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MAHRATTAS
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MAHRATTAS , a See also:people of See also:India, inhabiting the See also:district known by the See also:ancient name of Maharashtra (Sans. " See also:great See also:kingdom or region "). This large See also:tract, extending from the Arabian See also:Sea on the See also:west to the See also:Satpura mountains in the See also:north, comprises a See also:good See also:part of western and central India, including the See also:modern provinces of the See also:Konkan, See also:Khandesh, See also:Berar, the See also:British See also:Deccan, part of See also:Nagpur, and about See also:half the See also:nizam's Deccan. The See also:etymology of the word Mahratta (Maratha) is uncertain. The name does not indicate a social See also:caste, or a religious See also:sect; it is not even tribal. Strictly, it is confined to the upper class from whom See also:Sivaji's generals were mostly See also:drawn, and who some-times claim a See also:Rajput origin. In a wider sense it may be ex-tended to include all who inhabit Maharashtra and speak Mahratti as their See also:mother-See also:tongue. In 1901 the See also:total number of speakers of Mahratti in all India exceeded 18 millions. The Mahrattas have always been a See also:separate nation or people, and still regard themselves as such, though nowadays they are almost all under British or See also:Mahommedan See also:jurisdiction; that is, they belong either to British India or to the nizam's dominions. There are indeed still three large native states nominally Mahratta: that of Sindhia near the See also:borders of Hindustan in the north, that of See also:Holkar in See also:Malwa in the See also:heart of the See also:Indian See also:continent, and that of the See also:gaekwar in See also:Gujarat on the western See also:coast. But in these states the See also:prince, his relatives and some of his ministers or officials only are Mahrattas; the See also:mass of the people belong to other sections of the See also:Hindu See also:race. These states then are not to be included in the Mahratta nation, though they have a See also:share in Mahratta See also:history. In See also:general terms the Mahrattas, in the wider sense, may be described under two See also:main heads: first the Brahmans, and secondly the See also:low-caste men. The Mahratta Brahmans possess, in an intense degree, the qualities of that famous caste, See also:physical, intellectual and moral. They have generally the lofty brow, the See also:regular features, the spare upright figure, and the See also:calm aspect which might be expected in a race maintained in great purity yet upon a broad basis. In modern times they have proved themselves the most able and ambitious of all the Brahmans in the Indian See also:Empire. They are notably divided into two sections: the Konkanast, coming from the Konkan or littoral tract on the west coast below the Western See also:Ghat mountains; and the Deshast, coming from the uplands or Deccan, on the See also:east of the mountains. Though there have been many distinguished Deshasts, yet the most remarkable of all have been Konkanasts. For instance, the peshwas, or heads of the Mahratta See also:confederation which at one See also:time dominated nearly all India, were Konkanast Brahmans. The birthplaces of these persons are still known, and to this See also:day there are sequestered villages, nestling near the western See also:base of the See also:Ghats, which are pointed to as being the ancestral homes of men who two centuries ago had See also:political See also:control over half India. Apart from the' Brahmans, the Mahrattas may be generally designated as Sudras, the humblest of the four great castes into which the Hindu race is theoretically divided. But the upper classes claim to be Kshattriyas or Rajputs. They probably are See also:aborigines fundamentally, with a mixture of what are now called the Scythian tribes, which at a very See also:early time overran India. The See also:ordinary Mahrattas, who See also:form the backbone of the nation, have See also:plain features, an uncouth manner, See also:short stature, a small but wiry See also:frame. Though not powerful physically as compared with the See also:northern races of the See also:Punjab and Oudh, they have much activity and an unsurpassed endurance. See also:Born and bred in or near the Western Ghat mountains and the numerous tributary ranges, they have all the qualities of mountaineers. In See also:recent times they enter military service less and less, betaking themselves mainly to cultivation and to the carrying business connected with See also:agriculture. As husbandmen they are not remarkable; but as graziers, as See also:cart-men, as labourers, they are excellent. As artisans they have seldom signalized themselves, See also:save as armourers and clothweavers. In the Konkan there are some See also:superior proprietors termed Khots. With this and perhaps some other exceptions, there are not in the Mahratta See also:country many large landlords, nor many of the superior See also:tenure-holders whose position relatively to that of the peasantry has caused much discussion iu other parts of India. There are indeed many Mahratta chiefs still See also:resident in the country, members of the See also:aristocracy which formerly enjoyed much See also:wealth and See also:power. They are sometimes in the position of landlords, but often they are the assignees of the See also:land See also:revenue, which they are entitled under See also:special grants to collect for themselves instead of for See also:government, paying merely a small sum to Government by way of quit-See also:rent. Under them the cultivators are by British arrangements placed in the position of See also:peasant proprietors. The See also:village community has always existed as the social unit in the Mahratta territories, though with less cohesion among its members than in the village communities of Hindustan and the Punjab. The ancient offices pertaining to the village, as those of the headmen (See also:patel), the village accountant, &c., are in working See also:order throughout the Mahratta country. The Mahratta peasantry possess manly fortitude under suffering and misfortune. Though patient and good-tempered in the main, they have a latent warmth of See also:temper, and if oppressed beyond a certain limit they would fiercely turn upon their tormentors. As a See also:rule they are orderly and See also:law-abiding, but traditions of See also:plunder have been handed down to them from early times, and many of them retain the predatory instincts of their forefathers. The neighbourhood of dense forests, steep See also: They are See also:Hindus, but their See also:Hinduism is held to be of a non-See also:Aryan type. They are sincerely devout in See also:religion, and feel an See also:awe regarding " the See also:holy Brahmans," holding the See also:life and the See also:person of a See also:Brahman sacred, even though he be a criminal of the deepest dye. They of course regard the cow as equally sacred. There are two See also:principal sects among modern Hindus—those who follow See also:Vishnu, and those who follow See also:Siva. The Mahrattas generally follow Siva and his wife, a dread goddess known under many names. The Mahratta war-cry, "Har, Har, Mahadeo," referred to Siva. All classes high and low are fond of the religious festivals, the principal of which, the Dasahra, occurs in See also:October, when the first See also:harvest of the See also:year has been secured and the second crops sewn. This has always been held with the utmost pomp and magnificence at every centre of Mahratta wealth and power. The people frequently assemble in bowers and arbours constructed of leafy boughs to hear kathas recited. These recitations are partly religious, partly also romantic and quasi-See also:historical. After them See also:national resolves of just' resistance or of aggressive ambition have often been formed. Apart from the Mahratta Brahmans, as already mentioned, the Mahratta nobles and princes are not generally See also:fine-looking men. There is general truth in what was once said by a high authority to the effect that, while there will be something dignified in the humblest Rajput, there will be something mean in the highest Mahratta. See also:Bluff good-nature, a certain jocoseness, a See also:humour pungent and ready, though somewhat coarse, a hot or even violent disposition, are characteristics of Mahratta chieftains. They usually show little aptitude for business or for sedentary pursuits; but, on the other See also:hand, they are born equestrians•and sportsmen. Mahratta ladies and princesses have often taken a prominent part, for good or evil, in public affairs and dynastic intrigues. Though they have produced some See also:poetry, the Mahrattas have never done much for literature. Nor have they been distinguished in See also:industrial See also:art. Their See also:architecture in See also:wood, however, was excellent ; and the See also:teak forests of their country afforded the finest See also:timber for See also:building and for See also:carving. They had also much skill in the construction of See also:works for the See also:supply of drinking See also:water on a large See also:scale and for See also:irrigation. The range of the Western Ghats enabled the Mahrattas to rise against their Mahommedan conquerors, to reassert their Hindu See also:nationality against the whole power of the See also:Mogul Empire, and to establish in its See also:place an empire of their own. It is often stated that in India British See also:conquest or See also:annexation succeeded Mahommedan rule; and to a considerable extent this was the See also:case. But, on the other hand, the principal power, the widest See also:sovereignty, which the British overthrew in India was that of the Mahrattas. During the earlier Moslem invasions in r roo and in subsequent years, the Mahrattas do not seem to have made much resistance. They submitted to several Mahommedan See also:kings under the changing circumstances of those times. It was against the Mahommedan See also: Thus the Mahratta power was consolidated throughout nearly the whole of Maharashtra under the Brahman peshwa as virtual See also:sovereign, with his See also:capital at See also:Poona, while the titular Mahratta See also:raja or king had his See also:court at the neighbouring See also:city of See also:Satara. Despite his political importance, however, the raja was still venerated as the descendant of Sivaji. Then several chiefs carved out principalities of their own from among the ruins of the Mogul Empire. Thus Raghoji Bhonsla established himself in the tracts lying underneath the See also:southern base of the Satpura range (namely, Nagpur and Berar), overran See also:Orissa and entered See also:Bengal. Damaji Gaekwar descended from the Western Ghats upon the alluvial plains of Gujarat around See also:Baroda; Tukoji Holkar subdued the uplands of Malwa beyond the See also:Vindhya range on the north See also:bank of the See also:Nerbudda; and Mahadji Sindhia obtained See also:possession of large tracts immediately See also:south of See also:Agra and See also:Delhi, marched into Hindustan and became virtually the See also:master of the Mogul emperor himself (see GwALI0R). Sivaji's own See also:father had founded a dominion at See also:Tanjore in the extreme south, which, however, never had relations with the central power at Poona. The same may be said of the state of See also:Kolhapur, allotted to a younger See also:branch of Sivaji's family. But these principalities, though See also:independent respecting See also:internal See also:administration, and making war or peace with their neighbours according to opportunity, owned See also:allegiance to the peshwa at Poona as the head of the Mahratta race. On state occasions heads of principalities would visit Poona by way of acknowledging the superior position of the peshwa. On the other hand, the peshwa was careful to obtain the See also:sanction of his nominal sovereign at Satara to every important See also:act of state. Thus a confederation was formed of which the Brahman peshwa or head was at Poona, governing the adjacent territories, while the members, belonging to the See also:lower castes, were scattered throughout the continent of India. Such was the Mahratta Empire which supplanted the Mogul Empire. The Mahratta power grew and prospered till it embraced all western and most of central India. Its culminating point was reached about 175o, or about a See also:century after Sivaji first rebelled against his Mahommedan sovereign. Its armies See also:drew soldiers from all parts of India. The infantry was not of good quality; but its cavalry was really an enormous force, numbering fully a See also:hundred thousand in all. The horsemen were splendidly audacious in See also:riding for See also:long distances into the heart of a hostile country, without support, striking some terrific blows, and then returning rapidly beyond reach of pursuit. They could truly boast of having watered their horses in every Indian See also:river from the See also:Cauvery to the See also:Indus. If attacked, however, in a competent manner, they would not stand; and afterwards, in conflict with the British, whole masses of them behaved in a dastardly manner. As their ambition grew the chiefs began to organize their troops after the See also:system learnt from the See also:English and See also:French. In this way several Frenchmen—See also:Benoit de See also:Boigne, See also:Perron and others—rose in the Mahratta service to a position dangerous to the British. But the new system was unsuited to the Mahratta See also:genius; it hampered the meteoric movements of the cavalry, which was obliged to manoeuvre in See also:combination with the new See also:artillery and the disciplined battalions. Mahratta elders hence uttered predictions of military disaster which were in the end more than fulfilled. The rapid and amazing success of the Mahratta confederation rendered it the largest Hindu power that ever existed in India. But it lacked the elements of true greatness. It was founded by plundering expeditions, and its subsequent existence was tainted by the baseness of this predatory origin. With the exception of the peshwas, its chiefs were little more than See also:free-booting warriors, for the most part See also:rude, violent and unlettered. Their See also:custom was to offer their neighbours or victims the alter-native of paying chouth, that is, one-See also:fourth of the revenue, or being plundered and ravaged. Thus the Mahratta chouth came to have an ominous significance in Indian history. Desultory efforts were made to establish a civil government, but in the main there was no administration formed on statesmanlike principles. The peshwas, on the other hand, as Brahmans, were men of the highest See also:education then possible in India. But they were absorbed by the direction of military and political combinations, and by intrigues for the preservation of their own power; and, even allowing for all this, they failed to evince the civil capacity which might have been anticipated. While several displayed commanding abilities, and some possessed many virtues, one alone attempted to conduct an administration in an enlightened manner, and he died prematurely. There were at the same time See also:powers existing in India to keep the Mahrattas in check, and some parts of India were excepted from their depredations. The English power was rising at See also:Calcutta, See also:Madras and Bombay. The nascent See also:Sikh power prevented Mahratta incursions from being permanently successful in the Punjab. As the Mogul Empire See also:broke up, some separate Mahommedan powers rose upon its ruins. The nizam of the Deccan established himself at See also:Hyderabad, comparatively near the headquarters of the peshwa. Hyder See also:Ali was proclaimed See also:sultan of See also:Mysore in the south. Ahmed Shah Abdali burst upon India from See also:Afghanistan. The Mahrattas bravely encountered him at See also:Panipat near Delhi in 1761, and were decisively defeated. The defeat, however, did not essentially shake the Mahratta confederation. It was collision with the English that broke that wonderful fabric to pieces. The first collision with the English occurred in 1775, arising from a disputed See also:succession to the peshwaship. The English government at Bombay supported one of the claimants, and the affair became See also:critical for the English as well as for the Mahrattas. It was at this conjuncture that See also:Warren See also:Hastings displayed his political genius and rendered See also:signal service to his country, by succouring from Bengal the defeated Bombay army and negotiating a peace (in 1782) that restored the status quo. The next collision happened in 1803. The peshwa had fallen into grave difficulties with some of the principal members of the Mahratta confederation. He therefore placed himself under British See also:protection, and this led to the great Mahratta War, in which the See also:Marquis See also:Wellesley displayed those talents for military and political combination which rendered him illustrious. It was during the See also:campaigns which ensued that General See also:Arthur Wellesley defeated Sindhia and the Bhonsla raja at See also:Assaye, and General See also:Lake won the victories of Farrukhabad, Dig and See also:Las-See also:wad over Sindhia and Holkar. The three confederates, Sindhia, Holkar and the Bhonsla, concluded peace with the' British government, after making large sacrifices of territory in favour of the See also:victor, and submitting to British control politically. It was during these events that the British won the See also:province of Orissa, the old Hindustan afterwards part of the North-Western Provinces, and a part of the western coast in Gujarat.
The third collision came to pass between 1816 and 1818, through the conduct, not only of the confederates, but also of the peshwa (Baji Bao) himself. During the previous war the peshwa had been the protege and ally of the British; and since the war he had fallen more completely than before under British protection—British political officers and British troops being stationed at his capital. He apparently See also:felt encouraged by circumstances to See also:rebel. Holkar and the Bhonsla committed hostile acts. The predatory See also:Pindaris offered a formidable resistance to the British troops. So the peshwa ventured to take part in the combination against the British power, which even yet the Mahrattas did not despair of overthrowing. After long-protracted menaces, he attacked the British at See also:Kirkee, but failed utterly, and fled a ruined See also:man. Ultimately he surrendered to See also:Sir See also: The British, how-ever, released the raja of Satara from the captivity in which he had been kept during the peshwa's time, and reinstated him on the See also:throne, with a limited territory. Owing to these events the British government became possessed of the Konkan and of the greater part of the Deccan. It remains to mention briefly the fortunes of each remaining member of the once imperial confederation. The principality of Satara was held to have lapsed in 1848 by the death of the raja without lineal heirs, and was annexed by the British government. The Bhonsla raja of Nagpur died without lineal heirs in 1853, and his territory was likewise annexed. The See also:house of Holkar remained faithful to its engagements with the British government, and its position as a feudatory of the empire was maintained. In Sindhia's territory, by See also:reason of internal feuds, the British had to undertake See also:measures which were successfully terminated after the battles of See also:Maharajpur and Panniar in 1843. But on the whole the house of Sindhia remained faithful. Sindhia himself was actively loyal during the See also:Mutiny. The gaekwar gradually See also:fell under British control towards the See also:close of the 18th century, and his house never engaged in hostilities with the British government. The ex-peshwa lived to old See also:age at Bithur, and died in 1857. His adopted son grew up to be the Nana See also:Sahib, of infamous memory, who took a leading part in the Mutiny. See J. See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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