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History
The very first inhabitants of the region now called Maharashtra were the nomadic groups of people who eked out an existence hunting and foraging for food way back in the Paleolithic period. When the region became part of the great Mauryan Empire, it opened up to trade routes and cultural influences of northern India, but the first kings to make an impact belonged to the Satavahana dynasty (230 BC to 225 AD). The first Buddhist caves found in Maharashtra were constructed around that time. After the decline of the Satavahanas, a succession of Hindu dynasties - Vakatakas, Kalachuri, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas (responsible for building the phenomenal Kailasa temple at Ellora) and the Yadavas- ruled the region.
With the advent of the Muslims around the 13th century AD, Hindu rulers found themselves battling against the expansionist intentions of the sultans of Delhi. By 1294, the Yadavas had been decimated and the sultans of the Delhi Sultanate became the overlords. Mohammad bin Tughlak of the Tughlak dynasty is remembered to this day for his failed attempt to shift his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (near Aurangabad) in the 14th century. The experiment failed, but not before thousands of his subjects had died during the forced march from Delhi, and the survivors had suffered further misery for want of water in the new capital.
The state entered a new phase in history in the 17th century when its greatest hero, Shivaji (1627-1680) welded the local principalities into a powerful Maratha state. With his highly effective guerrilla warfare, he even took on the mighty Mughal Empire. As the Mughal Empire declined, the Marathas gradually expanded their empire all the way from Tanjore in the south to Gwalior in the north and Orissa in the east. The Marathas were finally brought to a halt in 1761 when the Afghan, Ahmad Shah Abdali routed them in the decisive battle of Panipat. The British East India Company’s tentacles spread across the Indian Subcontinent though it would take the British another half a century to finally crush the Marathas in 1818. With this, the region adapted to its new role as the British power base of the Bombay Presidency.
The state played an important part in the growth of national consciousness with the likes of Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Bal Gangadhar Tilak leading a movement to regenerated nationalism. Bombay became the birthplace of the Indian National Congress in 1885 from where Mahatma Gandhi spearheaded the struggle for independence. With independence in 1947, Bombay Presidency was renamed Bombay State and thirteen years later, on 1 May 1960, split into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on linguistic basis. more hide
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Economy
Maharashtra is a highly industrialised state, one, which has less than ten percent of the total Indian population but generates nearly one-fourth of the gross value of the Indian industrial sector. It accounts for nearly 40 % of the total tax collections in the country, 14.7% of India’s gross domestic product and 15.1 % of the national income. Mumbai is a major business, commercial and industrial centre, with the headquarters of many national conglomerates and international corporations and banks located here. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is the premier stock exchange in the country and its sensex is considered to be a valid indication of the financial health and investment trends, not only in the city but also for the entire country.
Mumbai is also Maharashtra’s (and India’s) leading port; it also handles much of the import and export traffic of the country. Mumbai is also famous as the home of Hindi film industry, popularly called Bollywood, a major industry that adds glamour and glitz as well as provides employment and generates megabucks. Pharmaceuticals, Petrochemicals, heavy chemicals, electronics, automobiles, engineering, food processing and plastics are the other major industries in the state. Manufacturing industries are centered in Mumbai and in cities like Nagpur, Nasik, Aurangabad, Sholapur and Kolhapur. Textiles have long been important industry in the state that now is being recognized as the premier centre for electronics. The main crops grown in Maharashtra are sugar cane, cotton, peanuts, tobacco and pulses. more hide
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