Editing Maharashtra (section)

==Etymology==
The modern [[Marathi language]] evolved from [[Maharashtri Prakrit]],<ref name="The Linguist List">{{cite web |url=http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pmh |title=The Linguist List |publisher=The Linguist List |date=22 June 2009 |access-date=30 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225003616/http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pmh |archive-date=25 December 2009}}</ref> and the word ''[[Marhatta (region)|Marhatta]]'' (later used for the [[Maratha]]s) is found in the [[Jain]] Maharashtrian literature. The term Maharashtra along with Maharashtrian, Marathi, and Maratha may have derived from the same root. However, their exact etymology is uncertain.<ref name="Gazetteer1967">{{cite book |title=Maharashtra State Gazetteers: General Series |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZBTAAAAYAAJ |access-date=30 March 2013 |year=1967 |publisher=Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications |page=208 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527221715/http://books.google.com/books?id=KZBTAAAAYAAJ |archive-date=27 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The most widely accepted theory among the linguistic scholars is that the words Maratha and Maharashtra ultimately derived from a combination of ''Mahā'' and ''Rāṣṭrikā'',<ref name="Gazetteer1967" /><ref name="auto1">{{cite report |author=H. H. Risley |date=1908 |title=Census of India, 1901, Volume I, Ethnographic Appendices |url=http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/ideologie/data/CensusIndia/CensusIndia1901/CensusIndia1901EthnographicAppendices.pdf |page=93 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106225316/http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/ideologie/data/CensusIndia/CensusIndia1901/CensusIndia1901EthnographicAppendices.pdf |archive-date=6 November 2020}}</ref> the name of a tribe or dynasty of chiefs ruling in the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] region.<ref name="KBala1965">{{cite book |author=K. Balasubramanyam |title=the mysore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9jbqGLH7ioC&pg=PA174 |access-date=30 March 2013 |year=1965 |publisher=Mittal Publications |page=174 |id=GGKEY:HRFC6GWCY6D |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527221642/http://books.google.com/books?id=w9jbqGLH7ioC&pg=PA174 |archive-date=27 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> An alternate theory states that the term is derived from ''mahā'' ("great") and ''[[ratha]]''/''rathi'' ("[[chariot]]"/"charioteer"), which refers to a skilful northern fighting force that migrated southward into the area.<ref name="KBala1965" /><ref name="auto1"/>

In the [[Harivamsa]], the [[Yadava|Yadava kingdom]] called [[Anarta Kingdom|Anaratta]] is described as mostly inhabited by the [[Abhira people|Abhiras]] (Abhira-praya-manusyam). The [[Anarta Kingdom|Anartta country]] and its inhabitants were called [[Saurashtra (region)|Surastra]] and the Saurastras, probably after the Rattas (Rastras) akin to the Rastrikas of Asoka's rock Edicts, now known as Maharastra and the [[Marathi people|Marattas]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bahadur) |first=Sarat Chandra Roy (Rai |title=Man in India |date=1974 |publisher=A.K. Bose |pages=40 |language=en}}</ref>

An alternative theory states that the term derives from the word ''mahā'' ("great") and ''rāṣṭra'' ("nation/dominion").<ref>{{cite book |title=Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptions |url=https://archive.org/stream/personalgeograph00sharuoft#page/208/mode/2up |page=209 |author=Tej Ram Sharma |year=1978 |publisher=Concept Publishing Co., Delhi |access-date=18 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217151404/https://archive.org/stream/personalgeograph00sharuoft#page/208/mode/2up |archive-date=17 December 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, this theory is somewhat controversial among modern scholars who believe it to be the Sanskritised interpretation of later writers.<ref name="Gazetteer1967" />