Thanjavur Marathi people
Portrait of Sir T. Madhava Rao, a Thanjavur Maharashtrian of 19th Century
Total population
~70,000 (2001)
Regions with significant populations
 India (Tamil Nadu region of Chennai, Dharmapuri district, Kerala)
Languages
Thanjavur Marathi, Tamil
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Marathi people, Deshasta Brahmin, Tamil people

Thanjavur Marathi people (colloquially called Rayar), are a Thanjavur Marathi-speaking ethno-linguistic group, who reside in the central and northern parts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. They are the descendants of Marathi administrators, soldiers and noblemen who migrated to this region during the rule of the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom. Thanjavur was a Maratha kingdom in Tamil Country, until the British East India Company dethroned the last Thanjavur Maratha king, Shivaji of Thanjavur. It was founded by Maratha Warrior King Chatrapati Shivaji's half-brother, Ekoji alias Venkoji Rajē Bhonsalē.[1][2] The Kshatriyas use Maratha, while the Brahmins use the surname Deshastha.[3]

Demographics and distribution

According to the 2001 census, Marathi is spoken as a mother tongue by about 0.1% of the total population of Tamil Nadu.[4] Exact districtwise statistics are not available, but according to estimates, Marathi people are mostly concentrated in the city of Chennai and the Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Dharmapuri, Tirupatttur, Krishnagiri, Vellore, Ranipet, Salem, Thiruvannamalai, Tiruvarur, Kanchipuram and Tiruchirappalli districts of Tamil Nadu. The Marathi population in Tamil Nadu has dwindled recently due to migrations to Maharashtra, Bangalore, North India and foreign countries.[5]

Language

The mother tongue of the Thanjavur Marathi people is Thanjavur Marathi, a Tamilized dialect of the Marathi language.[2][6]

Organizations

There are many organisations that support the cause of Thanjavur Marathi people across various parts of India. One of the prominent ones is The Mahratta Education Fund (MEF), a non-profit organisation working for the spread of education to poor and deserving students of the South Indian Marathi-speaking community.[7]

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. "The Maharashtrians of TN". The Hindu. 7 July 2003. Archived from the original on 28 October 2003. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Marathi identity, with Tamil flavour". The Indian Express. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  3. Ramesh N. Rao; Avinash Thombre (23 April 2015). Intercultural Communication: The Indian Context. SAGE Publications India. p. 221. ISBN 9789351505075. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  4. "Census of India – DISTRIBUTION OF 10,000 PERSONS BY LANGUAGE". Government of India. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  5. Gopal, Ashok (August 1986). "Shivaji's Forgotten Cousins" (PDF). Poona Digest.
  6. B. N. Krishnamurti Sarma (2000). A history of the Dvaita school of Vedānta and its literature: from the earliest beginnings to our own times. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 544. ISBN 978-81-208-1575-9.
  7. http://mef.4mg.com/

References

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