A History of the Mahrattas v1.c5.s3.1

v1.c5.s3.1

The origin of the terms ‘Mahārāshtra’ and ‘Marāthā’ or ‘Mahratta’ is still the subject of speculation, nor is it yet clearly determined whether the name of the Marāthā people is derived from Mahārāshtra, the country in which they dwelt, or whether on the other hand the latter has derived its title from the leading tribes which inhabited it in early ages. The explanation given in Molesworth’s Marāthī dictionary that Mahārāshtra signifies ‘the great country’ is based upon Brahman etymology,¹ and is not now accepted as correct. Unacceptable also is the derivation, originally given by the Mahārs themselves, from ‘Mahār-rāshtra,’ ‘the country of the Mahārs’—the degraded tribe or class which serves the villages of the Deccan as watchmen, guides and scavengers.² The accepted derivation of Gujarāt from Gujar-rāshtra, ‘the country of the Gujars,’ and of Sorath from Saurāshtra, ‘the country of the Sauras,’ does not assist in solving the problem. As will be seen from the succeeding paragraphs, Mr. R. E. Enthoven is inclined to think that Mahārāshtra preceded the word Marāthā in point of time, and that the latter is a derivative signifying merely the people who lived in Mahārāshtra and spoke Mahārāshtri, or rather its popular vernacular form, Marāthī.