Maharashtra the State of India

State: Maharashtra (महाराष्ट्र)

Country: India (भारत)

Region: Western India (दक्षिण भारतीय)

Established: 1 May 1 960 A Maharashtra Day (महाराष्ट्र दिन)

Capital: Mumbai (मुंबई)

Largest City: Mumbai

Districts: 35

Official Language: Marathi (मराठी)

Area: 308,456 Km2 (119,096 sq mi)

Area Rank: 2nd

Time Zone: IST (UTC +05:30)

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is the India's second most populous state and is a state in western region of India. It is also the second most populous sub-nation entity in the world, with over 110 Million inhabitants. Spread over 307,713 sq mi (796,970 km 2 ),

it is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west and the Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh , Goa, Gujarat , Chhattisgarh , Madhya Pradesh and the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli . The state capital is Mumbai which is also the financial capital of the nation. Maharashtra is the wealthiest and most develop state in India, contributing 15% of the country's industrial output and 13.3% of its GDP (2006–07) .

In the 16th century, the Marathas rose under the leadership of Shivaji against the Mughals , who ruled a large part of India. By 1760, the Maratha Empire had reached its zenith with a territory of over 250 million acres (1 million km²) or one-third of the Indian sub-continent. After the Third Anglo-Maratha War, the empire ended and most of Maharashtra became part of Bombay State under the British Raj . After Indian independence, Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti demanded unification of all Marathi-speaking regions under one state. At that time, Babasaheb Ambedkar was of the opinion that linguistic reorganisation of states should be done on a "One state One language" principle and not on a "One language – One state" principle. He submitted a memorandum to the reorganisation commission stating that a "single government can not administer such a huge state as United Maharashtra".

The first state reorganisation committee created the current Maharashtra state on 1 May 1960 (known as Maharashtra Day ). The Marathi-speaking areas of Bombay State, Deccan states and Vidarbha (which was part of Central Provinces and Berar) united, under the agreement known as Nagpur Pact , to form the current state.


Etymology

The modern Marathi language developed from the Maharashtri Prakrit , and the word Marhatta (later used for the Marathas) is found in the Jain Maharashtri literature. The terms Maharashtra, Maharashtri, Marathi and Maratha may have derived from the same root. However, their exact etymology is uncertain.

The most widely accepted theory among the scholars is that the words Maratha and Maharashtra ultimately derive from a compound of Maha (Sanskrit for "great") and rashtrika. The word rashtrika is a Sanskritised form of Ratta , the name of a tribe or a dynasty of petty chiefs ruling in the Deccan region. Another theory is that the term is derived from Maha ("great") and rathi or ratha (great chariot driver), which refers to a skillful northern fighting force that migrated southward into the area.

An alternative theory states that the term derives from the words Maha ("Great") and Rashtra ("nation/ dominion"). However, this theory has not found acceptance among modern scholars who believe it to be the Sanskritised interpretation of later writers.
Yet another theory, popular among the Dalit activists and the nineteenth-century British writers in India, was that the term means "the nation of Mahars " (Mahar + Rashtra). This theory, too, is not widely accepted: it is unlikely that the term derives from the name of a Dalit (outcaste) community.


Hope this information was useful!!!!!