Maharashtra
(A Land of Greatness)
The modern state of Maharashtra was formed on 1st May 1960. Hence, this day is celebrated as Maharashtra Day. This day is also celebrated as International Worker’s Day every year.
Till 1st
May 1960 various regions of present day Maharashtra were parts of different
states. The Marathwada region consisting districts like Sambhaji Nagar
(Aurangabad), Jalna, Beed, Dharashiv (Osmanabad), Latur (Earlier it was part of
Osmanabad), Parbhani, Hingoli (Earlier it was part of Parbhani) and Nanded was
the part of Hyderabad Princely State ruled by Nizam. The Western Maharashtra,
Khandesh and Konkan were included in the then Bombay Presidency. As far as
Vidarbha was considered it was included in the Central Province and Berar and
its capital was Nagpur.
The Sanyukt
Maharashtra Samiti played an important role in the formation of the state of
Maharashtra. The stalwarts like Shreedhar Mahadev Joshi, Udhdhavrao Patil,
Prabodhankar Thackeray, Anna Bhau Sathe, Shripad Amrut Dange, Narayan Ganesh
Gore, Acharya Atre, Gajanan Tryambak Madkholkar, Madhu Dandvate, Amar Shaikh,
etc. played an important role in Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti and the creation
of state of Maharashtra.
The first Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra was Yashwantrao Chavan, the veteran leader of Congress Party. Later on he joined the Central Cabinet of Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and handled the crucial portfolio like Defence Ministry among others. After Yashwantrao Chavan prominent leaders from various political parties, mostly Congress Party became the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra.
The following is the list of Chief Ministers of Maharashtra since its inception:
Yashwantrao Chavan
Marotrao
Kannamwar
P K Sawant
Vasantrao
Naik
Shankarrao
Chavan
Vasantdada Patil
Sharad
Pawar
Abdul Rehman
Antulay
Babasaheb
Bhosale
Shivajirao Patil
Nilngekar
Sudhakarrao Naik
Manohar
Joshi
Narayan
Rane
Vilasrao
Deshmukh
Sushilkumar
Shinde
Ashok
Chavan
Prithviraj
Chavan
Devendra
Fadnavis
Udhdhav
Thackeray
Eknath
Shinde
Madhukar Bhave,
a senior journalist has written a book in Marathi language titled as
‘Yashwantrao te Vilasrao’. In this book he has described the tenures and
important decisions made by the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra from Yashwantrao
Chavan to Vilasrao Deshmukh. It is a very nice book written in lucid language.
The
above-mentioned Chief Ministers have contributed to the progress of Maharashtra
in their own way. Due to the consistent efforts made by different governments in
power for promoting development the state of Maharashtra remains one of the
highly developed States in India. Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra is the
financial capital of the country.
Maharashtra has
a great history and heritage. During ancient times it was ruled by mighty
dynasties like Satvahanas and Vakatakas. The most famous Maharashtrian king of
Satvahana dynasty was Gautamiputra Satkarni. His inscription can be found in
Nasik. The capital of the Satvahanas was Pratishthan, today’s Paithan in
Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad). During medieval times the prominent dynasty ruling
over Maharashtra was Yadava dynasty with their seat of power at Devgiri
(Sambhaji Nagar, Aurangabad). During later mediaeval times one of the greatest
kings of all time in world history namely Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj created
Swarajya i.e. Maratha State (Kingdom of Marathi speaking people) which later on
became the mighty political power in eighteenth century.
The state of
Maharashtra has the remarkable history of social reforms. During nineteenth
century it produced great social reformers such as Balshastri Jambhekar,
Justice Mahadev Gobind Ranade, Nana Jagganath Shankar Sheth, Lokhitwadi, K. T.
Telang, Mama Parmanad, etc.
Mahatma Phule,
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar contributed greatly for
liberating the erstwhile untouchables or Dalits from age-old exploitation, inhumane
treatment and denial of rights. There is a strong tradition of
Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar in Maharashtra.
Many
Maharashtrian personalities have contributed to the national cause in one or
the other way. For instance, Maharashtra was on the forefront during the
national struggle against British rule since the establishment of Indian
National Congress in 1885. It has given great leaders like Justice Mahadev
Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Lokmanya Tilak, Vinoba Bhave, etc. Before
that Nanasaheb Peshwa, Rani Laxmibai of Zansi, Tatya Tope, etc. were actively
involved in the Revolt of 1857.
After
independence when Constituent Assembly was formed in order to draft the
Constitution of India, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, prominent jurist and legal expert of
the time was appointed as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. He responsibly
and successfully shouldered this great task. He drafted the Constitution of
India almost single-handedly, hence aptly considered as the Father of Indian
Constitution.
Leaders from
across political parties since the inception of the state of Maharashtra have
given priority to promote the development. Hence, as mentioned above it remains
highly developed State with laudable achievements in the fields of agriculture,
industrial development, tertiary sector, fishing and agro industry, etc.
Maharashtra is one of the highly urbanised States in India. The two prominent
highways built in Maharashtra are Mumbai-Pune Express way (also known as
Mumbai-Bengaluru highway) and Samruddhi Mahamarg connecting Mumbai and Nagpur.
A part of it has been opened for public in 2022. The work of bringing it upto
Mumbai is in progress.
Maharashtra is
known for the progress made in the field of education. It has important
agricultural universities located in Amravati, Ahmednagar, Parbhani and
Ratnagiri districts. Apart from that, there are many non agricultural and non
technical universities catering to the needs of students studying in the fields
of humanities, commerce and management. It has famous engineering colleges
located in different districts such as Mumbai, Thane, Sangli, Nanded, etc. IIT
Bombay is most sought after engineering and technology education institute in
the country. Maharashtra also has many medical colleges as well.
Aa far as sports
is concerned it has given famous cricketers like Rameshchandra Gangaram
Nadkarni (Bapu Nadkarni), Chandu Borde, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar,
Sachin Tendulkar, etc.
Maharashtra has
a sea coast of 720 kilometers. Thick forests can be found in Konkan, Sahyadri
Mountains, parts of Khandesh and Vidarbha.
Maharashtrian
people are proud of their Shahirs
(the singers who sing heroic songs). The heroic songs sung by Shahirs are called as Powadas. The Powadas on the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj are especially
popular among masses. The folk dance form called, Tamasha and Lavani are
popular. The first motion picture in India was made by a Maharashtrian named
Dadasaheb Phalke. The name of the first film made by Dadasaheb Phalke was Raja
Harishchandra. The Hindi Film industry known as Bollywood is based at Mumbai.
It is the biggest film industry in India. Maharashtra has given many
influential plays, actors and artists from different areas to the country. It
is also a land of great writers. The first book written in Marathi is said to Gatha Sattasai or Gatha Saptashati compiled by Satvahana King Hala all the way around
two thousands years back.
The state animal
of Maharashtra is the Indian giant squirrel, the state flower is jarul also known as Tamhan in Marathi and the state
bird is yellow-footed green pigeon. The government of Maharashtra has accepted
the ‘Garja Maharashtra’ song written by Shahir Sable as the state song. The
other two famous Shahirs from twentieth century Maharashtra are Shahir Amar Shaikh and Shahir Anna Bhau
Sathe. They also inspired the migrant workers and spoke for the cause of the
toiling masses.
Clearly the
state Maharashtra remains one of the highly developed and progressive states in
all walks of life in India.
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