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107-722: Namdev (Pronunciation: [naːmdeʋ] ), also transliterated as Nam Dayv, Namdeo, Namadeva, (traditionally, c.  26 October 1270  – c.  3 July 1350 ) was a Marathi Vaishnava saint from Narsi , Hingoli , Maharashtra , Medieval India within the Varkari tradition of Hinduism. He was as a devotee of the deity Vithoba of Pandharpur . Namdev was influenced by Vaishnavism and became widely known in India for his devotional songs set to music ( bhajan-kirtans ). His philosophy contains both nirguna brahman and saguna brahman elements, with Vedanta themes. Namdev's legacy

214-426: A devaghar with idols, symbols, and pictures of various deities for daily worship. Ritual reading of religious texts known as pothi is also popular in some communities. In some traditional families, food is first offered to the preferred deity in the household shrine, as naivedya , before being consumed by family members and guests. Meals or snacks are not taken before this religious offering. In present times,

321-776: A Brahmin). The close friendship between Namdev and the influential Jnanesvar, a Brahmin yogi -saint, is mentioned in Bhaktamal . The songs of Namdev, also called kirtans , use the term loka , which Novetzke states is a reference to "we the people" and the "human world" as a social force. Namdev is considered one of the five revered gurus in the Dadupanth tradition within Hinduism, the other four being Dadu , Kabir , Ravidas and Hardas . Dadupanthi Hindus thrived in Rajasthan , creating and compiling Bhakti poems including one of

428-466: A banquet was prepared for him - he killed the merchant's son. O Pandit, I saw your Raam Chand coming too; he lost his wife, fighting a war against Raawan. The Hindu is sightless; the Muslim has only one eye. The spiritual teacher is wiser than both of them. The Hindu worships at the temple, the Muslim at the mosque. Naam Dayv serves that Lord, who is not limited to either the temple or the mosque. One stone

535-524: A basis. We have here a state of affairs that has no parallel in the West. Supreme Wisdom, which can be taken as basically nontheistic and as an independent wisdom tradition (not dependent on the Vedas), appears fused with highest level of bhakti and with highest level of God realization." Along with the works of sants such as Jnanesvar and Tukaram , the writings of Namdev are at the foundation of beliefs held by

642-736: A belief in Vithoba . Along with the Jñānēśvarī , a sacred work of Jñānēśvar, and of Bhakti movement teacher-writers such as Tukaram , the writings of Namdev form the basis of the beliefs held by the Varkari sect of Hinduism. He was thus among those responsible for disseminating the monotheistic Varkari faith that had emerged first in Karnataka in the mid-to-late 12th century and then spread to Pandharpur in Maharashtra. Namdev and Jñānēśvar used

749-706: A century. The Maharashtra Mandal of London was founded in 1932. A small number of Marathi people also settled in British East Africa during the colonial era. After the African Great Lakes countries of Kenya , Uganda and Tanganyika gained independence from Britain, most of the South Asian population residing there, including Marathi people, migrated to the United Kingdom, or India. Large-scale immigration of Indians into

856-414: A dispute with Karnataka regarding the districts of Belgaum and Karwar , both with a large population of Marathi people. For the first time, the creation of Maharashtra brought most Marathi people under one state with the mainly rural Kunbi-Maratha community as the largest social group. This group has dominated the rural economy and politics of the state since 1960. The community accounts for 31% of

963-464: A hagiographer, noted it in his Bhaktamal . Jñāneśvar, also known as Jñāndev, never referred to Namdev in his writings but perhaps had no cause to do so; Novetzke notes that "Jnandev's songs generally did not concern biography or autobiography; the historical truth of their friendship is beyond my ken to determine and has remained an unsettled subject in Marathi scholarship for over a century." Namdev

1070-545: A holy person. The Niranjani Vani , which is their scripture just like the scriptures of Dadu Panthi and Sikhs, includes poetry of Namdev, and is dated to be from the 17th and 18th centuries. Namdev is one of the revered holy men in Sikhism as well. He is mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib, where Novetzke notes, "Namdev is remembered as having been summoned to confront a Sultan." There is a controversy among scholars if

1177-750: A large realm stretching from Gwalior to Cuttack . In the mid-17th century, Shivaji founded the Maratha Kingdom by conquering the Desh and the Konkan regions from Bijapur kingdom, and established Hindavi Swaraj ("self-rule of Hindu people"). The Marathas are credited to a large extent with weakening Mughal rule in India. After Shivaji's death, the Mughals invaded the Deccan in 1681. Shivaji's son Sambhaji , also his successor as Chhatrapati , led

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1284-573: A rarely recounted variant version of Namdev's Tirthavli , a Marathi-language autobiographical piece. It is evident that the Guru Granth Sahib ji record is an accurate rendition of what Namdev wrote: the oral tradition probably accounts significantly for the changes and additions that appear to have been made by that time. The numerous subsequently produced manuscripts also show variant texts and additions that are attributed to him. Of around 2500 abhangs that were credited to him and written in

1391-497: A river, is first found in Mahipati's Bhaktavijay composed around 1762, and is absent in all earlier biographies of Namdev. Mahipati's biography of Namdev adds numerous other miracles, such as buildings rotating and sun rising in the west to show respect to Namdev. The earliest surviving Hindi and Rajasthani biographies from about 1600 only mention a few miracles performed by Namdev. In Namdev biographies published after 1600 through

1498-528: A single critical edition . The state Government of Maharashtra made an effort and compiled Namdev's work from various manuscripts into the Sri Namdev Gatha in 1970. The Adi Granth of Sikhism includes a compilation of 61 songs of Namdev. However, of these only 25 are found in surviving Namdev-related manuscripts of Rajasthan. Winand Callewaert suggests that Namdev's poems in the Adi Granth and

1605-402: A source of economic power and pride and were reluctant to part with it. The watandars were the first to oppose Shivaji because it hurt their economic interests. Since most of the population was Hindu and spoke Marathi, even the sultans such as Ibrahim Adil Shah I adopted Marathi as the court language for administration and record-keeping. Islamic rule also led to Persian vocabulary entering

1712-459: A spiritual message. They built on one among the many ancient Indian traditions for making music and singing. Namdev's bhajans, note Callewaert and Lath, deployed particular species of Raag , used Bhanita (or Chhap , a stamp of the composer's name inside the poem, in his case Nama ), applied a Tek (or dhruva , repeated refrain) and a meter than helps harmonise the wording with the musical instrument, all according to Sangita manuals refined from

1819-401: Is commendably crafted with great effort and spiritual dedication. While previously published with the renowned commentary of Priyadas Ji, this edition stands out due to several distinct aspects compared to earlier versions. The editor judiciously incorporated various ancient manuscripts for textual revisions and employed discretion in using descriptions from these manuscripts, especially regarding

1926-482: Is considered the forerunner of the Indian National Congress established in 1885. The most prominent personalities of Indian nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th century, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Bal Gangadhar Tilak , on opposite sides of the political spectrum, were both Marathi. Tilak was instrumental in using Shivaji and Ganesh worship in forging a collective Maharashtrian identity for

2033-476: Is generally considered by Sikhs to be a holy man ( bhagat ), many of whom came from lower castes and so also attracted attention as social reformers. Such men, who comprised both Hindus and Muslims, traditionally wrote devotional poetry in a style that was acceptable to the Sikh belief system. A tradition in Maharashtra is that Namdev died at the age of eighty in 1350 CE. Sikh tradition maintains that his death place

2140-507: Is lovingly decorated, while another stone is walked upon. If one is a god, then the other must also be a god. Says Naam Dayv, I serve the Lord. Indian traditions attribute varying theosophical views to Namdev. In north India, Namdev is considered as a nirguna bhakta , in Marathi culture he is considered a saguna bhakta . In Namdev literature, devotion as the path to liberation is considered superior to alternative paths. Novetzke states that

2247-402: Is performed before a family formally establishes residence in a new house. Satyanarayana Puja is a ceremony performed before commencing any new endeavour or for no particular reason. Invoking the name of the family's gotra and the kuladevata are important aspects of these ceremonies for many communities. Like most other Hindu communities, the Marathi people have a household shrine called

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2354-547: Is remembered in modern times in the Varkari tradition, along with those of other gurus , with masses of people walking together in biannual pilgrimages to Pandharpur in Maharashtra. He is also recognised in the North Indian traditions of the Dadu Panthis, Kabir Panthis and Sikhs. Some hymns of Namdev are included in the Guru Granth Sahib . Traditional Details of the life of Namdev are vague. His family name

2461-487: Is widely believed to be an unbiased account of bhaktas across all sectarian paths. The Bhaktamal gives the earliest reliable account of many bhaktas , and hence is considered an important source for literary and devotional history of northern India . For example, Bhaktamal mentions about peity of Ramanandi saint Shri Bhagwanji of Gurdaspur (in Punjab ) and miraculous powers of his disciple Shri Narainji, who founded

2568-701: The Bharatiya Janata Party in recent years have not dented Maratha caste representation in the Maharashtra Legislative assembly. After the Maratha-Kunbi cluster, the scheduled caste (SC) Mahars are numerically the second-largest community among the Marathi people in Maharashtra. Most of them embraced Buddhism in 1956 with their leader, B. R. Ambedkar. Writers from this group in the 1950s and 1960s were pioneers of Dalit Literature . The Portuguese-occupied enclave of Goa

2675-683: The Chola dynasty . The Yadava dynasty of Deogiri , ruled Maharashtra from the 13th century to the 14th century. The Yadavas were defeated by the Khaljis in 1321. After the defeat of Yadavas, the area was ruled for the next 300 years by a succession of Muslim rulers including (in chronological order): the Khaljis , the Tughlaqs , and the Bahmani Sultanate and its successor states called

2782-522: The Deccan sultanates , such as Adilshahi , Nizamshahi , and the Mughal Empire . The early period of Islamic rule saw the imposition of a Jaziya tax on non-Muslims, temple destruction and forcible conversions. However, the mainly Hindu population and their Islamic rulers came to an accommodation over time. For most of this period Brahmins were in charge of accounts, whereas revenue collection

2889-873: The East India Trading Company and then under the British Raj , from 1858. During this era Marathi people resided in the Bombay presidency , Berar , Central provinces , Hyderabad state and in various princely states that are currently part of present-day Maharashtra. The 1951 census of India had 4.5 million people in the erstwhile Hyderabad state who stated Marathi as their mother tongue. Significant Marathi populations also resided in Maratha princely states far from Maharashtra such as Baroda , Gwalior , Indore , and Tanjore . The British colonial period saw standardisation of Marathi grammar through

2996-800: The Harivamsa , the Yadava kingdom called Anaratta is described as mostly inhabited by the Abhiras (Abhira-praya-manusyam). The Anartta country and its inhabitants were called Surastra and the Saurastras , probably after the Rattas (Rastras) akin to the Rastrikas of Asoka's rock Edicts, now known as Maharashtra and the Marathas. During the ancient period, around 230 BC, Maharashtra came under

3103-493: The Hindustani speaking areas or from Southern India , however, a significant number of immigrants to Mauritius were Marathis. Since the state of Israel was established in 1948, around 25,000–30,000 Indian Jews have emigrated there, of which around 20,000 were from the Marathi speaking Bene Israel community of Konkan. Indians, including Marathi People, have migrated to Europe and particularly Great Britain for more than

3210-574: The Marathi language rather than Sanskrit for their devotional and philosophical compositions. The decline of Islamic rule in Deccan started when Shivaji (1630–1680) founded the Maratha Kingdom by annexing a portion of the Bijapur Sultanate . Shivaji later led rebellions against Mughal rule, thus becoming a symbol of Hindu resistance and self-rule. The Marathas contributed greatly to weakening imperial Mughal rule and went on to rule over

3317-409: The Marathi language to convey their beliefs. Namdev's style was to compose simply worded praise for Vithoba and to use a melodic device called samkirtana , both of which were accessible to common people. Shima Iwao says that "He taught that all can be saved equally, without regard to caste, through devotion ( bhakti ) to Vithoba" and that he greatly influenced groups of people who were forbidden by

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3424-696: The Shindes , Gaekwad , Pawar , Bhonsale of Nagpur, and the Holkars . The Confederacy at its peak stretched from northern Karnataka in the south to Peshawar (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ) briefly during the Maratha–Afghan War in the north, and to Orissa in the east. However, after the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, in which the Marathas were defeated by the Afghans under Ahmed Shah Abdali ,

3531-684: The Vidarbha region from the Central Provinces and Berar . The enlarged state also included Gujarati -speaking areas. The southernmost part of Bombay State was ceded to Mysore . From 1954 to 1955, Marathi people strongly protested against the bilingual Bombay State , and the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti was formed to agitate for a Marathi-speaking state. At the same time, the Mahagujarat Movement

3638-563: The Yadava dynasty . Other family deities of the people of Maharashtra are Bhavani of Tuljapur , Mahalaxmi of Kolhapur , Mahalaxmi of Amravati , Renuka of Mahur , Parashuram in Konkan, Saptashringi on Saptashringa hill at Vani in Nasik district, and Balaji . Despite the system of worshipping kuladevatas, the worship of Ganesha , Vitthala , and other popular avatars of Vishnu such as Rama or Krishna are extremely popular across

3745-410: The kuladevata . This deity is common to a lineage or a clan of several families who are connected to each other through a common ancestor. The Khandoba of Jejuri is an example of a kuladevata of some families; he is a common kuladevata to several castes ranging from Brahmins and Dhangar to Dalits . The practice of worshiping local or territorial deities as kuladevatas began in the period of

3852-460: The naivedya is offered by families only on days of special religious significance. Many Marathi people trace their paternal ancestors to one of the seven or eight sages, the saptarshi . They classify themselves as gotras, named after the ancestor rishi . Intra-marriage within gotras (Sagotra Vivaha) was uncommon until recently, being discouraged as it was likened to incest. Most Marathi families have their own family patron or protective deity or

3959-561: The 14th to 18th centuries, a period described in Maharashtra culture as the dark age. This was a period of Muslim conquest and repression of Hindus under the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire . The literary works not composed by Namdev, but attributed to Namdev were partly a product of this historical suffering and political situation in Deccan region of India. Some of the poetries of another Poet named Vishnudas Namadev who lived in 15th century are also attributed to this Namadev,

4066-535: The 17th century, when the Maratha Empire was established by Shivaji in 1674. According to R. G. Bhandarkar , the term Maratha is derived from Rattas, a tribe which held political supremacy in the Deccan from the remotest time. The Rattas called themselves Maha Rattas or Great Rattas, and thus the country in which they lived came to be called Maharashtra , the Sanskrit of which is Maha-rashtra. In

4173-427: The 18th century, Namdev's parents were Damashet and Gonai, a childless elderly couple whose prayers for parenthood were answered and involved him being found floating down a river. As with various other details of his life, elements such as this may have been invented to sidestep issues that might have caused controversy. In this instance, the potential controversy was that of caste or, more specifically, his position in

4280-470: The 1930s, Jedhe merged the non-Brahmin party with the Congress party and changed that party from an upper-caste-dominated body to a more broadly based but also Maratha-dominated party. The early 20th century also saw the rise of B. R. Ambedkar , who led the campaign for the rights of the dalits caste that included his own Mahar caste. The Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS )

4387-558: The 1990s it led the government of Maharashtra's coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During this transition from founding to capturing power, the party toned down its rhetoric against non-Marathi people and adopted a more Hindu nationalist stance. The Marathi people form an ethnolinguistic group that is distinct from others in terms of its language, history, cultural and religious practices, social structure, literature, and art. The traditional caste hierarchy

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4494-465: The 20th century with the blessing of Shahu , the ruler of the princely state of Kolhapur . The campaign took off in the early 1920s under the leadership of Keshavrao Jedhe and Baburao Javalkar. Both belonged to the non-Brahmin party. Capturing the Ganpati and Shivaji festivals from Brahmin domination were their early goals. They combined nationalism with anti-casteism as the party's aims. Later on in

4601-469: The 8th to 13th centuries. The musical genre of Namdev's literary works was a form of Prabandha – itself a very large and rich genre that includes dhrupad , thumri , tappa , geet , bhajan and other species. In some species of Indian music, it is the music that dominates while words and their meaning are secondary. In contrast, in Namdev's bhajan the spiritual message in the words has a central role, and

4708-598: The 8th to the 10th century. The Persian merchant and traveller, Sulaiman al-Tajir , who wrote of his many voyages to India and China in the mid-9th century   CE, called the ruler of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, Amoghavarsha , "one of the four great kings of the world". From the early 11th century to the 12th century, the Deccan Plateau was dominated by the Western Chalukya Empire and

4815-632: The Brahmin elite from studying the Vedas , such as women and members of the Shudra and untouchable communities. The earliest anthological record of Namdev's works occurs in the Guru Granth Sahib , the Sikh scriptures compiled in 1604, although Novetzke notes that while the manuscript records of Namdev mostly date from the 17th and 18th centuries, there exists a manuscript from 1581 that presents

4922-576: The Hindu varna system of ritual ranking. He was born into what is generally recognised as a Kshatriya (क्षत्रिय) caste, variously recorded as shimpi (tailor) in the Marathi language and as Chhipa , Chhimpa , Chhimba , shimpi , chimpi ( calico -printer) in northern India. His followers in Maharashtra and northern India who are from those communities prefer to consider their place, and thus his, as Kshatriya . There are contrary traditions concerning his birthplace, with some people believing that he

5029-529: The Maharashtra region was divided into many revenue divisions. The medieval equivalent of a county or district was the pargana . The chief of the pargana was called Deshmukh and record keepers were called Deshpande . The lowest administrative unit was the village. Village society in Marathi areas included the Patil or the head of the village, collector of revenue, and Kulkarni , the village record-keeper. These were hereditary positions. The Patil usually came from

5136-1055: The Maratha caste. The Kulkarni were usually from the Marathi Brahmin or CKP caste. The village also used to have twelve hereditary servants called the Balutedar . The Balutedar system was supportive of the agriculture sector. Servants under this system provided services to the farmers and the economic system of the village. The base of this system was caste. The servants were responsible for tasks specific to their castes. There were twelve kinds of servants under Bara Balutedar: Joshi (village priest and astrologer from Brahmin caste), Sonar (goldsmith from Daiwadnya caste), Sutar (carpenter), Gurav (priest of Shiva temple), Nhawi (barber), Parit (washerman), Teli (oil pressers), Kumbhar (potter), Chambhar (cobbler), Dhor, Koli (fisherman or water carrier), Chougula (assistant to Patil), Mang (rope maker), and Mahar (village security). In this list of Balutedar: Dhor, Mang, Mahar, and Chambhar belonged to

5243-628: The Maratha power was greatly diminished. Due to the efforts of Mahadji Shinde , it remained a confederacy until the British East India Company defeated Peshwa Bajirao II . Nevertheless, several Maratha states remained as vassals of the British until 1947 when they acceded to the Dominion of India . The Marathas also developed a potent coastal navy around the 1660s. At its peak under Maratha Koli Admiral Kanhoji Angre ,

5350-512: The Marathas against the much stronger Mughal opponent, but in 1689, after being betrayed, Sambhaji was captured, tortured and killed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb . The war against the Mughals was then led by Sambhaji's younger brother and successor Rajaram I . Upon Rajaram's death in 1700, his widow Tarabai became the regent of her infant son and took command of Maratha forces . In 1707, upon

5457-429: The Marathi language, perhaps only 600 - 700 are authentic. The surviving manuscripts are geographically dispersed and of uncertain provenance. Namdev's padas are not mere poems, according to Callewaert and Lath. Like other Bhakti movement sants, Namdev composed bhajans , that is songs meant to be sung to music. A Bhajan literally means "a thing enjoyed or shared". Namdev's songs were composed to be melodious and carry

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5564-716: The Marathi language. Per Kulkarni, for the elites of the era using Persian words was a status symbol. Surnames derived from service during that period such as Fadnis, Chitnis , Mirasdar, etc. are still in use today. Most of the Marathi Bhakti poet saints, who worshipped Vitthal , belonged to the period between late Yadava and the late Islamic era. These include Dnyaneshwar , Namdev , Eknath , Bahinabai and Tukaram . Other important religious figures of this era were Narsimha Saraswati , and Mahanubhava sect founder Chakradhar Swami . Shaivite saints like Manmath swami , Gajanan Maharaj, Sant Narhari Sonar. All of them used

5671-404: The Marathi people. Marathi social reformers of the colonial era include Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule , Justice Ranade , feminist Tarabai Shinde , Dhondo Keshav Karve , Vitthal Ramji Shinde , and Pandita Ramabai . Jyotirao Phule was a pioneer in opening schools for girls and Marathi dalits castes. The non-Brahmin Hindu castes started organising at the beginning of

5778-500: The Marathi-speaking areas by the ruling Congress Party in the 1957 election, led the government under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to change its policy and agree to the protesters' demands. On 1 May 1960, the separate Marathi-speaking state was formed by dividing the earlier Bombay State into the new states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The city of Mumbai was declared the capital of the new state. The state continues to have

5885-530: The Namdev hymns recorded in the Guru Granth of Sikhs were composed by the Marathi Namdev, or a different sant whose name was also Namdev. Namdev's legacy continues through the biannual pilgrimage to Pandharpur , near Bhima river, in Maharashtra. His paduka (footprints) are among those of revered sants that Varkari communities from various parts of Maharashtra carry with a palkhi (palanquin) to

5992-473: The RSS-affiliated organisations. Although the British originally regarded India as a place for the supply of raw materials for the factories of England, by the end of the 19th century a modern manufacturing industry was developing in the city of Mumbai. The main product was cotton and the bulk of the workforce in these mills was of Marathi origin from Western Maharashtra, but more specifically from

6099-657: The Ramanandi Vaishnav temple named Thakurdwara Bhagwan Narainji in Pandori dham in Gurdaspur, Punjab . In Bhaktamal, Goswami Nabha Das ji explains the lineage of Goswami Tulasidas ji , the author of Ramacharitmanas , and makes a mention of Shri Krishnadas Payahari ji of Galtaji and indirectly quotes his lineage too. अनंतानंद पद परसि के लोकपालसे ते भये । गयेश करमचंद अल्ह पयहारी ॥ सारीरामदास श्रीरंग अवधि गुण महिमा भारी । तिनके नरहरि उदित ॥ “By touching

6206-477: The Saint. This includes the popular Marathi Aartis of Vithoba "Yuge Atthavis" & "Yei O Vitthale" Namdev was influenced by Vaishnavite philosophy. His poems sometimes invoked Vithoba, sometimes Vishnu - Krishna as Govind-Hari, but in the larger context of Rama, which states Ronald McGregor , was not referring to the hero described in the Hindu epic Ramayana , but to a pantheistic Ultimate Being. Namdev's view of Rama can be visualised, adds McGregor, "only as

6313-428: The Sanskrit-dominated dialect spoken by this caste in the city as the standard dialect for Marathi. The introduction of printing, standardisation of Marathi, and establishment of modern schools and colleges during the early colonial era led to the spread of literacy and knowledge to many different sections of society such as women, the dalits and the cultivator classes. The Marathi community played an important part in

6420-443: The United States started when the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 came into effect. Most of the Marathi immigrants who came after 1965 were professionals such as doctors, engineers or scientists. The second wave of immigration took place during the I.T. boom of the 1990s and later. Since the 1990s due to the I.T. boom and because of the general ease of travel, Marathi people are now found in greater numbers in all corners of

6527-426: The Varkari sect of Hinduism. He was among those responsible for disseminating the Vithoba faith that had emerged first in the 12th century Namdev used the Marathi language to compose his poetry, which made it accessible to the wider public. Namdev's simple words of devotion and his use melody appealed to common people. This helped spread his message and songs widely. Namdev thus played a role, states McGregor, in shaping

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6634-475: The Vithoba temple in Pandharpur, every year in modern times. Namdev composed bhajan-kirtans are sung during the pilgrimage-related festivities. Marathi people The Marathi people ( / m ə ˈ r ɑː t i / ; Marathi : मराठी लोक , Marāṭhī lōk ) or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, Marāṭhī ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India . They natively speak Marathi , an Indo-Aryan language . Maharashtra

6741-411: The accounts of revered personalities, where Shri Jaankidas Ji has provided detailed insights that were either silent or briefly mentioned by Priyadas Ji. This fresh edition not only presents the original text and the commentary by Priyadas Ji but also supplements it with additional elucidations. Shri Jaankidas Ji, the presenter of this exquisitely erudite, authentic, and refined edition, rightfully deserves

6848-445: The balutedar who adopted Buddhism in 1950s. Some of the other Marathi castes are: As the Maratha Empire expanded across India, the Marathi population started migrating out of Maharashtra alongside their rulers. Peshwa, Holkars , Scindia , and Gaekwad dynastic leaders took with them a considerable population of priests, clerks, army men, businessmen, and workers when they established new seats of power. Most of these migrants were from

6955-403: The child's paternal aunt has the honour of naming the infant. When the child is 11 months old, they get their first hair-cut.This is also an important ritual and is called Jawal (जावळ) . In the Maratha community, the maternal uncle is given the honour of the first snip during the ceremony. Bhaktamal Though considered a hagiography by some, the work recounts no miraculous events, and

7062-412: The child's horoscope, which suggests various names depending on the child's lunar sign (called rashi ). However, in Marathi Hindu families, the name that the child inevitably uses in secular functions is the one decided by their parents. If a name is chosen on the basis of the horoscope, then that is kept a secret to ward off the casting of a spell on the child during their life. During the naming ceremony,

7169-405: The coastal Konkan region. The census recorded for the city in the first half of the 20th century showed nearly half the city's population listed Marathi as their mother tongue. During the period of 1835–1907, a large number of Indians, including Marathi people, were taken to the island of Mauritius as indentured labourers to work on sugarcane plantations. The Marathi people on the island form

7276-623: The country. They have set up community organisations called Maharashtra Mandals in many cities across the country. A national level central organisation, the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal was formed in 1958 to promote Marathi culture outside Maharashtra. Several sister organisations of the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal have also been formed outside India. Source: In the mid-1800s, a large number of Indian people were taken to Mauritius , Fiji , Trinidad & Tobago , South Africa , and Eastern Africa as indentured labourers to work on sugarcane plantations. The majority of these migrants were from

7383-441: The death of Aurangzeb, the Deccan wars came to an end after Shahu, son of Sambhaji who had grown up under Mughal captivity was released, and quickly reclaimed the Maratha throne. Shahu and Tarabai briefly fought a succession battle with Shahu eventually prevailing. Shahu formally recognised Mughal suzerainty in return for tax collection rights over six Deccan provinces, and the release of his mother from Mughal captivity. Shahu I ,

7490-702: The divine feet of Sri Anantānand, his disciples Sri Gayēśa, Sri Karamachand, Sri Alhadās, Sri Krishnadas Payahārī, Sri Sārīrāmadās, Sri śrīrangāchārya became equal to Loka-paals in virtues and glory! Thereafter Sri Narharidās appeared as the disciple of Sri śrīrangāchārya.” Also in Bhaktamaal, Goswami Nabhadas has also mentions the four Vaiṣṇava Sampradaya in Chappay 28: रामानन्द उदार, सुधानिधि अवनि कल्पतरु । विष्णुस्वामी बोहित्थ सिन्धु संसार पार करु ॥ मध्वाचारज मेघ भक्ति सर ऊसर भरिया । निम्बादिति आदित्य, कुहर अज्ञान जु हरिया ॥ जनम करम भागवत धरम संप्रदाय थापी अघट । चौबीस प्रथम हरि बपु धरे त्यों चतुर्व्यूह कलिजुग प्रगट ॥२८॥ — Bhaktamal Chappay 28 The most authentic edition of Bhaktamal

7597-439: The efforts of the Christian missionary William Carey . Carey also published the first dictionary of Marathi in Devanagari script. The most comprehensive Marathi-English dictionary was compiled by Captain James Thomas Molesworth and Major Thomas Candy in 1831. The book is still in print nearly two centuries after its publication. Molesworth also worked on standardising Marathi. He used Brahmins of Pune for this task and adopted

7704-632: The end of the 20th century, new life details and more miracles increasingly appear with the passage of time. The earliest biographies never mention the caste of Namdev, and his caste appears for the first time in manuscripts with statements from Ravidas and Dhana in early 17th century. Namdev's Immaculate Conception miracle mentioned in later era manuscripts, adds Novetzke, is a story found regularly for other sants in India. The Namdev biographies in medieval manuscripts are inconsistent and contradictory, feeding questions of their reliability. The literary works of Namdev were influenced by Vaishnava philosophy and

7811-465: The entire community.The festivals of Ganeshotsav and annual wari pilgrimage to the Vitthal temple at Pandharpur are of significant importance to all Marathis alike. At birth, a child is initiated into the family ritually. The child's naming ceremony may happen many weeks or even months later, and it is called the bārsa . In many Indian Hindu communities, the naming is most often done by consulting

7918-428: The envisioned devotion is not one way from the devotee to Vishnu, but it is bidirectional, such that "Krishna (Vishnu) is Namdev's slave, and Namdev is Vishnu's slave". To Namdev, mechanical rituals are futile, pilgrimage to holy places is pointless, deep meditation and loving mutual devotion is what matters. Namdev and other sant poets of India "were influenced by the monist view of the ultimate being ( Brahman )", which

8025-475: The establishment by Bal Thackeray of Shiv Sena, a populist sectarian party advocating the rights of Marathi people in the heterogeneous city of Mumbai. Early campaigns by Shiv Sena advocated for more opportunities for Marathi people in government jobs. The party also led a campaign against the city's South Indian population. By the 1980s the party had captured power in the Mumbai Corporation , and in

8132-655: The grandson of Shivaji, with the help of capable Maratha administrators and generals such as the Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath and his descendants, saw the greatest expansion of the Maratha power. After Shahu's death in 1749, the Peshwa Nanasaheb and his successors became the virtual rulers of the Maratha Confederacy. The Maratha Confederacy was expanded by many Marathi chieftains including Peshwa Bajirao Ballal I and his descendants,

8239-420: The gratitude of devotees and enthusiasts of literature. I wish for extensive promotion and dissemination of this book. Jankidas Sri Vaishnav has explained why there was a need of revision of Bhaktamal, he said, "when the narrator saints used to narrate the story of Bhaktamal, learned saints often questions the narrator, whether the errors in metrics, rhythm, interpolations, and historical misconceptions present in

8346-400: The historical study of Maharashtrian Sant figures". His well-known and first miracle is that, in childhood, he got an idol of Lord Vitthal to drink milk. Namdev was married to Rajai and had a son, Vitha, both of whom wrote about him, as did his mother, Gonai. Contemporary references to him by a disciple, a potter, a guru and other close associates also exist. There are no references to him in

8453-804: The intermediate category include: Gujjars , Lingayats and Rajputs who migrated centuries ago to Maharashtra from northern and southern India – and settled in Maharashtra. The population of the Mangs was 8%. Majority of Marathi Hindu belong either to the cultivator caste cluster of Maratha and Kunbi , or one of the former village servant ( Bara Balutedar ) castes which include ‌ Shimpi (Tailor), Lohar (Iron-smith), Suthar (carpenters), Mali (florists and cultivators), Dhobhi or Parit (washer), Gurav (village priest), Kumbhar (potters), Sonar (Goldsmith), Teli (oil pressers), Lingayats , Chambhar (cobbler), Mang (rope makers), Koli (fishermen or water carriers) and Nabhik (barbers). The Mahar were one of

8560-593: The largest collection of Namdev's songs. They were also among the warrior-ascetics of Rajput heritage who became a widespread phenomena in the 17th- and 18th-century North India, and were sannyasis who participated in armed resistance to the Islamic Mughal empire, inspired by their Nath yogi heritage and five revered gurus . Like Dadupanth, another north Indian warrior ascetic group, the Niranjani Sampraday tradition within Hinduism reveres Namdev as

8667-617: The late 1940s and early 1950s. The number of Bene Israel remaining in India was estimated to be around 4,000–5,000 in 1988. In 1956, the States Reorganisation Act reorganised the Indian states along linguistic lines, and the Bombay Presidency State was enlarged by the addition of the predominantly Marathi-speaking regions of Marathwada ( Aurangabad Division ) from the erstwhile Hyderabad state and

8774-602: The literate classes such as various Brahmin sub-castes and CKP . These groups formed the backbone of administration in the new Maratha Empire states in many places such as Vyara - Songadh of ( Surat ), Baroda ( Vadodara ), Indore , Gwalior , Bundelkhand , and Tanjore . Many families belonging to these groups still follow Marathi traditions even though they have lived more than 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from Maharashtra for more than 200 years. Other people have migrated in modern times in search of jobs outside Maharashtra. These people have also settled in almost all parts of

8881-399: The naval force dominated the territorial waters of the western coast of India from Mumbai to Sawantwadi . It would engage in attacking British , Portuguese , Dutch , and Siddi naval ships and kept a check on their naval ambitions. The Maratha Navy dominated until around the 1730s, but was in a state of decline by the 1770s, and ceased to exist entirely by 1818. Before British rule,

8988-441: The next within singing families, and memory was the only recording method in the centuries that followed Namdev's death. The repertoires grew, because the artists added new songs to their repertoire. The earliest surviving manuscripts of songs attributed to Namdev, from these singing families, are traceable to the 17th century. A diverse collection of these manuscripts exist, which have been neither compiled nor archived successfully in

9095-537: The oldest diaspora of Marathi people outside India. After India gained independence from Britain in 1947, all princely states lying within the borders of the Bombay Presidency acceded to the Indian Union and were integrated into the newly created Bombay State in 1950. The small community of Marathi Jews ( Bene Israel – Sons of Israel) started emigrating to the newly created country of Israel in

9202-405: The one true, or real Teacher of man ( satguru )". However, this is an observation based on hymns for which Namdev is not definitively known to the author, and might well be interpolated. For example, the following hymn talks about worshipping One Omnipresent God rather than Hindu deities Rama or Shiva O Pandit , I saw your great god Shiva, riding along on a white bull. In the merchant's house,

9309-472: The population of Maharashtra. They dominate the cooperative institutions and with the resultant economic power control politics from the village level up to the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats. Since the 1980s, this group has also been active in setting up private educational institutions. Major past political figures of Maharashtra have been from this group. The rise of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena and

9416-463: The records and inscriptions of the then-ruling family and the first non-Varkari noting of him appears possibly to be in the Leela Charitra , a Mahanubhava -sect biography dating from 1278. Smrtisthala , a later Mahanubhava text from around 1310, may also possibly refer to him; after that, there are no references until a bakhar of around 1538. According to Mahipati , a hagiographer of

9523-426: The religious base for the "premodern and modern culture of north India". Namdev attracted individuals from diverse classes and castes during community-driven bhajan singing sessions. His companions during worship sessions included Kanhopatra (a dancing girl), Sena (a barber), Savata (a gardener), Chokhamela (an untouchable), Janabai (a maid), Gora (a potter), Narahari (a goldsmith) and Jñāneśvar (also known as Dnyandev,

9630-697: The rule of the Satavahana dynasty , which ruled the region for 400 years. The Vakataka dynasty then ruled Maharashtra from the 3rd century to the 5th century AD, and the Chalukya dynasty from the 6th century to the 8th century. The two prominent rulers were Pulakeshin II , who defeated the Kannauj Emperor Harsh , and Vikramaditya II , who defeated Arab invaders (Umayyad Caliphate) in the 8th century. The Rashtrakuta dynasty ruled Maharashtra from

9737-410: The smallest independent unit within that can be shifted around, dropped or added, without affecting the harmony or meaning, when a bhajan is being sung with music. In Namdev's songs, the dominant pattern is Caturasra , or an avarta with the 4x4 square pattern of musical matras (beat). Namdev's work is known for abhangs , a genre of hymn poetry in India. His poems were transmitted from one generation to

9844-700: The social and religious reform movements, as well as the Indian nationalist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Notable civil society bodies founded by Marathi leaders during the 19th century include the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha , the Prarthana Samaj , the Arya Mahila Samaj, and the Satya Shodhak Samaj . The Pune Sarvajanik Sabha took an active part in relief efforts during the famine of 1875–1876. It

9951-455: The structure resonates with the singing and music. The songs and music that went with Namdev's works were usually transmitted verbally across generations, in a guru-sisya-parampara (teacher-student tradition), within singing gharanas (family-like musical units). Callewaert and Lath state that, "each single song of Namdev is a musical and textual unit and this unit is the basis for textual considerations". The unit contained Antaras , which are

10058-439: The surviving Rajasthani manuscripts are considerably different musically and morphologically, but likely to have evolved from a very early common source. Of thousands of Abhang poems credited to Namdev, 600 - 700 are probably authentic. The other poems are attributed to Namdev, in a phenomenon Novetzke calls, "anamnetic authorship". The later compositions and their authors hid the true authorship purposefully and collectively over

10165-432: The untouchable group of castes. In exchange for their services, the balutedars were granted complex sets of hereditary rights (watan) to a share in the village harvest. The British rule of more than a century in the present-day Maharashtra region saw huge changes for the Marathi people in every aspect of their lives. Areas that correspond to present-day Maharashtra were under direct or indirect British rule, first under

10272-978: The world including the United States, Australia, Canada, the Gulf countries, European countries, Iran, and Pakistan. After the third battle of Panipat, Marathi people settled in Sindh and Balochisthan region (modern day Pakistan). After partition of India, many Marathi Hindus came to India. But, 500–1000 Marathi Hindus also lives in Karachi city of Sindh province. The majority of Marathi people are Hindus . Minorities by religion include Muslims , Buddhists , Jains , Christians , Parsis and Jews . The main life ceremonies in Hindu culture include those related to birth, weddings, initiation ceremonies, as well as death rituals. Other ceremonies for different occasions in Hindu life include Vastushanti and "Satyanarayan" which

10379-454: Was believed to be as Relekar which is common in Bhavsar and Namdev shimpi caste. He is traditionally believed to have lived between 1270 and 1350 but S. B. Kulkarni has suggested that 1207-1287 is more likely, based on textual analysis. Some scholars date him to around 1425 and another, R. Bharadvaj, proposes 1309-1372. He is, according to Christian Novetzke, "one of the most prominent voices in

10486-705: Was born at Narsi Bahmani , on the Krishna River in Marathwada and others preferring somewhere near to Pandharpur on the Bhima river. that he was himself a calico-printer or tailor and that he spent much of his life in Punjab. The Lilacaritra suggests, however, that Namdev was a cattle-thief who was devoted to and assisted Vithoba . A friendship between Namdev and Jñāneśvar , a yogi -saint, has been posited at least as far back as circa 1600 CE when Nabhadas,

10593-424: Was expressed, in vernacular language, as the loving devotion not of a specific deity but to this ultimate, according to McGregor. Namdev's songs suggested the divine is within oneself, its non-duality , its presence and oneness in everyone and everything. In Namdev's literary works, summarises Klaus Witz, as with virtually every Bhakti movement poet, the "Upanishadic teachings form an all-pervasive substratum, if not

10700-609: Was formed as a Marathi-speaking state of India on 1 May 1960, as part of a nationwide linguistic reorganisation of the Indian states . The term "Maratha" is generally used by historians to refer to all Marathi-speaking peoples, irrespective of their caste ; However, it may refer to a Maharashtrian caste known as the Maratha which also includes farmer sub castes like the Kunbis . The Marathi community came into political prominence in

10807-567: Was founded and led by Marathis from Nagpur for many decades. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1889–1966), a Marathi from Nashik district, an Indian independence activist , who advocated violence to overthrow British rule in his youth, later formulated the Hindu nationalist philosophy of Hindutva . He was a leading figure in the Hindu Mahasabha . Savarkar's Hindutva philosophy remains the guiding principle for organisations that are part of

10914-799: Was headed by the Brahmin castes-the Deshasthas , Chitpavans , Karhades , Saraswats , and the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus . In Mumbai during British rule, this included the Pathare Prabhu and the other communities. The Marathas are 32% in Western Maharashtra and the Kunbis were 7%, whereas the Other Backward Class population (other than the Kunbi) was 27%. The other castes in

11021-400: Was in the hands of Marathas who held watans (hereditary rights) of Patilki (revenue collection at village level), and Deshmukhi (revenue collection over a larger area). A number of families such as Bhosale , Shirke , Ghorpade, Jadhav , More , Mahadik , Ghatge , Gharge and Nimbalkar loyally served different sultans at different periods of time. All watandar considered their watan

11128-522: Was liberated in 1962. The main political party formed immediately after liberation was the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party . It wanted Goa to merge with Maharashtra because of the affinity between Goan Hindus and the Marathi people. However, the referendum held on this issue rejected the merger. Later, Konkani was made the official language of Goa, but Marathi is also allowed in any government correspondence. The 1960s also saw

11235-1223: Was published by Jankidas Sri Vaishnav known as Bhaktamal Bhaskara from Varanasi in 1965, in that edition he has used oldest hand written manuscripts of Bhaktamal. Acharya Baldev Upadhyay (1899-1999), confirming it says in the very starting of this edition: मैंने श्री जानकीदासजी श्रीवैष्णव द्वारा सम्पादित 'भक्तमाल' को यत्रतत्र देखा। ग्रन्थ बड़े परिश्रम तथा मनोयोग के साथ सम्पादित किया गया है। प्रियादास जी की प्रख्यात टीका के साथ यह ग्रन्थ पहिले भी प्रकाशित था, परन्तु यह संस्करण इतः पूर्व संस्करणों से अनेक अंश में विशिष्ट है। सम्पादक ने मूल तथा टीका के पाठ संशोधन के निमित्त अनेक प्राचीन हस्तलेखों का भी इसमें विवेक के साथ उपयोग किया है। साथ ही साथ जिन महात्माओं के विषय में प्रियादास जी मौन हैं अथवा स्वल्पाक्षर में ही विवरण दिया है, उनका विवरण यहाँ विशेष रूप से श्री जानकीदास जी ने दिया है। इस प्रकार यह नूतन संस्करण मूल के उपबृंहण के साथ ही साथ प्रियादास जी की टीका का भी उपबृंद्दण प्रस्तुत करता है। ऐसे सुन्दर तथा विद्वत्तापूर्ण, प्रामाणिक तथा सुविशुद्ध संस्करण के प्रस्तुतकर्ता जानकीदास जी भक्तों तथा साहित्य रसिकों के धन्यवाद के समुचित पात्र हैं। मैं इस ग्रन्थ के बहुल प्रचार की कामना करता हूँ। - आचार्य बलदेव उपाध्याय This translates to: The Bhaktamal edited by Shri Jaankidas Shree Vaishnav Ji

11342-496: Was started, seeking a separate Gujarati-speaking state. A number of mainly Pune-based leaders such as Keshavrao Jedhe, S.M. Joshi , Shripad Amrit Dange , and Pralhad Keshav Atre formed the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement , alongside Vidarbha-based leaders such as Gopalrao Khedkar , to fight for a separate state of Maharashtra with Mumbai as its state capital. Mass protests, 105 deaths, and heavy losses in

11449-460: Was the Punjabi village of Ghuman , although this is not universally accepted. Aside from a shrine there that marks his death, there are monuments at the other claimant places, being Pandharpur and the nearby Narsi Bahmani . Scholars note that many miracles and specifics about Namdev's life appear only in manuscripts written centuries after Namdev's death. The birth theory with Namdev floating down

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