Maharashtra lies in the mid-west region of the Indian subcontinent. The physical state of land is similar in all over Maharashtra. Most of the part of Maharashtra is plateau region and these plateaus are called as Deccan. The state is surrounded by various rivers. To the western part of Maharashtra lies the Arabian Coastline. The Western Ghats of Maharashtra is comprised of Sahyadri mountain ranges having a height of about 2134 meters. Many rivers including Godavari, Narmada and Krishna have their source in the Sahyadri mountain ranges.  The part which lies between the Sahyadri Mountains and the Arabian coastline is called as Konkan. The width of Konkan area is 50-80kilometers and towards its north are the Satpura mountain ranges while in the east lies Bhamragad-Chiroli-Gaykhuri Mountain ranges.

The state receives seasonal rainfall. The black basalt soil found in Maharashtra is beneficial for the cultivation of cotton.  The Maharashtra border is linked with the states of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.The state ranks third in respect of area. Maharashtra is second most populous state. The total population of Maharashtra is 11 crores 23 lakh 72 thousand 972. Out of which 5 crores 83 thousand are males and 5 crores 40 lakh are females.

History:

In the Rigveda, Maharashtra has been addressed by the name of “Rashtra”. According to the written records of Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang and other travelers who visited India, Maharashtra was initially called as “Rashtrik” during the reign of Samrat Ashok and later it came to be known as Maharashtra. It is said by many scholars of history that the state has got its name from the name “Maharashtri” in local language.  The references of different places of Maharashtra are found in the epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. 

Maharashtra has differences in its historical background according to the political era of various divisions of Maharashtra. But there is a similarity in its cultural and social history. The rulers like Magadha’s, Maurya’s, Chalukya’s, Maratha’s, Tughlakh’s, Portuguese, Nizam’s and Britishers have occupied various areas of Maharashtra in different eras. The information about Maharashtra is available through various historical resources available from 3rd century B.C. during this period, the state was known as “Dandakaranya”, which means jungle of punishment. It is a spiritually significant part of India and includes parts of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. The Magadha’s and the Chalukya’s  ruled over Maharashtra during the middle age period but the development of Marathi language and culture took place  during the reign of King Shalivahan of Satvana dynasty and the Yadava’s of Devgiri.

After the disintegration of the Maurya dynasty, the Satvahana dynasty or the Andhra Empire became the Royal Indian dynasty, who ruled over Maharashtra from 230 to 235 B.C. During the reign of Satvahana dynasty, the cultural development took place to a large extent. During the ruling period of the Satvahana’s, the nonrefined and natural Marathi was their official language. This ancient language was then converted to modern language. During 78 B.C, Satkarni or Shatkarni was the ruler of Maharashtra. He was the son of Gautamai. Shatkarni initiated the era known as Shalivahan saka to celebrate his victory against the Sakas. This Shalivahan Saka is still used with the Hindu Calendars.  After the Shalivahana’s, the Yadava’s of Devgiri established their kingdom in Maharashtra. Allauddin khilji of the Delhi and Muhammad Tughlakh of the Deccan conquered some parts of Maharashtra. After the downfall of the Tughlak’s in 1347, the Bahamian Sultan’s of Bijapur ruled Maharashtra for about 150 years.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Maratha Empire was established by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.  Under his leadership, the Marathas established their independent state. In 1674, after coronation, the official beginning of the Maratha Empire was done. Shivaji Maharaj’s son, Sambhajiraje was arrested and killed by Aurangzeb. For the next four decades, Maratha Empire was conquered and ruled by the Peshva’s and the Bhosle’s remained as acting rulers. Balaji Vishwanath Peshve and his son Bajirao extended the Maratha Empire and established their supremacy beyond the current border of India. In 1761, Ahmedshah Abdalli defeated the Peshva’s in the third battle of Panipat and this destroyed the integrity of the Maratha Empire.

Maharashtra after Independence:

Joint Maharashtra Movement

 While East India Company was trying to settle down in India, three wars were held between the Maratha’s and the Britisher’s during 1777-1818. In 1819, the Britisher’s defeated the Peshva’s and conquered their empire. During that period Maharashtra was a part of the then Bombay. The Bombay state comprised of parts from Karachi to North Deccan. Various states formed the tributary of the British while Marathwada was ruled by the Nizam’s.

After India became independent on 15th August, 1947, the states and the provinces were reconstructed. The reconstruction of provinces was done on the basis of language. But the Central Government denied including Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra.  The people of Maharashtra did a severe agitation against the decision of the Government. Near about 105 warriors sacrificed their lives. Acharya Atre, Shahir sable, Senapati Bapat strengthens the Joint Maharashtra Movement. Acharya Atre laid down the insistent role of Joint Maharashtra through his newspaper ‘Maratha’. Finally on 1st May 1960, the independent Maharashtra state was formed. It included the Konkan, Marathwada, Western Maharashtra, Southern Maharashtra, Northern Maharashtra and Vidarbh.  But 835 villages including Belgaum were excluded from Maharashtra, against this the agitations are going on till today.

Administration:

Vidhan Bhavan

According to the constitution, the Governor is the constitutional head of the state while the Chief Minister is the executive head. Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra while Nagpur is the sub-capital. Mumbai has the Parliament, Ministry and the High-Court. The Ministry has the administrative offices of the state government. The monsoon session and the budget session of the Parliament are held in Mumbai while the winter session takes place in Nagpur. In Maharashtra, the Parliament has two houses namely the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly has directly elected representatives whereas the Legislative council has indirectly elected representatives. The Parliament of Maharashtra has total 67 representatives out of which 19 are the members of Rajyasabha while 48 are the members of Loksabha.

Political Rule:

After independence, Congress was the ruling party in Maharashtra barring some exceptions. Yashwantrao Chavhan was the first chief minister of Maharashtra. After this Vasantrao Naik, Vasantdada Patil, Shankarrao Chavhan, Sharad Pawar became the chief minister. In 1995, the Shivsena-BJP alliance came to power in Maharashtra. In 1999, Sharad Pawar formed a new party called Rashtrawadi Congress.

Administrative Divisions:

Maharashtra has total 35 districts. These districts are divided into 6 groups which include Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Konkan, Amravati and Nagpur. According to geographical, historical and political view, Maharashtra has 5 divisions namely Western Maharashtra, Northern Maharashtra, Marathwada, Konkan and Vidarbh.

Business and economy:

Mumbai Stock Exchange

Maharashtra is one of the industrially developed states. Due to the economic policy of the decade after 1970, Maharashtra became the leading industrial state. But the development did not take place equally.  Mumbai and the western Maharashtra were developed but the Marathwada and Vidarbh remained undeveloped. The Western Maharashtra has its influence over the politics and the bureaucracy of Maharashtra. Mumbai is also known as the economic capital of India. All important industries, banks, insurance, investment and the offices of economic institutes are situated in Mumbai. Mumbai is the first production center of films and television programmes. Mumbai Stock Exchange, the biggest and the oldest share market in Asia, is also situated in Mumbai. The state government has established software technology parks in Aurangabad, Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur. Maharashtra also ranks first in atomic energy and power generation from coal.

In 1980, the state’s income was 16 thousand 631 crores while in 2000 it became 2 lakh 38 thousand 672 crores. The annual income of Maharashtra in 2004 was 106 Arab American Dollars. Maharashtra is the second largest urbanized state of India. Maharashtra has 13% share in the total industrial income of the country. Near about 64% people are employed in Agriculture and related field. The agricultural field has 46% share in the total annual income of the state. Production of chemicals and related products, electronic equipments, cloth, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, distilleries, iron-ore, steel are some of the important industries of Maharashtra.  Jowar, Bajra, Wheat, Rice are the important food crops of Maharashtra while Mango, Grapes, Banana and oranges are the important fruits cultivated in the state. The major cash crops include Cotton, sugarcane, groundnut, tobacco and turmeric.

Culture:

Maharashtra has an enriched culture. Various temples of Maharashtra are built several decades ago. The temples have the impression of Hindu, Buddha and Jain culture and the sculpture style contains a mixture of northern and southern India. The Ajanta and the Ellora caves near Aurangabad are world famous heritage. The glimpse of Mughal sculpture is found in various buildings and monuments of Aurangabad and Khultabad. Maharashtra has near about 350 small and big forts. Raigad, Pratapgad, Murud-Janjira, Sinhagad, Shivneri, Sindhudurg, Devgiri and Torna are some of the important forts of Maharashtra.

 The traditional folk art of Maharashtra includes:

a) Gondhal:

                   It is a religious performing art which includes the dramatic narration of mythological stories.

b) Lavani:

                  The popular music form of Maharashtra. It is a combination of traditional songs and dance on the beats of dholak.

c) Bharud:

                     It is an important educative and enjoyable art form which is used to advocate spirituality through drama and music.

d) Povada: 

                    It is a form of poetry emerged in 17th century. It is a ballad written in interesting style to narrate the historical events.

Important persons who contributed in the making of Maharashtra:

1) Maharashtra is called as the Land Of Saints.  Great saints like Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Namdeo, Ramdas, Chokhamela, Gora kumbhar, Gadge Maharaj and Tukdoji Maharaj enlightened the Indian public.

2) Social Workers like Lokmanya Tilak, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Savitribai Phule, and Acharya Vinoba Bhave had a great contribution in the social and political development of Maharashtra as well as India.

3) Literati like V.S Khandekar, N.C Kelkar, Acharya Atre, V.V Shirwadkar, G.D Madgulkar, P.L Deshpande, and Poet Grace Etc. gave an invaluable contribution to Marathi Literature.

4) Dadasaheb Phalke founded the Indian Cinema through his film Raja Harishchandra. Many film personalities including V. Shantaram played an important role in the Indian Film industry.

5) Maharashtra has a successful tradition of Drama. Balgandharva, Kolhatkar, Dinanath Mangeshkar, Jitendra Abhisheki, Keshavrao Bhosle were the well known personals in the field of drama and they ruled the stage for many years.

Honorary persons of Maharashtra:

1) Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the founder of Indian constitution

2) Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema.

3) Wrestler Khashaba Jadhao, winner of first individual medal in Olympics.

4) Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar.

5) Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian cricketer who made the maximum centuries and scored maximum runs in international test matches and one day cricket.

 Winners of Bharat Ratna:

a) Maharishi Keshav Karve (1958)

b) Dr. Pandurang Waman Kane (1963).

c) Lata Mangeshkar (2001)

d) Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar (posthumously in 1990)

e) Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (2008)

 Maharashtrian scientists:

1) Vasant Gowrikar (Meteorologist)

2) Jayant Naralikar (Cosmologist)

3) Raghunath Mashelkar (Chemist)

4) Anil Kakodkar (nuclear scientist)

5) Vijay Bhatkar (computer scientist)