Maratha History: 96 Clans of Maratha Community
Maratha is a warrior community from Deccan Plateau of India. They are politically strong in the state of Maharashtra and play a major role in political, cultural and social scenario. In villages, most of them are cultivators. Many of them like to join administration, armed forces and police. Maratha Regiment and Maratha Light Infantry are two famous regiments of Indian Army and major part of these two regiments are comprised of soldiers from Maratha and related communities.
Marathas have a long history as the word Marhatta is found in Marhatti Prakrit language from ancient times. The word is at least 2000 years old.
Maratha is an Endogamous Group and has 96 Main Clans in the community. Each Clan has 100 to 250 sub clans. These clans and sub clans are used as surnames. Marrage in same clans is not permitted. In some regions, especially in Karnataka, Andhra and South Maharashtra, there was a tradition of marrying with maternal sister, and marriages between Sister's daughter and Maternal uncle was common until recent past. Now these traditions are almost disappeared. These traditions are strong evidences of South Indian culture of Marathas.
When we study the origins of the 96 clans, we find many Royal clans amongst them. The major Royal clans are: Jadhav, More, Kadam, Chalukya/Salunkhe, Shinde/Scindia, Shelar, Sawant, Kalachure, Rathod, Mane, Rane, Chavan, Sisode, Bhosale, Pawar, Gaikwad etc. When we study origin of these clans, we find that Maratha community is formed by amalgamation of Royal clans from different parts of India. Please see below:
Famous Clans of Marathas
1. Jadhav/Yadav are originally from Mathura(Uttar Pradesh), Dwaraka (Gujarat) and Dvarsamudra (Karnataka). They are descendants of Yadus of ancient India. They have a rich history. A large part of Maratha community belongs to Jadhav/Yadav clan and its sub clans.
2. More/ Morey: Original name Maurya, have their origin in Pataliputra (Patna in modern Bihar), and Shrinagar (Kashmir). They are descendants of Chandragupta Maurya, the first emperor of ancient India. The Moreys of Jawali were famous at the time and before Chhatrapati Shivaji.
3. Kadam/ Kadamb: An ancient clan, their capital was at Vanvasi (Karnataka)
4 Salunkhe: They are originally Chalukya, ruled from South Maharashtra, North East Karnataka and Gujarat
5. Shinde/Scindia: This is an ancient clan, having Sind as their original name and came to south from Ahichhatra (Uttar Pradesh)
6. Shelar: They were called as Shilahar, having origin in Ratta dynasty of North Karnataka, originally from North
7. Sawant: Sawants were Generals of Shilahars, are from Karnataka and South Maharashtra
8. Kalachure: Their origin is in Kalchuri dynasty of North East Karnataka and adjoining parts of Maharashtra
9. Rathod: They were originally known as Rattaud, (Sanskritized Rashtrkoot), originally from North East Karnataka
10: Mane: It was a small branch of Rattauds, known as Mananakar. Ruled from Maandesh, a part of Present day Satara and Sangli districts of Maharashtra.
11: Rane: They are originally Rana of Rajputana (Rajsthan). Rane is Marathi form of Rana
12: Chavan: Chavans are originally Chauhans of Rajputata, Rajasthan. Their original name is Chahman
13: Sisode: Originally Sisodia of Udaipur, Rajsthan. Sisodias are of Scythian origin.
14: Bhosale: Although the origin of Bhosales is tried to find in Sisodia Rajputs, new research proves that they are of Hoysal origin. Hoysals ruled from Dvarsamudra, Karnataka
15: Pawar: Pawars are originally Parmars, also known as Pratihars. Their seat was at Dhar, Madhya Pradesh
-Mahaveer Sanglikar
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