Against the backdrop of the worst kind of social discrimination in the Hindu society, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur made legally constitutional provisions for reservation in the state and private sector in July 1902. This was probably the first time a state ruler actively made social justice policies for his subjects. The base for this reservation was due to the prevalence of the caste system and its discriminatory structure supported by religious texts.
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj rejected this brutality premised on exploiting the poor. To create and strengthen social fraternity absent in Hindu society, he made laws that brought equality by giving reservations to the downtrodden. While doing so, he excluded those castes and classes who had enjoyed privileges and progressed based on the caste system. Thus Brahmins, Kayasthas, Shenvis and Parsis were excluded from the benefits of reservation.
The rest of the castes or classes from all the religions were included in the reservation list. This included the Maratha caste. This was the first reservation offered to the Marathas as a backward caste. It means Marathas and the rest of the non-Brahmin castes were treated backwards.
The British started collecting censuses in 1871 and recorded Kunbi as a caste prevalent in Maharashtra. Later, the British government divided Indian society into three main classes — Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and the rest as intermediate classes.
On April 5, 1942, the Government of Bombay prepared a list of the reservation that recorded Maratha and Kunbi castes in the intermediate classes list. This list also included Mali, Teli, Lohar, Vanjari, Shimpi, and Dhangar, among a host of 228 castes presently included in Maharashtra State Other Backward Classes list. However, only Marathas were excluded from the list in 1950 without providing any substantial reason. Since then, many Maratha organisations have demanded reservations. In 1991, the Maratha Seva Sangh demanded an OBC status for the Marathas. From time to time, different commissions were also appointed to study the issue without any conclusive results. The reasons are mainly political and not social or legal. It is the misfortune of the Marathas that none of their strong leaders is in favour of the Maratha OBC reservation. I don’t blame any OBC leader for this. Marathas have been sequestered apart from OBC, which is unconstitutional. Presently, the issue of Maratha reservation is pending in the Supreme Court.
Who is a Maratha? Anthropologically, there is no singularity in Maratha as an isolated caste. Maratha is a confederation of several Marathi-speaking castes. In addition to the language, those people who lived in Maharashtra were defined as Marathas. The society was primarily agrarian. Thus, the ones who engaged in agriculture came to be known as Kunbis, Maratha Mali, Maratha Teli, Maratha Mahar, Maratha Kumbhar, etc.
Around the 16th century, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj established Swarajya, which came to be known as Maratheshahi — the rule of the Marathas. This event led to the separation of Marathas as a ruling and socially and economically developed caste. However, the British government did not recognise them. They called them Kunbi till about 1920. Their status as peasant cultivators, landowners, and soldiers made a difference between a Maratha and Kunbi, while their ancestry was the same. The Mandal Commission kept Marathas away and recognised Kunbis as separate, preferring etymology as an identifier instead of social history.
The Indian Constitution has recommended reservations for SC, ST and OBC. Social and educational backwardness is the base for OBC reservation. Marathas are treated as socially forward. However, no special drive was undertaken to upgrade Marathas while doing so. Unfortunately, during the 1960s, a few Maratha leaders and organisations wrongly opposed the overall reservation system. This was purposely widely spread by the Opposition, leading to inculcating the anti-Maratha sentiment in the minds of intellectuals and the judicial lobby, which still works.
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The division of agricultural land over several generations, increase in family members, reductions in land holdings, low prices of agricultural commodities and increased expenses have led to the worst social, economical, and educational status among Marathas and other agrarian communities.
The writer is the founder and president of Maratha Seva Sangh
Suraj Yengde, author of Caste Matters, curates the fortnightly ‘Dalitality’ column
