The Maratha caste is composed of 96 clans, originally formed in the earlier centuries from the amalgamation of families from the peasant (Kunbi), shepherd (Dhangar), blacksmith (Lohar), pastoral (Gavli), carpenter (Sutar), Bhandari, Thakar and Koli castes in Maharashtra. Many of them took to military service in the 16th century for the Deccan sultanates or the Mughals. Later in the 17th and 18th centuries, they served in the armies of the Maratha Kingdom, founded by Shivaji, a Maratha Kunbi by caste. Many Marathas were granted hereditary fiefs by the Sultanates, and Mughals for their service.
Pathare Prabhu is one of the Hindu communities found mainly in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Kulkarni is a family name native to the Indian state of Maharashtra and parts of Karnataka. The name "Kulkarni" is a combination of two words. Kula means "family", and Karanika means "archivist". Historically, Kulkarni was the title given to the village record keeper.
Kayastha denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally located—the Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus of Maharashtra, the Bengali Kayasthas of Bengal and Karanas of Odisha. All of them were traditionally considered "writing castes", who had historically served the ruling powers as administrators, ministers and record-keepers.
Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Brahmins are also concentrated in the states of Telangana (which was earlier part of Hyderabad State and Berar Division), Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (Which was earlier part of Central Provinces and Berar) Historian Pran Nath Chopra and journalist Pritish Nandy say, "Most of the well-known saints from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were Deshastha Brahmins". The mother tongue of Deshastha Brahmins is either Marathi, Kannada or Telugu.
The Chitpavan Brahmin or the Kokanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the community came into prominence during the 18th century when the heirs of Peshwa from the Bhat family of Balaji Vishwanath became the de facto rulers of the Maratha empire. Until the 18th century, the Chitpavans were held in low esteem by the Deshastha, the older established Brahmin community of Karnataka-Maharashtra region.
Deshpande is a surname native to the Indian states of Karnataka, and Maharashtra. The surname can be also found in some parts of Himachal Pradesh. Deshpande surname is found among the Deshastha Brahmins, Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) and the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKP).
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) or historically and commonly known as Chandraseniya Prabhu or just Prabhu is a caste mainly found in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpande and Gadkari according to the historian, B.R. Sunthankar, produced some of the best warriors in Maharashtrian history.
Kotnis is the surname found in multiple communities in Maharashtra. It can belong to the Deshastha Brahmin, Saraswats or Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu(CKP).
Desai is an Indian administrative, princely or honorary title and surname.
Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB), also known as Shenvis are a Hindu community of contested caste status and identity. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue.
Bendre is an Indian surname native to the state of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. Typically it is found in the Marathi Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP), Chitpavan Brahmin and Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin (DRB) communities.
Satyashodhak Samaj was a social reform society founded by Jyotiba Phule in Pune, Maharashtra, on 24 September 1873. The society endeavoured to mitigate the distress and sufferings of Dalits and women. It espoused a mission of education and increased social rights and political access for underprivileged groups, focused especially on women, peasants, and Dalits, in Maharashtra. Jyotirao's wife Savitribai was the head of women's section of the society. The Samaj disbanded during the 1930s as leaders left to join the Indian National Congress party.
Maharashtra is the third largest state of India in terms of land area and second largest in terms of population in India. It has a long history of Marathi saints of Varakari religious movement, such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Chokhamela, Eknath and Tukaram which forms the one of bases of the culture of Maharashtra or Marathi culture. Maharashtrian culture had large influence over neighbouring regions under the Maratha Empire.
Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, was an Indian social reformer, writer and politician. He campaigned against superstitions, untouchability, child marriage and dowry. He was also a prolific author.
Marathi Brahmins are communities native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are classified into mainly three sub-divisions based on their places of origin, "Desh", "Karad" and "Konkan". The Brahmin subcastes that come under Maharashtra Brahmins include Deshastha, Chitpavan (Konkanastha), Saraswat, Karhade, and Devrukhe.
Vaidya, or vaid is a Sanskrit word meaning "doctor, physician". Vaidyan or Vaidyar is a similar term used in the southern region of India to denote a physician, particularly in Kerala.Today it is used to refer to traditional practitionerers of Ayurveda", an indigenous Indian system of alternative medicine. Senior practitioners or teachers were called Vaidyarāja ("physician-king") as a mark of respect. Some practitioners who had complete knowledge of the texts and were excellent at their practices were known as Pranaacharya. Some royal families in India had a personal vaidya in attendance and these people were referred to as Rāja Vaidya.
Gramanya refers to a dispute or discussion related to castes in Maharashtra in the past few centuries that related to supposed violation of the Brahmanical ritual code of behavior.
The Pathare Prabhu Kanchole caste is one of the two sections of the original Pathare Prabhu caste of Mumbai. The Pathare Prabhus had settled in Mumbai, and the region thereabout in the 13th century, and gained prosperity during the development of Bombay by the British in the 18th century. The Pathare Prabhu Kancholes are a few hundred in number, and this section came into existence, within the major caste, in the year 1777, over a quarrel on the occasion of a marriage ceremony in the caste. This smaller section of the main caste is known as Kanchole Pathare Prabhus, as the dispute leading to the schism in the original caste had centred about a kanchole, i.e. a small vessel used for holding sandalwood paste for the purpose of anointing, in honour, the foreheads of guests.
Gadkari is a surname native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. Gadkari surname is found among the Hindu CKP and Deshastha Brahmin communities.
