Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India and is the nation's and also the world's second-most populous sub-national entity. Its capital, Mumbai, is also the financial capital of the nation and the headquarters of all major banks, financial institutions and insurance companies in the country. India's Hindi film industry, Bollywood, and Marathi film and television industry are also located in this state. Ancient and medieval Maharashtra included the empires of the Satavahana dynasty, Rashtrakuta dynasty, Western Chalukyas, Mughals and Marathas.
Chapter I - deals with the geography of Maharashtra and I have tried to throw as much light as possible upon this obscure subject from various sources. I have also marshalled all the available information about the tribes and peoples inhabiting the various parts of the Maratha country. Chapter II - deals with the history of Maharashtra from the earliest times down to c. 200 B.C. Important questions such as the Aryanlsatlon of the country and Pre- Aryan history have been discussed. Mention may be made here of the Palthan excavations which throw an interesting sidelight on the earliest period. Chapter III - describes the rise and growth of the Satavahana empire. Complicated questions like the original home of the Satavahanas, and their genealogy and chronology have been handled. Chapter IV - deals with the Scythians in Maharashtra. I have put forward a new view as regards the date of the Saka king Nahapana. Chapter V - deals with the history of the powerful but little-known Vakataka kingdom. Chapter VI - deals with the history of Southern Maharashtra under the Kadambas. In Chapter VII, I have treated the history of minor dynasties which had been neglected for a long time. This chapter brings to light the Kalachurl, Traikutaka and the Nala dynasties. Chapter VIII - includes the history of the Early Chalukyas of Badami. I have thrown new light on the origin of the Chalukyas and their relations with the different powers of Northern and Southern India. I have also suggested a new date for the last Chalukya expedition against the Pallavas of Kanchi. Chapter IX - deals with the early history of the Rashtrakuta i.;milies . The obscure history of one of thesefamilies has been illuminated by the latest discoveries of copperplates. The reign of Govinda III, the greatest Rashtrakuta emperor, has been thoroughly dealt with and several complex problems of his time have been solved in a new fashion. Chapter X - deals with the history of the Rashtrakuta empire down to 975 A.D. Particular attention has been paid here to the empire's relations with the Eastern Chalu- kyas, the Ganges of Mysore, the Kalachuris and others. New reasons have been put forward for the fall of the empire. Chapter XI - deals with the history of the Later Chalukyas down to c. 1000 A.D. New light has been shed on the reigns of Taila II and his son Satyasraya. Further, the history of another branch of the Chalukya dynasty has been treated in the light of new inscriptions. Chapter XII - includes the minor dynasties of Maharashtra. I have put forward a new view as regards the origin of the Early Yadavas. I have fully dealt with the rise of the Silaharas, the Kadambas and the Rattas.
Marathas and the Maratha Country' : under this general theme we have already published two books of Professor A. R. Kulkarni, namely (1) Maharashtra in the Age of Shivaji and (2) Maharashtra Society and Culture. We are now introducing his four books under the same series containing reasearch articles based on orginal source and published in various journals. They are (i) The Marathas (1600-1818), a brief survey, (ii) Medieval Maratha Country, essays throwing fresh light on the various aspects of land and people of the region, (iii) Medieval Maharashtra containing essays on Village Communities, social relations, jiziya etc. and (iv) Studies in Maratha History which also includes articles of some other foreign and Indian scholars on Maratha historiography.
Marathas and the Maratha Country' : under this general theme we have already published two books of Professor A. R. Kulkarni, namely (1) Maharashtra in the Age of Shivaji and (2) Maharashtra Society and Culture. We are now introducing his four books under the same series containing reasearch articles based on orginal source and published in various journals. They are (i) The Marathas (1600-1818), a brief survey, (ii) Medieval Maratha Country, essays throwing fresh light on the various aspects of land and people of the region, (iii) Medieval Maharashtra containing essays on Village Communities, social relations, jiziya etc. and (iv) Studies in Maratha History which also includes articles of some other foreign and Indian scholars on Maratha historiography.
Maharashtra in the nineteenth century exhibits all the characteristics of a society standing at the crossroads of civilization. Western education, press, industrialisation and material changes in production and consumption patterns resulted in fundamental changes in the thinking of the people. The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed the beginning of the Postal Service in 1837, rise and spread of the native press and rudimentary education. The second half witnessed more dramatic events such as the coming of the Railways and the establishment of the of Indian National Congress that changed the destiny of the subcontinent forever. The book takes a fresh look at the various aspects of nineteenth century Maharashtra. It includes the critiques and reviews of literature, language, history writing and women’s reforms in this period. It argues that the elite attempts at social reform had their own inherent limitations. They could not reach the level of radicality reached by the subalterns whose lived experience of discrimination was the biggest stimulus for reform. Mahatma Phule stands out from among a range of thinkers in this period for his innovative understanding of the Indian reality. Phule was one of the rare thinkers who reconciled the Indian reality with its Universal counterpart.
This book offers one of the first critical evaluations and in-depth analysis of the intellectual movement in Maharashtra in the 19th century. Arguing against the prevalent view that Indian rationality was imported from Europe through the colonial agency, it traces the rational roots of the movement to indigenous intellectual traditions and history. It also questions the centrality assigned to the ‘Bengal Renaissance’ as being the representative of the contemporary intellectual movement in the country. Strongly grounded in primary research, this volume brings forth many new facts and facets into the scholarly discourse on topics such as the idea of ‘Drain’ and the rise of Indian nationalism, so far seen as a predominantly political process divorced from its cultural dimensions. It re-examines the view that cultural consciousness that preceded political agitation was a separate sphere of activity and suggests that both were integral stages of anti-colonialism in the country. The author maintains that rationalism and nationalism were closely connected as a means-and-end continuum. He also provides a new and substantially different understanding of the 19th-century intellectuals Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Pandita Ramabai among others. Lucid, accessible and thought provoking, this book will interest scholars and researchers of modern Indian history, Indian political thought, sociology, philosophy and Marathi literature.
The "Maratha period" of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when an independent Maratha state successfully resisted the Mughals, is a defining era in the history of the region of Maharashtra in western India. In this book, Prachi Deshpande considers the importance of this period for a variety of political projects including anticolonial/Hindu nationalism and the non-Brahman movement, as well as popular debates throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries concerning the meaning of tradition, culture, and the experience of colonialism and modernity. Sampling from a rich body of literary and cultural sources, Deshpande highlights shifts in history writing in early modern and modern India and the deep connections between historical and literary narratives. She traces the reproduction of the Maratha period in various genres and public arenas, its incorporation into regional political symbolism, and its centrality to the making of a modern Marathi regional consciousness. She also shows how historical memory provided a space for Indians to negotiate among their national, religious, and regional identities, pointing to history's deeper potential in shaping politics within thoroughly diverse societies. A truly unique study, Creative Pasts examines the practices of historiography and popular memory within a particular colonial context, and illuminates the impact of colonialism on colonized societies and cultures. Furthermore, it shows how modern history and historical memory are jointly created through the interplay of cultural activities, power structures, and political rhetoric.
