New History of the Marathas v1.c5.61

v1.c5.61

4. Rise of the Manabhav sect.—With the changes of dynasties, Mahārāshtra preserved its political freedom for some two hundred years more than its sister provinces in the north. Here foreign conquest was never dreamt of and no provision against it was considered necessary. About 1000 A.C. the Muslims began to knock at the gates of India, and by the end of the twelfth century Delhi passed into their hands, ushering in a new political experience for the warring indigenous princes of this vast country. It required a hundred years more for the shock to reach Mahārāshtra from Delhi. During the last quarter of the thirteenth century between about 1270 and 1295 when Jnaneshwar was penning the eulogy of Rāmachandra Yādava, a sudden collapse came, which requires to be explained on the basis of recent historical research. A dim light in the midst of complete darkness is perhaps to be found in the rise of the Mānabhāv sect and the conflict it provoked in the religious sphere. Let us see what the Mānabhāv revolution effected in the spheres of religion, society and politics of the period.