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, social scenario. In villages, most of them are cultivators. Many like to join administration, armed forces and police.

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:

1. Jadhav/Yadav are originally from Mathura(Uttar Pradesh), Dwaraka (Gujarat) and Dvarsamudra (Karnataka)

2. More/ Morey, original name Maurya, have their origin in Pataliputra (Patna in modern Bihar), and Shrinagar (Kashmir)

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

-Mahavir Sanglikar