Maratha

plural Marathas

1. A member of a Hindu caste (or caste cluster) that is particularly associated with the Indian state of Maharashtra.

   The latter^([of two elements of anti-casteism]) was dominated by the Maratha caste and a Maratha leadership and was supported by the Maratha ruler of Kolhapur, Chattrapati Shahu, appealing primarily to Maratha-Kunbi cluster in its struggle against upper caste domination.

   2021, Anagha Ingole, Caste Panchayats and Caste Politics in India, Springer Nature (Palgrave Macmillan), page 111

   2 more examples

   2004, D. L. Sheth, Ram Manohar Lohia on Caste in Indian Politics, [extracts from 1996, Lokayan Bulletin], Ghanshyam Shah (editor), Caste and Democratic Politics in India, Wimbledon Publishing Company (Anthem Press), page 81, The Marathas are a peculiar caste of Maharashtra, who claim to be Kshatriyas but are more like the cultivator-Sudras of north India.

   2004, Kumar Suresh Singh (general editor), B. V. Bhanu, et al. (editors), People of India: Maharashtra, Volume 30, Part 2, Anthropological Survey of India, Popular Prakashan, page 1434, The Maratha are a numerically dominant caste in Maharashtra. As said earlier, Maratha is not a caste but a caste cluster, the main component[s] of which are the Marathas proper and the Kunbis or Kulwadis. […] The Maratha speak mainly Marathi, the language of the region.

2. attributiveoftenmore broadly; among historians; more broadly; among historiansA member of a Marathi-speaking people particularly associated with Maharashtra.

   (3) Maratha vessels were to have free access to all French ports, and vice versa.

   1961, Sailendra Nath Sen, Anglo-Maratha Relations During the Administration of Warren Hastings, Volume 1, Popular Prakashan, page 77

   2 more examples

   2023, Sangita Govindrao Ghar, Marathas Contribution in Deccan Plateau, Lulu, page 1, The first major threat to Moghul imperial power came from a Hindu tribal confederacy known as the Marathas. Located in the mountainous regions of the Deccan, the Marathas were mainly drawn from the lowest caste of society, but they became a powerfully militant community under their ruler, King Sivaji, who died in 1680.

   Then around 2 pm, a detachment of Maratha irregular horse approached and engaged the allied contingent of Mysore horse that were riding forward outpost duty for the British.

   2003, Randolf G. S. Cooper, The Anglo-Maratha Campaigns and the Contest for India, Cambridge University Press, page 126

1. The Marathi language.