Maharashtra

Maharashtra ( Marathi: महाराष्ट्र, Maharastra, [ mʌɦɑ ː ː rɑ ʂʈrə ] ) is an Indian state with an area of ​​307 762 square kilometers and 112 million inhabitants ( 2011 census ). The capital of Maharashtra is Mumbai, the official language of Marathi.

• 2.1 languages
• 2.2 religions

• 4.1 Political system
• 4.2 parties

Geography

Maharashtra is bordered by the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa ( clockwise starting in the north- west), and the Arabian Sea. The union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is located between Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Countless mountain forests have been cut down in recent decades due to the enormous population pressure.

Largest cities

(As of 2011 census )

Population

Languages

Main language of Maharashtra is Marathi, according to the language border, the boundaries of the state were drawn in 1956 and 1960 respectively. Marathi is spoken by the 2001 census, 68.9 % of the population and serves as the sole official language. 11.0 % of the population speak Hindi. Here, as defined by the Indian government and several closely related regional languages ​​are counted as Hindi dialects. Despite the rather small number of speakers of Hindi is not least due to the produced in Mumbai Hindi films ( "Bollywood " ) widely understood. Among the Muslims of Maharashtra is Urdu, the Muslim variant of Hindi, spread with 7.1%. Gujarati, the language of the northwestern neighboring state of Gujarat, found mainly in the Mumbai area significant numbers of speakers. Calculated over the entire state, it is spoken by 2.4% of the population. In the border area to Gujarat two smaller languages ​​, Khandeshi (1.9%) and Bhili are common ( 1.5%). All the mentioned languages ​​belong to the Indo-Aryan language group. Non - Indo-Aryan languages ​​are spoken by smaller groups of tribal population ( Adivasis ) in remote areas of Maharashtra. These include the Dravidian languages ​​Gondi (0.6%) and Kolami (0.1% ) in the east and the Munda language Korku (0.2%) in the north. Immigration Because numerous other Indian languages ​​are spoken in Maharashtra, including Telugu, and others (1.5%), Kannada (1.3%) and Sindhi (0, 7%). English is like all over India as transport and educational language omnipresent.

Religions

The majority of residents of Maharashtra are Hindus. Their share is almost exactly the Indian average of 80.4 % ( 2001 census). Muslims constitute 10.6 %, the largest minority. Exceptional is the proportion of Buddhists 6.0%. The Buddhist population goes back to a mid-20th century by the social reformer BR Ambedkar movement initiated conversion of Dalits ( untouchables ) to Buddhism. Jains are a small minority of 1.3%, as everywhere in India. Both numerically seen as relatively houses Maharashtra but across the country, most Jains. Christians make up 1.1% of the population. There are also in Mumbai long-established communities of about 70,000 Parsis ( followers of Zoroastrianism ) and 4,000 Jews ( Bene Israel ).

History

In the Gazetteer of Nashik we find the first mention of the name Maharashtra. In it is written that in 246 BC the Mauryan ruler Ashoka has sent an embassy to Maharashtra. Also, in an inscription of the Chalukya of 580 AD, the area is mentioned and claimed that it consisted of three provinces and 99,000 villages. The name Maharashtra emerges in another inscription of the 7th century and is also described in the reports of the Chinese pilgrim monk Xuanzang.

The first written records of the area date back to the 3rd century BC At that time it was part of the Mauryan Empire of Ashoka. The port city Sopara north of present-day Mumbai, was the former commercial center of India with connections to East Africa, Mesopotamia, Aden and Cochin. After the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire established between 230 BC and 225 AD, the Shatavahana Empire. In the time it was the largest cultural development. The official language in Shatavahana Empire was Maharashtri, from which later developed Marathi. 90 BC made ​​Vedishri, the son of the king Shatavahana Satakarni, the city Junnar, 19 km north of Pune located, the capital of the empire.

The ruler Gautamiputra Satkarni (also called Shalivahan ) created the Saka calendar, which begins after the Christian era until the year 78. This is partly still used by the people of Maharashtra. The kingdom of Shatavahana gradually fell into disrepair in the third century.

In the eastern part of Maharashtra ruled 250-525 AD, the ruler of the Vakataka Dynasty. During this period, the development of art, religion and technology flourished. Later in the 8th century the region was ruled by the Rashtrakuta which 973 AD were expelled by the Chalukya. They were followed by the Yadava from Daulatabad.

In the early 14th century the Yadava were overthrown by the Muslim forces from the north. Then the region of various Deccan sultanates was administered.

The Bombay Province in British India in 1937 was formed from part of the former Bombay Presidency. After India became independent in 1947, many princely states ( including Idar, Rajpipla and the United States Deccan ) were combined with the provincial government to Bombay. In 1956 the state was extended by the incorporation of Kutch, Saurashtra, and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Hyderabad, divided on May 1, 1960 along the language border in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

In the recent past, there are repeated clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Maharashtra. They are based upon Indian reports on contrasts between the local population and immigrants from northern parts of India. In addition, foreign companies often target of hostility.

Policy

Political system

The Legislature of the State of Maharashtra consists of a bicameral parliament. The lower house, the Legislative Assembly, or the Vidhan Sabha, has 289 deputies, of which 288 every five years be elected by direct suffrage and shall be appointed as representatives of the Anglo-Indian minority by the Governor. The upper house, the Legislative Council, or Vidhan Parishad, has 78 members, 31 of which are determined by the lower house, 21 by the municipalities of the state, 12 by the Governor and one each by seven teachers and graduates. The legislative changes its seat during the year. Within the monsoon season this is the capital of Mumbai, during the winter time in Nagpur.

The Chief Minister ( head of government) of the state of Maharashtra, is elected by Parliament. Acting Chief Minister since 11 November 2010 the Prithviraj Chavan. At the head of the state, however, is appointed by the President of India Governor ( Governor ). Its main tasks include the appointment of the Chief Minister and his commission to form a government. Acting Governor of Maharashtra is since January 22, 2010 K. Sankaranarayanan.

Highest Court of Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court in Mumbai, in whose jurisdiction and the state of Goa and Daman and Diu as the union territories as well as Dadra and Nagar Haveli fall.

In total Indian Parliament Maharashtra with 48 MPs in the Lok Sabha, the lower house, and 19 seats in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house represented.

Parties

The political landscape in Maharashtra is highly fragmented despite the prevailing electoral system. The main political parties of the state can be divided into three camps, received regular electoral alliances and divide the constituencies with each other. The Democratic Front is made up of the Congress Party and in 1999 formed as a spin-off from her Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP). Most governments of Maharashtra since the founding of the state were led by the Congress party. Since the elimination of the NCP, the two parties form a coalition government. The second major camp, the two Hindu nationalist parties Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP ) and Shiv Sena. In contrast to the national BJP, which was founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, Shiv Sena is limited to the state of Maharashtra. Their ideology is based partly on the Maratha nationalism that demands privileges for native Maharashtrier against migrants from other parts of India, on the other hand on the Hindu nationalism, which defines itself in contrast to Muslims and Pakistan. From 1995 to 1999, the Shiv Sena presented together with the BJP, the Maharashtra government. 2006 was divided by internal strife Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party ( MNS ) of the Shiv Sena from. The third bearing in the political landscape of Maharashtra is the Republican Left Democratic Front, an alliance of several left-wing parties.

The last election to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 2009, won the Democratic Alliance scarce. She reached together 144 seats, of which 82 to the Congress party and 62 to the NCP. The BJP - Shiv Sena alliance won 90 seats (BJP 46, Shiv Sena: 44), the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena reached 13 seats. Furthermore, the parties represented in Parliament Peasants and Workers Party of India and Samajwadi Party, each with four seats, Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi and Jan Surajya Shakti, each with two seats and Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh Communist Party of India ( Marxist), Loksangram, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and Swabhimani Paksha, each with a seat as well as 24 independent candidates.

Administrative divisions

Maharashtra is divided into six divisions, Amravati, Aurangabad, Konkan, Nagpur, Nashik and Pune and the following 35 districts (population and population density according to the 2011 census ):