Maharashtra GK - Study Portal

It gives us immense pleasure in presenting the Maharashtra Current Affairs Yearbook 2020, Useful for competitive exams. This book deals with the relevant features and topics of Current affairs of State in a systematic and comprehensive manner by the use of simple and concise language for easy and quick understanding. We hope that the readers will find this book user friendly and helpful in preparation of their examinations. I look forwarded to have the views, comment, suggestions and criticism from readers which would definitely help in further improvement of the Book. I would like to heartfelt thanks to all my team members for their efforts to prepare this book. Maharashtra GK Yearbook 2020

UPSC IAS Prelims 2020 – 60 Days Programme

Maharashtra Current Affairs/General Knowledge Yearbook 2020 has become an integral part of a lot of entrance exams being conducted at the graduate and under-graduate levels. It is very important for students to remain updated on the current happenings in their surroundings especially those that are important from the perspective of state. Current Affairs Yearbook 2020, a thoroughly revised, reorganised, updated and ENLARGED edition, presents a comprehensive study of all the sections that are covered under the subject of General Knowledge. The Yearbook 2020 provides the latest information & most authentic data reference material on Current Affairs and General Knowledge. It has specially been designed to cater to aspirants of various competitive exams across the state. The material has been written in a lucid language and prepared as per the requirements of the various competitive exams. Maharashtra GK Yearbook 2020

Current Affairs consists of latest news/ information about Maharashtra based on The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB, Yojana, People, Events, Ideas and Issues across the Social, Economic & Political climate of the State.

Why should you buy this Book?

Latest and Authentic information must for All Competitive Exams – The Mega Current Affairs Yearbook 2020 provides the latest information & most authentic data reference material on current Affairs and General Knowledge. It has specially been designed to cater to aspirants of various competitive exams like Civil services, and Other exams across the Maharashtra State. Maharashtra GK Yearbook 2020

Student-Friendly Presentation – The material has been given in bulleted points wherever necessary to make the content easy to grasp. The book has ample tabular charts, mind Maps, Graphic Illustrations which further makes the learning process flexible and interesting. Maharashtra GK Yearbook 2020

Must Have for Multiple Reasons: The Current Affairs Mega Yearbook 2020 is a Must-Have book for all kinds of Objective & Descriptive Tests, Essay Writing and Group Discussions & Personal Interviews, The Maharashtra General Knowledge section provides crisp and to-the-point information in Geography, History, Polity, Economy, General Science, etc. which otherwise could be very exhaustive.

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Maharashtra Current Affairs Yearbook 2020

Introduction of Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is the second-most populous state and third-largest state by area. Maharashtra is created as a Marathi speaking State. Spread over 307,713 km2, it is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to the southeast and Chhattisgarh to the east, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to the north, and the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the north west. It is also the world’s second-most populous sub national entity.

Maharashtra was formed by merging the western and south-western parts of the Bombay State, Berar and Vidarbha, and the north-western parts of the Hyderabad State and splitting Saurashtra (in present-day Gujarat) by the States Reorganisation Act. It has over 112 million inhabitants and its capital, Mumbai, has a population around 18 million making it the most populous urban area in India. Nagpur hosts the winter session of the state legislature. Pune is known as the ‘Oxford of the East’ due to the presence of several well-known educational institutions. Nashik is known as the ‘Wine Capital of India’ as it has the largest number of wineries and vineyards in the country.

The Godavari and the Krishna are the two major rivers in the state. The Narmada and Tapi Rivers flow near the border between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Maharashtra is the third-most urbanised state of India. Prior to Indian independence, Maharashtra was chronologically ruled by the Satavahana dynasty, Rashtrakuta dynasty, Western Chalukyas, Deccan sultanates, Mughals and Marathas, and the British. Ruins, monuments, tombs, forts, and places of worship left by these rulers are dotted around the state. They include the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Ajanta and Ellora caves. The numerous forts are associated with the life of Shivaji.

Maharashtra was ruled by the Maurya Empire in the fourth and third centuries BCE. Around 230 BCE, Maharashtra came under the rule of the Satavahana dynasty for 400 years. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni. In 90 CE, Vedi shri, son of the Satavahana king Satakarni, the “Lord of Dakshinapatha, wielder of the unchecked wheel of Sovereignty”, made Junnar, 30 miles north of Pune, the capital of his kingdom. The state was also ruled by Western Satraps, Gupta Empire, Gurjara-Pratihara, Vakataka, Kadambas, Chalukya Empire, Rashtrakuta Dynasty, and Western Chalukya before finally, the Yadavas rule. The Buddhist Ajanta Caves in present-day Aurangabad display influences from the Satavahana and Vakataka style. The caves were possibly excavated during this period. Maharashtra GK Yearbook 2020

The Chalukya dynasty ruled from the sixth to the eighth centuries CE, and the two prominent rulers were Pulakeshin II, who defeated the north Indian Emperor Harsha, and Vikramaditya II, who defeated the Arab invaders in the eighth century. The Rashtrakuta dynasty ruled Maharashtra from the eighth to the tenth century. The Arab traveller Sulaiman described the ruler of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty (Amoghavarsha) as “one of the four great kings of the world”. Shilahara dynasty began as vassals of the Rashtrakuta dynasty which ruled the Deccan plateau between the eighth and tenth centuries. From the early 11th century to the 12th century, the Deccan Plateau, which includes a significant part of Maharashtra, was dominated by the Western Chalukya Empire and the Chola dynasty. Several battles were fought between the Western Chalukya empire and the Chola dynasty in the Deccan Plateau during the reigns of Raja Raja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I, Jayasimha II, Someshvara I, and Vikramaditya VI.

In the early 14th century, the Yadavas Dynasty, which ruled most of present-day Maharashtra, was overthrown by the Delhi Sultanate ruler Ala-ud-din Khalji. Later, Muhammad bin Tughluq conquered parts of the Deccan, and temporarily shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in Maharashtra. After the collapse of the Tughlaqs in 1347, the local Bahmani Sultanate of Gulbarga took over, governing the region for the next 150 years. After the break-up of the Bahamani sultanate in 1518, Maharashtra split into five Deccan Sultanates: Nizamshahis of Ahmednagar, Adilshah of Bijapur, Qutubshah of Golkonda, Bidarshah of Bidar and Imadshah of Ellichpur. These kingdoms often fought with each other. United, they decisively defeated the Vijayanagara Empire of the south in 1565. The present area of Mumbai was ruled by the Sultanate of Gujarat before its capture by Portugal in 1535 and the Faruqi dynasty ruled the Khandesh region between 1382 and 1601 before finally getting annexed by the Mughal Empire. Malik Ambar, the regent of the Nizamshahis dynasty of Ahmednagar from 1607 to 1626. Increased the strength and power of Murtaza Nizam Shah II and raised a large army. Malik Ambar is said to have been a proponent of guerrilla warfare in the Deccan region. Malik Ambar assisted Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Delhi against his stepmother, Nur Jahan, who had ambitions of seating her son-in-law on the throne. Maharashtra GK Yearbook 2020

By the early 17th century, Shahaji Bhosale, an ambitious local general who had served Ahmadnagar Nizamshahis, the Mughals and Adil Shah of Bijapur at different periods during his career, attempted to establish his independent rule. His son Shivaji Maharaj succeeded in establishing the Maratha Empire which was further expanded during the 18th century by the Bhat family Peshwas based in Pune, Bhonsle of Nagpur, Gaekwad of Baroda, Holkar of Indore, and Scindia of Gwalior. At its peak, the empire covered much of the subcontinent, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km². The Marathas are credited to a large extent for ending the Mughal rule in India. The Marathas defeated the Mughals, and conquered large territories in northern and central parts of the Indian subcontinent. After their defeat at the hand of Ahmad Shah Abdali’s Afghan forces in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, the Maratha suffered a setback. However, the Marathas soon regained lost influence and ruled central and north India including New Delhi until the end of the eighteenth century. The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818) led to the end of the Maratha Empire and East India Company ruled the country in 1819. The Marathas also developed a potent Navy circa 1660s, which at its peak, dominated the territorial waters of the western coast of India from Mumbai to Sawantwadi. It would engage in attacking the British, Portuguese, Dutch, and Siddi Naval ships and kept a check on their naval ambitions. The Maratha Navy dominated till around the 1730s, was in a state of decline by the 1770s, and ceased to exist by 1818.

The British governed western Maharashtra as part of the Bombay Presidency, which spanned an area from Karachi in Pakistan to northern Deccan. A number of the Maratha states persisted as princely states, retaining autonomy in return for acknowledging British suzerainty. The largest princely states in the territory were Nagpur, Satara and Kolhapur; Satara was annexed to the Bombay Presidency in 1848, and Nagpur was annexed in 1853 to become Nagpur Province, later part of the Central Provinces. Berar, which had been part of the Nizam of Hyderabad’s kingdom, was occupied by the British in 1853 and annexed to the Central Provinces in 1903. However, a large part called Marathwada remained part of the Nizam’s Hyderabad State throughout the British period.

The period of British rule was marked by social reforms and an improvement in infrastructure as well as revolts due to their discriminatory policies. At the turn of the 20th century, the struggle for independence took shape, led by radical nationalist Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the moderates like Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta and Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Dadabhai Naoroji, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule – social reformers who were all born in this region. After the partial autonomy given to the states by the Government of India Act of 1935, B. G. Kher became the first Chief Minister of the Congress party-led Government of tri-lingual Bombay Presidency. The ultimatum to the British during the Quit India Movement was given in Mumbai, and culminated in the transfer of power and independence in 1947.

After India’s independence, the Deccan States, including Kolhapur were integrated into Bombay State, which was created from the former Bombay Presidency in 1950. In 1956, the States Reorganisation Act reorganised the Indian states along linguistic lines, and Bombay Presidency State was enlarged by the addition of the predominantly Marathi-speaking regions of Marathwada from erstwhile Hyderabad state and Vidarbha region from the Central Provinces and Berar. The southernmost part of Bombay State was ceded to Mysore. From 1954 to 1955 the people of Maharashtra strongly protested against bilingual Bombay state and Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti, was formed. The Mahagujarat Movement was started, seeking a separate Gujarat state. Keshav rao Jedhe, S.M. Joshi, Shripad Amrit Dange, Pralhad Keshav Atre and Gopal rao Khedkar fought for a separate state of Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital under the banner of Samyukta Maharashtra Movement. On 1 May 1960, following mass protests and 105 deaths, the separate Marathi-speaking state was formed by dividing earlier Bombay State into the new states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The state continues to have a dispute with Karnataka regarding the region of Belgaum and Karwar.

Districts of Maharashtra