were keen to ally with the influential Marathas of Bombay in the interests of Indian independence from Britain. These Brahmins supported the Maratha claim to Kshatriya status, but their success in this political alliance was sporadic and fell apart entirely following independence in 1947.

As late as the turn of 20th century, the Brahmin priests of Shahu, the Maratha ruler of Kolhapur refused to use Vedic mantras and would not take a bath before chanting, on the grounds that even the leading Marathas such as Shahu and his family belonged to the Shudra varna. This opinion about the Shudra varna was supported by Brahmin Councils in Maharashtra and they stuck to their opinion even when they (the Brahmins) were threatened with the loss of land and property. This led to Shahu supporting Satyashodhak Samaj as well as campaigning for the rights of the Maratha community. He soon became the leader of the non-Brahmin movement and united the Marathas under his banner.

In the 21st century, the Government of Maharashtra cited historical incidents for the claim of Shudra status of prominent Maratha families to form a case for reservation for the Marathas in the state.

Ironically, the two leading standard bearers of Maratha pride today are the two upper caste chieftains – Udhav Thackeray, a Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) and Devendra Fadnavis, a Deshashta Brahmin.

(collated from various sources)