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	*~~] theatre is most prominent in India.~~Playwrights like ], ] are famous while plays like ], ], ], ], ] are considered milestones in Indian theatre.		*Playwrights like ], ] are famous while plays like ], ], ], ], ] are considered milestones in Indian theatre{{fact}}.

	== Notable Maharashtrians ==		== Notable Maharashtrians ==

Revision as of 16:43, 19 September 2006

Ethnic group

Marathi People OR Maharashtrians
( मराठी माणसं / महाराष्ट्रीयन )
Regions with significant populations
File:Maharashtrian people.jpg
Primary populations in: Maharashtra Goa Significant populations in: Karnataka Andhra Pradesh Gujarat Madhya Pradesh Mauritius Israel Other: United Kingdom United States Arab States Singapore Hong Kong UAE Switzerland
Languages
Marathi
Religion
Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Indo-Iranians, Indo-Aryans

The Marathi people or Maharashtrians (Marathi: मराठी माणसं or महाराष्ट्रीयन)are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages. They have an extraordinary military history going back to the time of the Maratha warriors and have founded several Maratha empires in the subcontinent before the arrival of the British. They are mostly descended from the ancient Aryans though there may be some of Caucasian, Dravidian, Hunnic and Indo-Scythian descent.

Etymology

The Marathi people are also known as Maharashtrians. In the Marathi language, they refer to themselves as marathi manoos. They are called Marathi people because of the language they speak, Marathi. Several theories have been proposed by various scholars for the etymology of the words "Marāthi" and "Maharashtra". One theory holds that a reference to a clan known as "Rāshtrika" in some of Ashoka's inscriptions alludes to a people of the Deccan, who were progenitors of the Marathi-speaking people; that the later "Mahārāshtri Prakrit" is associated with these people; and that Marāthi is a derivation of the word Mahārāshtri. It must be noted that Mahārāshtri Prakrit was the official language of the Satavahana Empire as well. This theory, however, does not address the deeper root of the word Rāshtrika and its use in reference exclusively to a specific people in south-central India. The Sanskrit word "Rāshtra" is presently translated to "nation" (Rāshtrika meaning "national") but in millennia past, the word could apparently be applied to any sizable administrative division.

Other theories link the words Marāthi and Rāshtri with Ratta, supposedly a corruption of Rāshtrakuta, the name of a dynasty that held sway over the Deccan from the 8th-10th centuries CE. However, the Ashokan inscriptions predate the Rashtrakutas by more than a millennium, and these theories cannot be reconciled.

Religion

Most Marathi people are Hindus, although there are sizeable minorities of Muslims and Neo-Buddhists. There is a small minority of Christians as well. There is a small but vibrant community of Marathi Jews, popularly known as Bene Israelis. Though most of them have migrated to Israel, there are 3,000 Bene Israelis still in Maharashtra. Most of them stay around the Mumbai and Pune region. These Bene Israelis make up more than half of the total poulation of Jews in India.

Marathi people Outside India

Many Marathi people have migrated to other countries and settled there. Significant number of Marathis have settled in United Kingdom, United States Of America, Mauritius, Israel and Switzerland.

Trivia

Maharashtrians have been very lucky with Oscar awards.The first Indian Academy award winner was Bhanu Athaiya for the film Gandhi.. Marathi film Shwaas was the first vernacular film to get honour of representing India at Oscars.Maharashtrian directors Ashutosh Gowarikar(Lagaan) and Amol Palekar (Paheli) have had their movies as the India's official entries for Oscars.