Maratha

Shivaji founded the Maratha Empire, and his first Peshwa was Moropant Pingle.

Raigad was the first capital of the Maratha Empire.

The Maratha Empire could just as easily be called the Maratha Confederacy.

Maratha polity consisted of a decentralised confederacy of various states.

Shivaji established the Maratha Kingdom, which later morphed into the Maratha Empire.

You don't even know who Shivaji is, but you call yourself a Maratha?

Marathi is the language spoken in the Maratha country.

The founder of the Maratha Empire was Shivaji Maharaj, a man of great valour and a charismatic leader.

Shivaji Maharaj was the founder of the Maratha Empire.

2004, D. L. Sheth, Ram Manohar Lohia on Caste in Indian Politics, [extracts from 1996, Lokayan Bulletin], Ghanshyam Shah (editor), Caste and Democratic Politics in India, Wimbledon Publishing Company (Anthem Press), page 81, The Marathas are a peculiar caste of Maharashtra, who claim to be Kshatriyas but are more like the cultivator-Sudras of north India.

2004, Kumar Suresh Singh (general editor), B. V. Bhanu, et al. (editors), People of India: Maharashtra, Volume 30, Part 2, Anthropological Survey of India, Popular Prakashan, page 1434, The Maratha are a numerically dominant caste in Maharashtra. As said earlier, Maratha is not a caste but a caste cluster, the main component[s] of which are the Marathas proper and the Kunbis or Kulwadis. […] The Maratha speak mainly Marathi, the language of the region.

The latter^([of two elements of anti-casteism]) was dominated by the Maratha caste and a Maratha leadership and was supported by the Maratha ruler of Kolhapur, Chattrapati Shahu, appealing primarily to Maratha-Kunbi cluster in its struggle against upper caste domination.

(3) Maratha vessels were to have free access to all French ports, and vice versa.

2023, Sangita Govindrao Ghar, Marathas Contribution in Deccan Plateau, Lulu, page 1, The first major threat to Moghul imperial power came from a Hindu tribal confederacy known as the Marathas. Located in the mountainous regions of the Deccan, the Marathas were mainly drawn from the lowest caste of society, but they became a powerfully militant community under their ruler, King Sivaji, who died in 1680.

Then around 2 pm, a detachment of Maratha irregular horse approached and engaged the allied contingent of Mysore horse that were riding forward outpost duty for the British.