The Medieval and the Modern historical background of Maharashtra

 

Every civilization has its own unique history. The History of its people, the history of its literature and the history of its culture. Maharashtra which has a unique place under the India's federal structure is full of cultural and traditional values. Today Maharashtra is at top on various parameters like Education, Industrialization and many more. But what Maharashtra is today is because of its rich historical tradition. In this article we are going to see what were the medieval and the modern historical underpinning of Maharashtra.

Today Maharashtra has got its unique geographical identity as we know it got separated from the erstwhile Mumbai state. The Marathi speaking area got its own state named Maharashtra.

When Aryans came to south India they had created many settlements in different parts of South India ranging from Maharashtra to Tamil nadu. They are Goprashtra, Mallarashtra, and Padurashtra . And the Mallarashtra in nothing but the Maharashtra.

Satvahanas are considered as the first known rulers of Maharashtra. Satvahanas are famous for being matrilineal. Various inscriptions of that time had been found at Karle, Bhaje, Yellora caves. We found the mention of Maharashtra as "maharattta" in these inscriptions.

Again we found the mention of “Maharashtra” word in various documents belongs to the 6-7h century. The literature of Bharatmuni, Vatsayan has mention of "Maharashtra".

Ravikirti who wrote the Aihole inscription praising the Chalukyan king Pulakeshin 2 said that the king Pulakeshin 3 was ruling the area containing today’s Maharashtra. Mahavamsa which is a Buddhist book also contain mention of word "Maharattha".

John Wilson who was a famous historian also described Maharashtra in his book as “Mallarashtra”.

So in history we can see there are various references to our state which are somehow similar to its present name Maharashtra.

 Dyankoshkar Ketkar had said that Maharashtra name is formed with the combination of two words “Mahar” and “Ratta”. Mahamahopadhyay said that the name “ Maharashtra” in originated from the name  “ Maharashtra “ which means “Great state” in Marathi language.

Historical Background of Maharashtra

If we go into history we can see that Maharashtra had always got stable and capable rulers. Due to stability of the administration Maharashtra had not only developed politically but also culturally and traditionally.

Archaeological evidences suggest that Maharashtra is a land of very ancient civilization. Various Palaeolithic sites are in Maharashtra like Daimabad and Imangaon. Various evidences of ancient civilization had been found there. The Newasa near Aurangabad is also a famous archeological site in Maharashtra.

Now we will see the ruling dynasties of Maharashtra.

1)Satavahana

  Satvahanas are considered as the first ruling families of Maharashtra. They rules from 230 BC to 230 AC. So they have ruled nearly for 400 years. According to various historians they are the locals of Maharashtra who rise to the power. But there is constant debate among the historians about the origin of Satvahanas. Some said that they are the original residents of Andhra and from there they migrated to Maharashtra and establish there rule there.

They establish their rule after the collapsed of the mighty Maurya rule. Simukh is considered to be the first ruler of the Satvahana dynasty. Satvahanas are famous for their matrilineal culture. Hence they derived their names from their mother. The other rulers of dynasty are Shri Satkarni first, Satkarni second, Gautamiputra shri Satkarni, Yadnashri Satkarni etc.

Various cities are developed during their rule like Paithan ,Karad and Bhokardan etc

2)Vakataka Dynasty

They came after the collapsed of Satvahana ruling dynasty. Vindyshakti who is the founder of this dynasty is said to have destroy the Satvahana’s power and came to power of Maharashtra.

Vakataka Dynasty is known for its stable administrative structure. They have given patronage to the Sanskrit and Prakrit language. They are also credited for the foundation of Shiram temple of Pavner and the Ramgiri temple.

3)Chalukya Dynasty

Chalukyans are the ruler of north India. They had extended their power up to the Maharashtra. Chalunkyas are the Samanta. This dynasty has given various able rulers to our country like Kirtivarman , Pulakeshin 2, Vikramaditya etc.

Chalukyan ruled nearly for 400 years. In this huge span of time Maharashtra has witnessed the cultural transition in various fields like Literature, Music, Economy and administration. Literature has always been a good source to study the nature of society in any era. Literature reflects the true nature of the society unlike the administrative sources

4)Rashtrakuta empire

Ratrakutkas are said to be the last ruler of the Maharashtra . It is said that they have destroyed the mighty Chalunkyan Dyanasty and established their rule. They have their stable power in the north including Rajasthan and the some part of Gujrat. Even though not native to the Maharashtra they have contributed to the development of the local culture of Maharashtra.

Dantidurga is the founder of this empire. He ruled from 735 to 756 AD. Dantidurga is succeed by Krishna 1. He is famous for the foundation of the Kailasa temple of Ellora. Thus we can say that Krishna 1 had laid the foundation of the rock cut architecture in Maharashtra.

Dantidurga in then further succeeded by Dhruv, Govinda 3, Amoghvarsha and Krishna 3.

From the various Architectural monuments we can say that Rashtrakutas are the great patron of Architecture.

Historical background of Medieval Maharashtra

In the Indian history the begging of the medieval historical period is very unstable .There were various rulers who came to the throne for very short period of time. Again there was always a constant wave of attacks from the foreign invaders from the northwest. Some of the rulers of medieval Maharashtra are as follows.

1) Yadavas of Deogir

The rulers of Deogir are considered as stable and able rulers which Maharashtra has got in his history. By taking the advantage of the constant instability in the Rashtrakuta Empire Drudhprahar established its rule. They considered themselves as descendents of Lord Krishna. With the capital at Daulabad they were able to control the part of north as well as some part of south also.

Allauddin khilji had destroyed this strong Hindu dynasty and establish his ruler upon the Maharashtra . Hence from this time Maharashtra came under the Islamic ruler only when the great Shivaji Maharashtra united the sardaras of Maharashtra to fight against the common enemy the Mughals.

2)Khiljis

Allauddin Khilji had defeated Raja Harpal dev and destroyed the ruling dynasty of Yadavas. Allauddin Khilji and Mubarak Khiljji had ruled Maharashtra for considerable amount of time.

3)Mohammed bin Tughlaq

Another Muslim dynasty which ruled the Maharashtra for the considerable amount of time. Mohhamed bin Tughlaq had transferred the capital for some amount of time to the Daulatabad . It is said that Tughlaq had transferred capital for the security purpose .It is said that there was also a direct road connecting Daulatabad and the Delhi. But due to the inconvenience of the people and also due to difficulty in the administration he had to again transfer its capital to Delhi.

Here for the first time the Maharashtra and the Deccan came in direct administrative rule of the Sultanate.

4) Maratha empire

Chatrapati shivaji maharaj took the advantage of the war between two Muslim rulers of the south and established the Maratha empire which also called as “hindavi Swarajya “ meaning  the freedom from the Islamic ruler of the Mughals.

As Marathas were independent rulers Maharashtra had been stable for many years. Maratha rule has credited with many cultural achievements.