Maharashtra (महाराष्ट्र) is India's third largest state in terms of area and second big within terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. These are bordered per states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. A Arabian Sea makes up the state's american coast. Mumbai (Bombay), India's largest city, is the capital of Maharashtra.

Origin of the name
Maharashtra was referred to as "Rashtra" in the Rig Veda, "Rashtrik" in Ashoka's inscriptions, and "Maha rashtra" afterward, every bit attested by Huein-Tsang & more traveler. A title appears to exist as from either "Maharashtri" around an old form of Prakrit, an ancient Indian language.

Nonetheless, there are more theories put send on by different schools of thought: of these version suggests a derivation of the title from either "land of the Mahars and the Rattas". An additional conceivable derivation is believed to become a corruption of the term "Maha Kantara", which means "Great Forest". Each these theories did non carry good deal weightage equally may be seen from either a title of Maha rashtra.

History
Archaeologic grounds to believe indicates that Maharashtra was inhabited since a Palaeolithic era. Non lot is known astir Maharashtra's early history, & its recorded history dates back to the 3rd century BC, with the have a Maharastri language, a Prakrit corruption of Sanskrit. Late, Maharashtrthe became a section of the Magadha empire, ruled by the Buddhist emperor Ashoka. A larboard town of Sopara, just northward of present day Mumbai, was a centre of ancient India's commerce, by owning links to Eastern Africa, Mesopotamia, Aden and Cochin. Using a disintegration of a Mauryan Empire, Maharashtra come under the rule of the Satavahanas between 230 BC and 225 AD.

When you took a reign of the Vakatakas (250 AD–525 AD), Vidarbha, the eastern area of Maharashtra, are under their rule. In the time period of this period, development of arts, religion and technology flourished. Per 6th century, Maharashtra came under a reign of the Chalukyas. Late, around 753, the area was governed by Rashtrakutas, an empire that spread over virtually all of peninsula India. Within 973, the Rashtrakutas were overthrown per Chalukayas, world health organization ruled area of Maharashtra until 1189 when it came under a mitts of the Yadavas of Deogiri.

Maharashtra come under Islamic influence for a first time when the Delhi Sultanate rulers Ala-ud-din Khalji, and late Muhammad bin Tughluq appropriated parts of the Deccan in the 13th century. When a collapse of the Tughlaqs in 1347, the Bahmani Sultanate took over, governing a vicinity for the next 150 years. Per 16th century, central Maharashtra was ruled by numerous autonomous Islamic kingdoms that owed allegiance to the Mughals, while coastal vicinity was annexed per Portuguese, in their quest to seize control of the spice trade.

Per early 17th century the Maratha Empire began to take root. A Marathas, indigen to american Maharashtra, were led by Shivaji Bhosle, who was crowned king inside 1674. Under his successors, a Maratha Empire reached their zenith, encompassing nigh a entire Deccan, central India & extending into area of modern day Pakistan and Bangladesh . When defeating a Mughals in 1707, a Marathas became the dominant rulers of India. Using dying of Shahu within 1749, Peshwa became head of Maratha empire. Fallowing suffering the heavily kill to the Afghan chieftain Ahmad Shah Abdali, in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, the Maratha Confederacy broke into regional kingdoms such as Gwalior, Poona, Indore etc. By having a arrival & subsequent involvement of the British East India Company around Indian politics, the two were included inside tierce major battles, culminating inside the annexation of Peshwa ruled territory in Maharashtra in 1819, which heralded the prevent of the Maratha empire.

A British governed a vicinity when a portion of the Bombay Presidency, which spanned an area from either Karachi in Pakistan to most of the northern Deccan. A British rule was marked by social reforms, an improvement within infrastructure also insurrection due to their prejudiced policies. At a beginning of the 20th century, a non-unbloody struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi began to take shape. Within 1942, the Quit India Movement was called by Gandhi which was marked by the non-unbloody civil disobedience movement & strikes. When India's independence within 1947, independent princely states in central India joined a Indian Union. Inside 1956, Bombay state came into existence which merged a princely states of central India into Bombay Presidency. In 1960-05-01, a state of Maharashtra inherit being, carved away from the Marathi-speaking territory of Bombay state. Favourable economic policies in the 1970s led to Maharashtra becoming India's leading industrial state.

Look at as well: Timeline of Maharashtra history History of India Social Reform Movement in Maharashtra

Geography
Maharashtra encompasses an region of 308,000 km² (119,000 mi²), the third big around India fallowing Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra is bordered per states of Madhya Pradesh northerly, Chhattisgarh to the east, Andhra Pradesh to the southeast, Karnataka south & Goa to the southwest. A state of Gujarat lies to a northwest, by having a Union territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli sandwiched between the borders. A Arabian Sea is Maharashtra's west coast.

A Western Ghats are a mountainous range which diarrhea parallel to the coast at an typical elevation of 1,200 metres (4,000 feet)). To a west one hills lie the Konkan coastal plains which are then 50–80 kilometres inside breadth. To a east of the Ghats lies the flat Deccan Plateau. A American Ghats form one of a trinity watersheds of India of which many South Indian rivers originate from. Northward of a state, touching a Madhya Pradesh border, lies the Satpura Range.

A American Ghats form a source major streams, lakes, and wells throughout of South India, notable a Godavari and the Krishna, two major streams, lakes, and wells throughout of Deccan India. A streams, lakes, & wells throughout, along sustaining their feeder flow eastward, irrigating virtually all of central and eastern Maharashtra voidance into a Bay of Bengal. A Ghats come as well a source of many little streams, lakes, and wells throughout which flow westward emptying into a Arabian Sea. Northerly of a state, the streams, lakes, and wells throughout Tapi and Narmada flow westwards, irrigating virtually all of northern Maharashtra.

A tableland is composed of nigrify basalt soil, rich in humus.

Economy
Maharashtra's is India's leading industrial state contributing 23% of India's industrial output. 64.14% of the population come listed within agriculture and allied activities. Major industries inside Maharashtra include chemical substance & allied products, electrical & non-electrical machinery, material, petroleum and allied products. More crucial industries include metallic products, wine, jewellery, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, machine tools, steel and iron castings and plastic wares. Food crops include mangoes, grapes, bananas, oranges, wheat, rice, jowar, bajra, and pulses. Cash crops include groundnut, cotton, sugarcane, turmeric, and tobacco. A nett irrigated metropolitan area numbers 33,500 square kilometres.

Mumbai, a capital of Maharashtra houses a headquarters of virtually whole major banks, financial institutions, insurance underwriter & mutual funds. In Mumbai is placed Bollywood, it is a epicenter of India's Hindi film and television industry. A Bombay Stock Exchange, India's oldest and big stock market is in the city. Fallowing successes in the information technology in the neighbouring states, Maharashtra has install software parks in Pune, Mumbai, & Nashik.

Government
Such as completely states around India, a head of state is the governor, appointed by the Central government. His or even her post is largely ceremonial. A Chief Minister is the head of government and is vested with virtually all of the executive powers. Maharashtra's capital is Mumbai, home to the Vidhan Sabha – the state assembly and Mantralaya, the administrative agents of the government. These are too page to the Bombay High Court which has jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Goa, & a Union Territory of Daman and Diu. A legislative convenes its budget & monsoon sessions withinside Mumbai, & a wintertime session in Nagpur, which wwhen intended as a state's auxiliary capital.

Maharashtra's legislative is bicameral, one of the couple of states within India to have a tyrannise nature and severity. A Legislative Assembly – the Vidhan Sabha is the lower home consisting of directly elective members. A Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) is the upper house, whose members come indirectly voted across an electoral college. Maharashtra is allocated 19 seats in the Rajya Sabha and forty-eight in the Lok Sabha, India's national parliament.

When India's independence, virtually all of Maharashtra's political history was dominated per Congress party. Maharashtrthe became a bastion of the Congress person producing loyalist such as Y.B. Chavan, one of its most prominent Chief Ministers. A person enjoyed close unquestioned dominance of the political landscape until 1995 when the right wing Shiv Sena and BJP secured an overwhelming majority in the state to form a coalition. A Shiv Sena by owning its pro-Marathi stance renamed Bombay to Mumbai & besides numerous more compound institutions when historic local denomination. Fallowing the split in the Congress person, previous chief minister Sharad Pawar formed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), but formed a coalition by having a Congress to shut out the BJP-SS combine. A 2004 elections saw a NCP gaining a multitude of seats to turn into a state's big person, eroding great deal of the Shiv Sena's base. Under a pre-poll power sharing agreement, a Primary Minister would become from either either a Congress when a deputy Main Minister would exist as from the NCP.

Demographics
The individual indigene to the state is known as the Maharashtrian. When by a the 2001 census, Maharashtra has a people of 96,752,247 habitant getting it a title 2nd virtually all thickly settled state inside India, & the 2nd most populous subnational entity in existence. Exclusively eleven countries of the globe have a people greater than Maharashtra. Its density is 322.Quintuplet dweller by the square kilometre. Males be Fifty.Three million & females, 46.Four million. Maharashtra's urban people stands at 42.4%. Its sex ratio is 922 females to Thou males. 77.27% of its people is literate person, broken into 86.2% males & 67.5% females. Its rate of growth between 1991-2001 was pegged at 22.57%.

Marathi is the official state language. Marathi is spoken by the immense majority of its world. Within Mumbai all the same, due to its universal nature and severity, Marathi is non every bit widely spoken when Hindi and English. Marathi, English & another time Hindi come utilized for official purposes. In the north-west part of Maharashtrthe, Gujarati is spoken by a minority.

the state has a Hindu majority of Eighty.2% by owning minorities of Muslims 10.6%, Buddhists 6%, & Christians 1%.

Divisions
Maharashtra is divided into thirty-5 districts, which are grouped into 6 divisions: Aurangabad, Amravati, Konkan, Nagpur, Nashik, and Pune. Which are actually official revenue divisions of government of Maharashtra.

Geographically, historically & based on data from political sentiments Maharashtra has 5 independent regions Vidarbha( Nagpur and ( Amravati divisions), division), Marathwada ( Aurangabad division), north maharashtra( Nashik division), Western maharashtra ( Pune section), and Konkan ( Konkan division).

Maharashtra has an extended standing dispute by owning Karnataka on the sovereignty of the Belgaum district in northwest Karnataka. Whenever India's states were drawn in linguistic evidence, Belgaum was merged into Karnatakthe despite with a big Marathi-speaking people. Recently, a Maharashtra government took a interest the Supreme Court, but misused a experience. Yet, Maharashtrthe considers Belgaum to exist when a a portion of the state & recognises its residents as its have.

Transport
A Indian Railways covers most of the Maharashtra & is the favorite mode of transfer across trunk call. Just about a entire state comes under a Central Railways branch which is headquartered in Mumbai. Virtually all of a coast south of Mumbai comes under the Konkan Railway. ST buses link virtually all of the towns & villages & have a big network of operation. These buses, redo per state government come a favorite mode of transfer for lot of its public. Additionally to the government do buses, personal do luxury buses come as well the popular mode of conveyance between major towns.

Mumbai has Maharashtra's exclusively international airport and large towns like Aurangabad, Pune, Nagpur, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur and Solapur have domestic aerodrome. Ferry services likewise work touching a capital, linking a city to neighboring coastal towns. More modes of public shipping like the seven-seater tempo use gained popularity inside semi-urban areas. Maharashtra has a big main road network & recently built the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the number 1 fully concretised highway in India. Maharashtra has ternion ports, a largest existence a state capital, Mumbai which handles half of India's rider traffic. JNPT lying opposite Mumbai is an additional port rerun per Central government. In the southern a portion of the state, Ratnagiri handles the exportation of ores mined in the Maharastra boondocks.