Maratha

Maratha is a kshatriya (warrior) caste of Marathi language speaking people primarily residing in the plains and hills of India's western state of Maharashtra. They are thought to be descendents of India's Scythian conquerors who mingled with the local people. Buddhists initially, they converted to Hinduism later on. Marathas and Marathis are confused by many people to be one and the same, but it should be noted that Marathis are any people speaking Marathi language while Marathas are only people belonging to Maratha caste.

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Among the Marathas, some of the clans (kula) are included in the 96-clans group, termed "96-kuli" Marathas. Some of these include names that suggest descent from ancient dynasties from the region like Jadhava from Yadava, Kadam from Kadamba, Rashtrakute from Rashtrakutas, Chalukya and Salunkhe from Chalukyas etc. These rulers are known to have supported Jain, Vaishnava and Saiva faiths at the same time. Buddhism also had received some support form the Rashtrakutas, but it had declined considerably in their time.

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The Rashtrakutas and Chalukyas conquered regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan, and thus founded the Rathore and Solanki dynasties, which later emerged as major Rajput clans.

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The Marathas attained historical primacy in the Maratha empire during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when the Bhonsle family took control of much of western and northern India. The Maratha empire initially kept a distance with the British but it occasionally also met hands with the british especially such as against Haider, a southern muslim ruler. Later on Marathas and the British fought almost all over India as slowly the East India Company took control of India over from the Marathas. The East India Company won the West from the peshwas, south from Bhonsle's, east from the Gaikwad's and the North from the Holkar's & Shinde's. Some of these wars are quite famous especially a series of Anglo-Maratha Wars.

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Kshatriya: According to the code of Manu, a Kshatriya is a member of the military or reigning order, one of four varna within the Vedic system of four groups or classes. Generally, the kshatriyas are thought to be ranked second in hierarchy, the first being the Brahmin or priestly varna, the third the Vaishya...

Caste: A caste system is a rigid system of social stratification, which divides members of a society into different castes. Castes are separated socially, economically and physically to varying degrees. Intermarriage between castes is limited, occupations may be assigned to particular castes, and lower cas...

Marathi: REDIRECT Marathi language...