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Worldview

2023-09-25T01:03:56Z

Bhmyashwanth09: Worldview

{{short description|Fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}{{About|the concept|the WorldView satellite class|DigitalGlobe|the World View near-space balloon technology|World View Enterprises|the Worldview public television network owned by MHz Networks|MHz Networks#MHz Worldview}}[[File:Religion collage (large).jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|Religious practices will tie closely to a religion's worldview.]]

A '''worldview''' or a '''world-view''' or '''''Weltanschauung''''' is the fundamental [[cognitive]] orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's [[knowledge]], [[culture]], and [[Perspective (cognitive)|point of view]].<ref name="Ken Funk">{{cite web|url=http://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~funkk/Personal/worldview.html|title=What is a Worldview?|last1= Funk|first1= Ken|date=2001-03-21 |access-date=2019-12-10}}</ref> A worldview can include [[natural philosophy]]; fundamental, existential, and [[normative]] postulates; or themes, values, emotions, and ethics.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Gary B. |last1=Palmer |title=Toward A Theory of Cultural Linguistics |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1996 |page=114 |isbn=978-0-292-76569-6}}</ref>

==Etymology==

The term ''worldview'' is a [[calque]] of the German word '''''[[wikt:Weltanschauung|Weltanschauung]]''''' {{IPA-de|ˈvɛltʔanˌʃaʊ.ʊŋ||De-Weltanschauung.ogg}}, composed of ''[[wikt:Welt|Welt]]'' ('world') and ''[[Anschauung]]'' ('perception' or 'view').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/worldview |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=2019-12-02}}</ref> The German word is also used in English. It is a concept fundamental to [[German philosophy]], especially [[epistemology]] and refers to a ''wide world perception''. Additionally, it refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs forming a global description through which an individual, group or culture watches and interprets the [[world (philosophy)|world]] and interacts with it as a [[Social constructionism|social reality]].
==''Weltanschauung'' and cognitive philosophy==

Within [[Philosophy of mind|cognitive philosophy]] and the [[cognitive sciences]] is the German concept of ''Weltanschauung''. This expression is used to refer to the "wide worldview" or "wide world perception" of a people, family, or person. The ''Weltanschauung'' of a people originates from the unique world experience of a people, which they experience over several millennia. The [[language]] of a people reflects the ''Weltanschauung'' of that people in the form of its [[Syntax|syntactic structures]] and untranslatable [[connotation]]s and its [[denotation]]s.<ref>{{cite dictionary|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Weltanschauung|title=Weltanschauung – Definition of Weltanschauung by Merriam-Webster|dictionary=Merriam-Webster|access-date=2019-12-17}}</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia.com">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/worldview-philosophy|title=Worldview (philosophy) – Encyclopedia.com|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com|date=2019-12-14|access-date=2019-12-17}}</ref>

The term ''Weltanschauung'' is often wrongly attributed to [[Wilhelm von Humboldt]], the founder of German [[ethnolinguistics]]. However, Humboldt's key concept was ''Weltansicht''.<ref name="Underhill_2009" /> ''Weltansicht'' was used by Humboldt to refer to the overarching conceptual and sensorial apprehension of reality shared by a linguistic community (Nation). On the other hand, ''Weltanschauung'', first used by [[Immanuel Kant]] and later popularized by Hegel, was always used in German and later in English to refer more to philosophies, ideologies and cultural or religious perspectives, than to linguistic communities and their mode of apprehending reality.

In 1911, the German philosopher [[Wilhelm Dilthey]] published an essay entitled "The Types of Worldview (Weltanschauung) and their Development in Metaphysics" that became quite influential. Dilthey characterized worldviews as providing a perspective on life that encompasses the cognitive, evaluative, and volitional aspects of human experience. Although worldviews have always been expressed in literature and religion, philosophers have attempted to give them conceptual definition in their metaphysical systems. On that basis, Dilthey found it possible to distinguish three general recurring types of worldview. The first of these he called naturalism because it gives priority to the perceptual and experimental determination of what is and allows contingency to influence how we evaluate and respond to reality. Naturalism can be found in Democritus, Hobbes, Hume and many other modern philosophers. The second type of worldview is called the idealism of freedom and is represented by Plato, Descartes, Kant, and Bergson among others. It is dualistic and gives primacy to the freedom of the will. The organizational order of our world is structured by our mind and the will to know. The third type is called objective idealism and Dilthey sees it in Heraclitus, Parmenides, Spinoza, Leibniz and Hegel. In objective idealism the ideal does not hover above what is actual but inheres in it. This third type of worldview is ultimately monistic and seeks to discern the inner coherence and harmony among all things. Dilthey thought it impossible to come up with a universally valid metaphysical or systematic formulation of any of these worldviews, but regarded them as useful schema for his own more reflective kind of life philosophy. See [[Makkreel]] and Rodi, Wilhelm Dilthey, Selected Works, volume 6, 2019.

Anthropologically, worldviews can be expressed as the "fundamental cognitive, affective, and evaluative presuppositions a group of people make about the nature of things, and which they use to order their lives."<ref>Hiebert, Paul G. Transforming Worldviews: an anthropological understanding of how people change. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2008{{page needed|date=May 2020}}</ref>

If it were possible to draw a [[map]] of the [[world]] on the basis of ''Weltanschauung'',<ref name="Whorf">{{cite book|author-last=Whorf|author-first=Benjamin Lee|author-link=Benjamin Lee Whorf|editor-last=Carroll|editor-first=John Bissell|editor-link=John Bissell Carroll|orig-year=1st pub. 1956 |year=1964|title=Language, Thought, and Reality. Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2d1Q4el00QC|location=Cambridge, Mass.|publisher=Technology Press of Massachusetts Institute of Technology|isbn=978-0-262-73006-8}} Pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=W2d1Q4el00QC&pg=PA25 25], [https://books.google.com/books?id=W2d1Q4el00QC&pg=PA36 36], [https://books.google.com/books?id=W2d1Q4el00QC&q=%22environmental+conditions%22 29-30], [https://books.google.com/books?id=W2d1Q4el00QC&pg=PA242 242], [https://books.google.com/books?id=W2d1Q4el00QC&pg=PA248 248].</ref> it would probably be seen to cross political borders—''Weltanschauung'' is the product of [[political]] borders and common experiences of a people from a [[geographical]] region,<ref name="Whorf" /> [[natural environment|environmental]]-[[climatic]] conditions, the economic resources available, socio-cultural [[system]]s, and the [[Language families and languages|language family]].<ref name="Whorf" /> (The work of the [[Population genetics|population geneticist]] [[Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza]] aims to show the gene-[[historical linguistics|linguistic]] co-[[evolution]] of people).

According to James W. Underhill, worldview can periodically be used very differently by certain [[linguistics|linguists]] and [[sociology|sociologists]]. It is for this reason that Underhill, and those who influenced him, attempted to wed metaphor in, for example, the [[sociology of religion]], with [[discourse analysis]]. Underhill also proposed five subcategories for the study of worldview: world-perceiving, world-conceiving, cultural mindset, personal world, and perspective.<ref name="Underhill_2009">{{cite book|title=Humboldt, Worldview and Language|last1=Underhill|first1=James W.|date=2009|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0748638420|edition=Transferred to digital print.|location=Edinburgh, Scotland}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Creating worldviews : metaphor, ideology and language|last1=Underhill|first1=James W.|date=2011|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0748679096|location=Edinburgh, Scotland}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Ethnolinguistics and Cultural Concepts: truth, love, hate & war|last1=Underhill|first1=James W.|date=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1107532847|location=Cambridge}}</ref>

==Comparison of worldviews==
{{See also|Social Axioms Survey}}
One can think of a worldview as comprising a number of [[basic belief]]s which are philosophically equivalent to the axioms of the worldview considered as a logical or consistent theory. These basic beliefs cannot, by definition, be proven (in the logical sense) within the worldview – precisely because they are [[axiom]]s, and are typically argued ''from'' rather than argued ''for''.<ref>See for example Daniel Hill and Randal Rauser: ''Christian Philosophy A–Z'' [[Edinburgh University Press]] (2006) {{ISBN|978-0-7486-2152-1}} p200</ref> However their coherence can be explored philosophically and logically.

If two different worldviews have sufficient common beliefs it may be possible to have a constructive dialogue between them.<ref>In the Christian tradition this goes back at least to [[Justin Martyr]]'s ''Dialogues with Trypho, A Jew'', and has roots in the debates recorded in the [[New Testament]] For a discussion of the long history of religious dialogue in India, see [[Amartya Sen]]'s ''The Argumentative Indian''
</ref>

On the other hand, if different worldviews are held to be basically incommensurate and irreconcilable, then the situation is one of [[cultural relativism]] and would therefore incur the standard criticisms from [[philosophical realist]]s.<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/cog-rel.htm#H5 ''Cognitive Relativism'', Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
</ref><ref>The problem of self-refutation is quite general. It arises whether truth is relativized to a framework of concepts, of beliefs, of standards, of practices.[http://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/entries/relativism/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
</ref>
Additionally, religious believers might not wish to see their beliefs relativized into something that is only "true for them".<ref>[http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49207 Pope Benedict warns against relativism]
</ref><ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/RATZRELA.HTM Ratzinger, J. ''Relativism, the Central Problem for Faith Today'']
</ref>
[[Subjective logic]] is a belief-reasoning formalism where beliefs explicitly are subjectively held by individuals but where a consensus between different worldviews can be achieved.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jøsang |first1=Audun |title=A Logic For Uncertain Probabilities |journal=International Journal of Uncertainty, Fuzziness and Knowledge-Based Systems |date=21 November 2011 |volume=09 |issue=3 |pages=279–311 |doi=10.1142/S0218488501000831 |url=https://eprints.qut.edu.au/7204/1/Jos2001-IJUFKS.pdf }}</ref>

A third alternative sees the worldview approach as only a methodological relativism, as a suspension of judgment about the truth of various belief systems but not a declaration that there is no global truth. For instance, the religious philosopher [[Ninian Smart]] begins his ''Worldviews: Cross-cultural Explorations of Human Beliefs'' with "Exploring Religions and Analysing Worldviews" and argues for "the neutral, dispassionate study of different religious and secular systems—a process I call worldview analysis."<ref>[[Ninian Smart]] ''Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs (3rd Edition)'' {{ISBN|0-13-020980-5}} p14
</ref>

The comparison of religious, philosophical or scientific worldviews is a delicate endeavor, because such worldviews start from different [[presupposition]]s and cognitive values.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vidal |first1=Clément |title=Metaphilosophical Criteria for Worldview Comparison |journal=Metaphilosophy |date=April 2012 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=306–347 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9973.2012.01749.x |citeseerx=10.1.1.508.631 }}</ref> Clément Vidal has proposed metaphilosophical criteria for the comparison of worldviews, classifying them in three broad categories:

# ''objective'': objective consistency, scientificity, scope
# ''subjective'': subjective consistency, personal utility, emotionality
# ''intersubjective'': intersubjective consistency, collective utility, narrativity

=== Characteristics ===

While [[Leo Apostel]] and his followers clearly hold that individuals can construct worldviews, other writers regard worldviews as operating at a [[community]] level, or in an [[Unconscious mind|unconscious]] way. For instance, if one's worldview is fixed by one's language, as according to a strong version of the [[Linguistic relativity|Sapir–Whorf hypothesis]], one would have to learn or invent a new language in order to construct a new worldview.

According to Apostel,<ref>[[Diederik Aerts]], [[Leo Apostel]], Bart de Moor, Staf Hellemans, Edel Maex, Hubert van Belle & Jan van der Veken (1994). [https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/659775 "World views. From Fragmentation to Integration"]. VUB Press. Translation of Apostel and Van der Veken 1991 with some additions. – The basic book of World Views, from the Center Leo Apostel.{{page needed|date=May 2020}}</ref> a worldview is an [[ontology]], or a descriptive [[Mental model|model]] of the world. It should comprise these six elements:

# An [[explanation]] of the world
# A [[futurology]], answering the question "Where are we heading?"
# Values, answers to [[ethical]] questions: "What should we do?"
# A [[praxeology]], or [[methodology]], or theory of [[Action (philosophy)|action]]: "How should we attain our goals?"
# An [[epistemology]], or theory of [[knowledge]]: "What is [[truth|true]] and false?"
# An [[etiology]]. A constructed world-view should contain an account of its own "building blocks", its origins and construction.

==Terror management theory==
{{Main|Terror management theory}}
[[File:Memento Mori! (19496674796).jpg|thumb|upright|In [[terror management theory]], one's worldview helps to alleviate the [[anxiety]] caused by [[Death anxiety|awareness of one's own mortality]].]]
A worldview, according to [[terror management theory]] (TMT), serves as a buffer against death anxiety.<ref name="worm">{{cite journal |last1=Schimel |first1=Jeff |last2=Hayes |first2=Joseph |last3=Williams |first3=Todd |last4=Jahrig |first4=Jesse |title=Is death really the worm at the core? Converging evidence that worldview threat increases death-thought accessibility. |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |date=2007 |volume=92 |issue=5 |pages=789–803 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.92.5.789 |pmid=17484605 }}</ref> It is theorized that living up to the ideals of one's worldview provides a sense of self-esteem which provides a sense of transcending the limits of human life (e.g. literally, as in religious belief in immortality; symbolically, as in art works or children to live on after one's death, or in contributions to one's culture).<ref name="worm" /> Evidence in support of terror management theory includes a series of experiments by Jeff Schimel and colleagues in which a group of Canadians found to score highly on a measure of patriotism were asked to read an essay attacking the dominant Canadian worldview.<ref name="worm" />

Using a test of [[Terror management theory#Death thought accessibility|death-thought accessibility]] (DTA), involving an ambiguous word completion test (e.g. "COFF__" could either be completed as either "COFFEE" or "COFFIN" or "COFFER"), participants who had read the essay attacking their worldview were found to have a significantly higher level of DTA than the control group, who read a similar essay attacking Australian cultural values. Mood was also measured following the worldview threat, to test whether the increase in death thoughts following worldview threat were due to other causes, for example, anger at the attack on one's cultural worldview.<ref name="worm" /> No significant changes on mood scales were found immediately following the worldview threat.<ref name="worm" />

To test the generalisability of these findings to groups and worldviews other than those of nationalistic Canadians, Schimel ''et al'' conducted a similar experiment on a group of religious individuals whose worldview included that of [[creationism]].<ref name="worm" /> Participants were asked to read an essay which argued in support of the theory of evolution, following which the same measure of DTA was taken as for the Canadian group.<ref name="worm" /> Religious participants with a creationist worldview were found to have a significantly higher level of death-thought accessibility than those of the control group.<ref name="worm" />

Goldenberg ''et al'' found that highlighting the similarities between humans and other animals increases death-thought accessibility, as does attention to the physical rather than meaningful qualities of sex.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldenberg |first1=Jamie L. |last2=Cox |first2=Cathy R. |last3=Pyszczynski |first3=Tom |last4=Greenberg |first4=Jeff |last5=Solomon |first5=Sheldon |title=Understanding human ambivalence about sex: The effects of stripping sex of meaning |journal=Journal of Sex Research |date=November 2002 |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=310–320 |doi=10.1080/00224490209552155 |pmid=12545414 |s2cid=24419836 }}</ref>

==Religion==
[[Nishida Kitaro]] wrote extensively on "the Religious Worldview" in exploring the philosophical significance of Eastern religions.<ref>Indeed Kitaro's final book is ''Last Writings: Nothingness and the Religious Worldview''
</ref>

According to [[Neo-Calvinist]] [[David Naugle]]'s ''World view: The History of a Concept'', "Conceiving of Christianity as a worldview has been one of the most significant developments in the recent history of the church."<ref>David K. Naugle ''Worldview: The History of a Concept'' {{ISBN|0-8028-4761-7}} page 4</ref>

The Christian thinker [[James W. Sire]] defines a worldview as "a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true, or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic [[Social constructionism|construction of reality]], and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being." He suggests that "we should all think in terms of worldviews, that is, with a consciousness not only of our own way of thought but also that of other people, so that we can first understand and then genuinely communicate with others in our pluralistic society."<ref>James W. Sire ''The Universe Next Door: A Basic World view Catalog'' pp. 15–16 (text readable at Amazon.com)</ref>

The commitment mentioned by James W. Sire can be extended further. The worldview increases the commitment to serve the world. With the change of a person's view towards the world, he/she can be motivated to serve the world. This serving attitude has been illustrated by Tareq M Zayed as the 'Emancipatory Worldview' in his writing "History of emancipatory worldview of Muslim learners".<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/9631989|title=History of emancipatory worldview of Muslim learners|first1=Tareq M|last1=Zayed}}</ref>

In the context of religious Islamic terrorist presumed socio-political and socio-cultural Islamic Weltanschauung, [[Carsten Bockstette]] defines Weltanschauung (German) literally meaning “world picture” as a believe based comprehensive philosophical conception of the world and of jihadist’s relation to it (believe-system).”<ref name="Bockstette">{{cite book|author=Bockstette, Carsten|title=Jihadist Realism: Countering Al-Qaeda’s and the Islamic State’s Communication Strategy|publisher=Dr. Kovač Verlag|year=2023|isbn=978-3-339-13732-6|page=32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZuJIPP9HfRsC&pg=PA43}}</ref>

[[David Bell (author)|David Bell]] has also raised questions on religious worldviews for the designers of [[superintelligence]]s – machines much smarter than humans.<ref>{{Cite book |title= Superintelligence and World-views: Putting the Spotlight on Some Important Issues|last1= Bell|first1= David|date=2016 |publisher= Grosvenor House Publishing Limited |isbn= 9781786237668 |location= Guildford, Surrey, UK|oclc= 962016344}}{{page needed|date=May 2020}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [[b:Nature|Wikibook:The scientific world view]]
* [http://www.projectworldview.org/wikiworldviewthemes.htm ''Wiki Worldview Themes: A Structure for Characterizing and Analyzing Worldviews'']
* {{cite web |url= http://cognation.stanford.edu/press/newscientist.pdf |title= ''You are what you speak'' |url-status= bot: unknown |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090920230544/http://cognation.stanford.edu/press/newscientist.pdf |archive-date= 2009-09-20 }} {{small|(5.15 MB)}} – a 2002 essay on research in linguistic relativity (Lera Boroditsky)
* {{cite web |url= http://www.wmich.edu/slcsp/SLCSP106/SLCSP106.PDF |title= Cobern, W. ''World View, Metaphysics, and Epistemology'' |url-status= bot: unknown |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174819/http://www.wmich.edu/slcsp/SLCSP106/SLCSP106.PDF |archive-date= 2016-03-03 }} {{small|(50.3 KB)}}
* [http://www.inTERRAgation.com inTERRAgation.com—A documentary project. Collecting and evaluating answers to "the meaning of life" from around the world.]
* [http://www.godcontention.org The God Contention—Comparing various worldviews, faiths, and religions through the eyes of their advocates.]
* [http://henrycenter.tiu.edu/resource/do-christians-have-a-worldview/ Cole, Graham A., ''Do Christians have a Worldview?''] A paper examining the concept of worldview as it relates to and has been used by Christianity. Contains a helpful annotated bibliography.
* [http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/WORLVIEW.html ''World View article on the Principia Cybernetica Project'']
* [http://ldm.sagepub.com/content/12/1/57 Pogorskiy, E. (2015). Using personalisation to improve the effectiveness of global educational projects. E-Learning and Digital Media, 12(1), 57–67.]
* [http://www.projectworldview.org/worldviews.htm ''Worldviews – An Introduction''] from Project Worldview
* [http://www.asa3.org/asa/topics/worldview/index.html "Studies on World Views Related to Science" (list of suggested books and resources)] from the [[American Scientific Affiliation]] (a Christian perspective)
* Eugene Webb, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100113045231/http://press.umsystem.edu/spring2009/webb.htm ''Worldview and Mind: Religious Thought and Psychological Development.''] Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2009.
* Benjamin Gal-Or, ''Cosmology, Physics and Philosophy'', Springer Verlag, 1981, 1983, 1987, {{ISBN|0-387-90581-2}}, {{ISBN|0-387-96526-2}}.

{{World view}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:World View}}
[[Category:Conceptual modelling]]
[[Category:Belief]]
[[Category:Consensus reality]]
[[Category:Psychological attitude]]
[[Category:Psychological concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in epistemology]]
[[Category:Epistemology of religion]]

History of Maharashtra

2022-11-19T23:48:56Z

Bhmyashwanth09: Finished writing a new contribution.

{{Short description|none}}
{{Copy edit}}
{{Use dmy dates}}
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
[[Maharashtra]] is a state in the western region of India. It is India's second-most populous state and third-largest state by area. The region that comprises the state has a long history dating back to ca. 1300–700 BCE, although the present-day state was not established until 1960 CE.

Prior to Indian independence, notable dynasties and entities that ruled the region include, in chronological order, the [[Maurya]], the [[Western Satraps]], the [[Satavahana dynasty]], [[Rashtrakuta dynasty]], [[Western Chalukya Empire|Western Chalukyas]], the [[Bahmani Sultanate|Bahamanis]], [[Deccan sultanates]], [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]], the [[Maratha Empire]] founded by [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj]], and the [[British Raj|British]]. [[Ruins]], [[monuments]], [[tomb]]s, [[forts]], and places of worship left by these rulers are dotted around the state. At the time of the [[Indian independence movement]] in the early 20th century, along with British ruled areas of [[Bombay presidency]], and [[Central Provinces and Berar]]. The region included many British [[princely states|vassal states]]. Among these, the erstwhile [[Hyderabad state]] was the largest and extended over many modern Indian states. Other states grouped under [[Deccan States Agency]] included [[Kolhapur State|Kolhapur]], [[Miraj]], [[Sangli]], [[Aundh State|Aundh]], [[Bhor]], and [[Sawantwadi State|Sawantwadi]].

After [[Indian Independence Act 1947|independence]] from the [[British raj|British]] in [[1947]], the state of Maharashtra was formed in 1960 after a campaign to create a [[Marathi language|Marathi]]-speaking state in the 1950s.

From the 4th century BC until 875, [[Maharashtri Prakrit]] and its dialects were the dominant languages of the region. The Marathi language, which evolved from Maharashtri Prakrit, has been the common language since the 9th century. The oldest stone inscriptions in the Marathi language date to around 975 AD,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/yO371luBUKFCjhQouRcBCK/Konkani-vs-Marathi-Language-battles-in-golden-Goa.html|title=Konkani vs Marathi: Language battles in golden Goa|last=Venkatesh|first=Karthik|website=LiveMint|language=en|access-date=2019-06-29}}</ref> and can be seen in the [[Jain]] temple at [[Shravanabelagola|Shravanabelgola]] in modern-day [[Karnataka]] at the foot of the [[Gommateshwara statue|Lord Bahubali]] statue.

==Early history==
[[File:Coach driver Indus 01.jpg|thumb|right|Late [[Harappa]] figure from the [[Daimabad|Daimabad hoard]], [[Indus Valley civilization]]]]
[[File:Lohagadwadi-caves-Jain-Inscription.jpg|thumb|right|[[Lohagadwadi]] cave inscription of 2nd century BCE in [[Brahmi script]] in Prakrit language beginning with ''Namo Arihantanam'', indicating the presence of [[Jain]] settlement]]
[[Chalcolithic]] sites belonging to the [[Jorwe culture]] (ca. 1300–700 BCE) have been discovered throughout the state.<ref>[[Upinder Singh]] (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC ''A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century''], p.232</ref><ref>[[P. K. Basant]] (2012), [[iarchive:citycountryinear0000basa|''The City and the Country in Early India: A Study of Malwa'']], pp. 92–96</ref> The largest settlement discovered of the [[culture]] is at [[Daimabad]], a [[Late Harappan]] site, which had a mud fortification during this period, as well as an elliptical [[temple]] with fire pits. Some settlements show evidence of planning in the layout of rectangular houses and streets or lanes.<ref name="Lahiri2015">{{cite book|author=Nayanjot Lahiri|title=Ashoka in Ancient India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ_XCgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-05777-7|page=82}}</ref><ref name=singh>{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Upinder|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&q=Daimabad&pg=PA229|year=2008|publisher=[[Pearson Education]]|location=[[Delhi]]|isbn=978-81-317-1120-0|pages=229–233}}</ref> In the Late Harappan period there was a large migration of people from [[Gujarat]] to northern Maharashtra.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thapar|first=Romila|title=Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300|publisher=University of California Press|year=2002|isbn=0-520-24225-4|pages=87}}</ref>

Maharashtra was historically the name of a region which consisted of [[Aparanta]], [[Vidarbha]], Mulak, [[Assaka]] ([[Asmaka]]) and [[Kuntala country|Kuntala]].{{Citation needed}} In ancient times [[tribal communities]] of [[Bhil people]] inhabited this area, also known as [[Dandakaranya]].
Linguists and archeologists believe it is likely Maharashtra was inhabited by [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] speakers during the middle [[Vedic period|Rigvedic period]],<ref>Witzel, Michael (2000). "The Languages of Harappa". In Kenoyer, J.. ''Proceedings of the conference on the Indus civilization.''</ref> which is determined from Dravidian place names in Maharashtra.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Witzel|first=Michael|title=Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (Ṛgvedic, Middle and Late Vedic)|url=https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/viewFile/828/806|journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies|volume=5|issue=1|pages=21}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Witzel|first=Michael|title=Early Sources for South Asian Substrate Languages|url=https://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/MT-Substrates.pdf|journal=Mother Tongue|pages=25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Dyson|first=Tim|title=A Population History of India:From the First Modern People to the Present Day|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2018|isbn=978-0-19-8829-05-8|pages=26}}</ref> Maharashtra region later became part of the [[Maurya Empire]] with [[Edicts of Ashoka|edicts]] of emperor [[Ashoka]] found in the region. Buddhism flourished during this period. Trade, including international trade with Greeks and later with the Roman empire, also flourished, with traders being the main patrons of Buddhist monasteries.<ref>Margabandhu, C. "Trade Contacts between Western India and the Graeco-Roman World in the early centuries of the Christian era." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient/Journal de l'histoire economique et sociale de l'Orient (1965): 316-322.</ref><ref>Rath, Jayanti. "Queens and Coins of India."</ref><ref>Deo, S. B. "The Genesis of Maharashtra History and Culture." Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 43 (1984): 17-36.</ref> [[Indo-Scythians|Indo-Sythian]] [[Western Satraps]] ruled part of the region during the early part of the first millennium.<ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay|publisher=Asiatic Society of Bombay|page=219|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zgUAQAAMAAJ|language=en|quote=If Konow is right, then the length of time for Ksatrapa rule in the Nasik-Karla-Junnar region would be at least thirty-five years.}}</ref>

==Middle Kingdoms (200 BCE-13th century CE)==
The region that is present-day Maharashtra has formed part of a number of states, including the [[Maurya empire]], [[Satavahana dynasty]], the [[Kadamba dynasty]], the [[Vakataka dynasty]], the [[Chalukya dynasty]] and the [[Rashtrakuta dynasty]]. Most of these empires extended over large swathes of Indian territory. Some of the greatest monuments in Maharashtra, such as the [[Ajanta Caves]] and [[Ellora Caves]], were built during the time of these empires.

===Classical period (c. 200 BCE – c. 650 CE)===
Maharashtra was ruled by the [[Maurya Empire]] in the 4th and 3rd century BCE. Around 230 BCE, it was taken over by the [[Satavahana dynasty]], which ruled the region for the next 400 years.<ref>India Today: An [[Encyclopedia]] of Life in the Republic: p.440</ref> A notable ruler of the Satavahana dynasty was [[Gautamiputra Satakarni]], who defeated [[Scythian]] invaders. The [[Vakataka dynasty]] ruled from approximately 250 to 470 CE.

The Satavahana dynasty mainly used the [[Maharashtri Prakrit|Prakrit]] language on their coins and for inscriptions on the walls of Buddhist monasteries.{{sfn|Sailendra Nath Sen|1999|pp=172–176}}<ref>Sinopoli, C.M., 2001. On the edge of empire: Form and substance in the Satavahana dynasty. Empires: Perspectives from archaeology and history,p.163, 173.[https://books.google.com/books?id=MBuPx1rdGYIC&pg=PA155]</ref>

===The Chalukya and Rashtrakuta===
[[File:Ellora cave16 001.jpg|alt=|right|thumb|The [[Kailasa temple, Ellora|Kailashanatha Temple]], one of the 34 cave temples and [[monasteries]] known collectively as the [[Ellora Caves]], was built during the 8th century CE by the [[Rashtrakuta dynasty|Rashtrakuta]] king [[Krishna I]].]]
From the 6th century CE to the 8th century, the [[Chalukya dynasty]] ruled Maharashtra. Two prominent rulers were [[Pulakeshin II]], who defeated the north Indian Emperor [[Harsha]], and [[Vikramaditya II]], who defeated Arab invaders in the 8th century.The name Maharashtra appears on a 7th century inscription at [[Aihole]] by Pulakeshin II proclaiming sovereignty over the "three Mahārāshtrakas with their 99,000 villages".<ref>Habib, Irfan, and Faiz Habib. "INDIA IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY — A SURVEY OF POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY." Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 60, 1999, pp. 89–128. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44144078. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.</ref> The [[Rashtrakuta Dynasty]] ruled Maharashtra from the 8th to the 10th century.<ref>Indian History - page B-57</ref> The Arab traveler [[Sulaiman]] called the ruler of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty ([[Amoghavarsha]]) "one of the 4 great kings of the world".<ref>A Comprehensive History of Ancient India (3 Vol. Set): p.203</ref> The [[Chalukya dynasty]] and Rashtrakuta dynasty had their capitals in modern-day [[Karnataka]] and used [[Kannada]] and [[Sanskrit]] as court languages.

From the early 11th century to the 12th century the [[Deccan Plateau]], including a large part of Maharashtra, was dominated by the [[Western Chalukya Empire]] and the [[Chola dynasty]].<ref>The [[Penguin History]] of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 by [[Romila Thapar]]: p.365-366</ref> Several battles over the Deccan Plateau were fought between these empires during the reigns of [[Raja Raja Chola I]], [[Rajendra Chola I]], [[Jayasimha II (Western Chalukya dynasty)|Jayasimha II]], [[Someshvara I]] and [[Vikramaditya VI]].<ref>[[Ancient Indian History]] and Civilization by [[Sailendra Nath Sen]]: p.383-384</ref>

Between 800 and 1200 CE, parts of Western Maharashtra, including the [[Konkan]] region of Maharashtra, were ruled by different [[Shilahara]] houses based in North Konkan, South Konkan, and Kolhapur respectively.<ref>Sovani, N.V., 1951. Social Survey of Kolhapur City Vol. Ii-Industry, Trade And Labour,pp=2-4</ref> At different periods in their history, the Shilaharas served as the [[vassal]]s of either the Rashtrakutas or the Chalukyas.{{Citation needed}}

===Yadav dynasty 12th-14th century===
[[File:Daulatabad Fort Geography.jpg|right|thumb|Devgiri hill,the capital of the Yadava kingdom]]
The [[Yadavas of Devagiri]] dynasty at its peak ruled a kingdom stretching from the [[Tungabhadra]] to the [[Narmada River|Narmada]] rivers, including present-day [[Maharashtra]], [[north Karnataka]] and parts of [[Madhya Pradesh]]. Its capital was at [[Devagiri]] (present-day [[Daulatabad, Maharashtra|Daulatabad]] in modern Maharashtra). The [[Yadavas]] initially ruled as [[feudatories]] of the [[Western Chalukyas]].<ref name="ref_India_A_History_John_Keay">{{cite book
| last = Keay
| first = John
| author-link = John Keay
| title = India: A History
| date= 2001-05-01
| publisher = Atlantic Monthly Pr
| isbn = 978-0-8021-3797-5
| pages = 252–257
}} ''The quoted pages can be read at [https://books.google.com/ Google Book Search].''</ref>

The founder of the [[Seuna (Yadava) dynasty|Suena dynasty]] was [[Dridhaprahara]], the son of Subahu. It is unclear where his capital was located; some argue that his capital was [[Shrinagara]], while an early inscription suggests that Chandradityapura (modern [[Chandwad]] in the [[Nasik]] district) was the capital.<ref name="Nasik_district_Gazetteer">{{cite web
| url = http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/nasik/005%20History/001%20AncientPeriod.htm
| title = Nasik District Gazetteer: History – Ancient period
| access-date=2006-10-01
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061107163101/http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/nasik/005%20History/001%20AncientPeriod.htm
| archive-date = 2006-11-07
}}</ref> The name Seuna comes from Dridhaprahara's son, Seunachandra, who originally ruled a region called ''Seunadesha'' (present-day [[Khandesh]]). [[Bhillama II]], a later ruler in the dynasty, assisted [[Tailapa II]] in his war with the [[Paramara]] king [[Vakpati Munja]]. Seunachandra II helped [[Vikramaditya VI]] in gaining his throne.

Around the middle of the 12th century, as Chalukya power waned, the Yadavas declared independence. Their rule reached its peak under Singhana II. The Yadavas of Devagiri used Marathi as their court language.<ref name="Kulkarni 1966 233">{{cite book|title=Ancient Indian History & Culture|last=Kulkarni|first=Chidambara Martanda|publisher=Karnatak Pub. House|year=1966|page=233}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianembassy.org/indiainfo/india_2000/chapters/chp29.pdf |title=India 2000 – States and Union Territories of India|website=Indianembassy.org|access-date=2016-02-27}}</ref><ref>"''Yadav – Pahila Marathi Bana''" S.P. Dixit (1962)</ref> [[Sanskrit]] was used as a court language by earlier Yadava rulers. [[Simhana]] started using Marathi as official court Language. The Yadava capital Devagiri became a magnet for learned scholars in Marathi to showcase and find patronage for their skills. The origin and growth of [[Marathi literature]] is directly linked with the rise of the Yadava dynasty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bhashaindia.com/Patrons/LanguageTech/Marathi.aspx |access-date=3 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070121015805/http://www.bhashaindia.com/Patrons/LanguageTech/Marathi.aspx|title=Marathi - The Language of Warriors |archive-date=21 January 2007 }}</ref>

According to scholars such as [[George M. Moraes|George Moraes]],<ref>{{cite web
| title=Pre-Portuguese Culture of Goa
| author=Professor George Moraes
| publisher=International Goan Convention
| url=http://www.goacom.org/community/associations/goaont/convention/moraes.htm
| access-date=2006-10-01
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061015062413/http://www.goacom.org/community/associations/goaont/convention/moraes.htm  |archive-date = 2006-10-15}}</ref> [[Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade|V. K. Rajwade]], [[Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya|C. V. Vaidya]], [[Anant Sadashiv Altekar|A.S. Altekar]], [[D. R. Bhandarkar]], and [[J Duncan M Derrett|J. Duncan M. Derrett]],<ref name="ref_The_Sevunas_of_Devagiri">{{cite book
| last = Murthy
| first = A. V. Narasimha
| title = The Sevunas of Devagiri
| year = 1971
| publisher = Rao and Raghavan
| page = 32
}}</ref> the Seuna rulers were of [[Maratha]] descent.<ref name="Kulkarni 1966 233" /> Digambar Balkrishna Mokashi noted that the Yadava dynasty "seems to be the first true Maratha empire".<ref name="palkhi">{{cite book
| last = Mokashi
| first = Digambar [[Balkrishna]]
| title = Palkhi: An Indian Pilgrimage
| date= 1987-07-01
| publisher = SUNY Press
| isbn = 978-0-88706-461-6
| page = 37
}}</ref>

==Medieval and Early modern period (1206-1858 CE)==
[[File:Tomb Of Salabat Khan II .jpg|thumb|right|Tomb of Salabat Khan II, an example of architecture of Ahmadnagar Sultanate]]
In the early 14th century, the Yadava 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, Maharashtra|Daulatabad]] in Maharashtra.

=== Bahmani and Deccan Sultanates ===
[[File:5 x 7.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bibi Ka Maqbara]], a replica of the [[Taj Mahal]], was built during the reign of Mughal Emperor [[Aurangzeb]]]]
After the collapse of the Tughluqs in 1347, the breakaway [[Bahmani Sultanate]] governed the region as well as the wider [[Deccan]] region for the next 150 years from [[Gulbarga]] and later from [[Bidar]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Kingdoms of South Asia – Indian Bahamani Sultanate|url=http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsFarEast/IndiaBahamanis.htm|publisher=The History Files, United Kingdom|access-date=12 September 2014}}</ref>
The early period of Islamic rule saw atrocities such as imposition of [[Jizya]] tax on non-Muslims, temple destruction and forcible conversions.<ref>{{cite book|title=Cultural Politics in Modern India: Postcolonial prospects, colourful cosmopolitanism, global proximities|last1=Paranjape|first1=Makarand|publisher=Routledge India|isbn=978-1-138-95692-6|pages=34, 35}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sultans of the South: Arts of India's Deccan Courts, 1323-1687|last1=Haidar|first1=Navina Najat|last2=Sardar|first2=Marika|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|isbn=978-0-300-17587-5|page=186}}</ref> Eventually these incidents largely ceased. For most of this period [[Brahmin]]s were in charge of accounts, whereas revenue collection was in the hands of Marathas who had {{transliteration|mr|[[Vatandar|watans]]}} (hereditary rights) of [[Patil (title)|patil]]ki (revenue collection at village level) and [[deshmukh]]i (revenue collection over a larger area). A number of families such as [[Shinde]], [[Bhosale]], Shirke, Ghorpade, [[Jadhav]], More, [[Mahadik]], [[Kagal|Ghatge]] and [[Nimbalkar]] loyally served different sultans at different periods in time.<ref name="Chandra2005">{{cite book|author=Satish Chandra|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&pg=PA13|year=2005|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|isbn=978-81-241-1066-9|pages=188–189}}</ref> Since most of the population was Hindu and spoke Marathi, even sultans such as [[Ibrahim Adil Shah I]] adopted Marathi as the court language, for administration and record keeping.<ref name="jstor.org" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/bijapur/adilshahis.htm|title=The Adil Shahi Kingdom (1510 CE to 1686 CE)|last1=Kamat|first1=Jyotsna|website=Kamat's Potpourri|access-date=4 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="Gordon2007">{{cite book|author=Stewart Gordon|title=The Marathas 1600-1818|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-03316-9|page=16}}</ref>

After the break-up of the [[Bahamani]] sultanate in 1518, the Maharashtra region was split between five [[Deccan Sultanates]]: Nizamshah of [[Ahmadnagar Sultanate]], [[Adilshah]] of Bijapur, [[Qutubshah]] of Golkonda, [[Bidarshah]] of Bidar and [[Imadshah]] of Elichpur.<ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal|last1=Kulkarni|first1=G.T.|title=Deccan (Maharashtra) Under the Muslim Rulers From Khaljis to Shivaji: A Study in Interaction, Professor S.M. Katre Felicitation|journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute|volume=51/52|pages=501–510|jstor=42930434}}</ref> These kingdoms often fought with each other. United, they decisively defeated the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] of the south in 1565.<ref name="Saletore1934">{{cite book|author=Bhasker Anand Saletore|title=Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346-A.D. 1646)|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530021|year=1934|publisher=B.G. Paul}}</ref> The present area of [[Mumbai]] was ruled by the [[Sultanate of Gujarat]] before its capture by [[Portugal]] in 1535.
The [[Faruqi dynasty]] ruled the [[Khandesh]] region between 1382 and 1601 before finally being annexed by the [[Mughal Empire]]. The Mughals under [[Akbar]] started capturing territories held by the Deccan sultanates towards the end of 16th century. This initiative continued under his successors for almost a century, when most of the present day area of Maharashtra came under Mughal control.<ref name="Roy2015">{{cite book|author=Kaushik Roy|title=Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500BCE to 1740CE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xx7ICQAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-58692-0|page=136}}</ref> However, Mughal control was challenged multiple times during this period. Early in the century the resistance was led by [[Malik Ambar]], the regent of the [[Ahmadnagar Sultanate|Nizamshahi dynasty]] of [[Ahmednagar]] from 1607 to 1626.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India|url=https://archive.org/details/asketchdynastie00sewegoog|year=1883|publisher=E. Keys|pages=[https://archive.org/details/asketchdynastie00sewegoog/page/n35 26]–28}}</ref> He increased the strength and power of [[Murtaza Nizam Shah II]] and raised a large army. Malik Ambar was a proponent of [[guerilla warfare]] in the Deccan region and was considered a great foe by Mughal emperor [[Jehangir]].<ref name="Rogers2011">{{cite book|author=J.A. Rogers|title=World's Great Men of Color, Volume I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zqd-nLqwXdcC&pg=PA172|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4516-5054-9|pages=172–174}}</ref> He assisted Mughal prince Khurram (later emperor [[Shah Jahan]]) in his struggle against his stepmother, [[Nur Jahan]], who had ambitions to secure the Delhi throne for her son-in-law.<ref>{{cite web|title=Malik Ambar (1548–1626): the rise and fall of military slavery|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/other/019pho0000303s1u00112000.html|publisher=British Library|access-date=12 September 2014}}</ref> In the second half of the 17th century, the Mughals were constantly challenged by the Marathas under Shivaji, and later his successors.{{sfn|Gordon, The Marathas|1993|pp=72-102}}
In fact, the decline of Islamic rule in Deccan started when Shivaji annexed a portion of the [[Adil Shahi dynasty|Bijapur Sultanate]] in the second half of the 17th century. In the process, he became a symbol of Hindu resistance and self-rule.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chary|first1=Manish Telikicherla|title=India: Nation on the Move: An Overview of India's People, Culture, History, Economy, IT Industry, & More|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-1-4401-1635-3|page=96|year=2009}}</ref>

== Maratha Empire (1674–1818 CE) ==
{{Main|Maratha Empire}}
The [[Maratha Empire]] dominated the political scene in India from the middle of the 17th century to the early 19th century.

=== Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ===
{{Main|Shivaji}}
[[File:Shivaji British Museum.jpg|thumb|right|Shivaji, the founder of Maratha empire]]
chhatrapati Shivaji maharaj was the founder of the [[Maratha empire]]. He was born in the [[Bhonsle]] [[Maratha clan system|clan]] in 1630.<ref name="StuBritannica2000">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DPP7O3nb3g0C&pg=PA8|title=Student's Britannica: India (Set of 7 Vols.) 39|publisher=Popular Prakashan|year=2000|isbn=978-0-85229-760-5|editor=Indu Ramchandani|page=8}}</ref> Shivaji carved out an enclave from the declining [[Adilshahi sultanate]] of [[Bijapur]] that formed the genesis of the [[Maratha Empire]]. In 1674, he crowned himself as the Chhatrapati (Monarch) of his [[realm]] at [[Raigad Fort]]. However, to achieve this he not only had to fight the Mughals and the Adilshahi but also many Maratha [[Vatandar|Watandars]]. These Watandars considered their watan a source of economic power and pride and were reluctant to part with it. The Watandars even initially opposed the emergence of [[Shivaji]], because their economic interests were affected.<ref name="jstor.org" />
Shivaji was an able administrator and established a government that paid the genrals and ministers a salary rather than granting them Jagir (fiefs).<ref>PRÄNT, TARAF, SSDAROF SE, DSISDARO DIWAN, and SS DAR OF NORTH DIWAN. "MARATHA ADMINISTRATION." A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-eighteenth Century (2011): 322.[https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&q=shivaji+administration&pg=PA322]</ref> He established an effective civil and military administration, built a powerful navy and erected new forts (e.g. [[Sindhudurg Fort]]) and strengthened old ones (e.g. [[Vijaydurg Fort]]) on the west coast of Maharashtra. He died around April 3, 1680, of [[dysentery]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yoI8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA258|title=The Cambridge History of India|last1=Haig|first1=Wolseley|last2=Burn|first2=Richard|publisher=CUP Archive|pages=384|language=en}}</ref>

After Shivaji died, Mughal emperor [[Aurangzeb]] [[Mughal–Maratha Wars|launched an attack]] on the Marathas that led to a military conflict lasting 27 years. This period saw the conquest bt the mughals of the remaining Deccan sultanates of Adilshahi and Qutbshahi.It also saw the capture and death of Shivaji's son and successor, Sambhaji at the hands of the Mughals.The death of Aurangzeb in 1707 ended the conflict, and initiated the decline of the [[Mughal Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbmT_Tv-VGUC&pg=PA93|title=History of India from the Earliest Period to the Close of the East India Company's Government|last=Marshman|first=John Clark|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-02104-3|pages=93|language=en}}</ref>

=== Expansion of Maratha Influence in 18th Century under Shahu I and Peshwa rule ===
[[File:Joppen1907India1795a.jpg|thumb|The [[Maratha Empire]] (1795 map) was the paramount power in the [[Indian subcontinent]] in the 18th and early 19th century until it was usurped by the [[East India Company]].]]
[[File:Gate of shaniwar wada.jpg|thumb|[[Shaniwar Wada]], the palace and administrative headquarters in Pune built by [[Baji Rao I]] in 1730]]

During much of the 18th century, the [[Maratha Peshwa and Generals from Bhat Family|Peshwa]]s, belonging to the (Bhat) [[Deshmukh]] Marathi [[Chitpavan Brahmin]] family, controlled the Maratha army and later became the hereditary heads of the [[Maratha Empire]] from 1749 to 1818.<ref>Shirgaonkar, Varsha S. "Eighteenth Century Deccan: Cultural History of the Peshwas." Aryan Books International, New Delhi (2010). {{ISBN|978-81-7305-391-7}}</ref> During their reign, the Maratha empire reached its zenith in 1760, dominating most of the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>Shirgaonkar, Varsha S. "Peshwyanche Vilasi Jeevan." (Luxurious Life of Peshwas) Continental Prakashan, Pune (2012). {{ISBN|81-7421-063-6}}</ref><ref name="pearson">{{cite journal |last=Pearson |first=M.N. |title=Shivaji and the Decline of the Mughal Empire |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=221–235 |doi=10.2307/2053980 |jstor=2053980|s2cid=162482005 }}</ref><ref name="google3">{{cite book|title=Delhi, the Capital of India|author=Capper, J.|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1282-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aqqBPS1TDUgC&pg=PA28|page=28|access-date=6 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="google4">{{cite book|title=An Advanced History of Modern India|author=Sen, S.N.|publisher=Macmillan India|isbn=978-0-230-32885-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&pg=PA1941-IA82|page=1941|access-date=6 January 2017}}</ref> [[Bajirao I]], a prominent [[Peshwa]] (general), was only 20 when appointed Peshwa. For his campaigns in North India, he actively promoted young leaders of his own age such as [[Ranoji Shinde]], [[Malharrao Holkar]], the [[Dewas State|Puar brothers]] and [[Pilaji Gaekwad]]. These leaders also did not come from the traditional aristocratic families of Maharashtra.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gordon|first1=Stewart|title=The Marathas 1600-1818.|publisher=Cambridge Univ Pr|location=Cambridge [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-521-03316-9|pages=117–121|edition=Digitally print. 1. pbk. version.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&q=+holkar+shinde+shahu&pg=PA120}}</ref> All the young leaders chosen by Bajirao I or their descendants later became rulers in their own right during the Maratha Confederacy era. Historian K.K. Datta argues that Bajirao I "may very well be regarded as the second founder of the Maratha Empire".<ref>''[[An Advanced History of India]]'', Dr. K.K. Datta, p. 546</ref>

Another general, [[Raghoji Bhonsle]], also expanded the Maratha rule in central and East India and took control of the [[Nagpur Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scroll.in/article/776978/forgotten-indian-history-the-brutal-maratha-invasions-of-bengal|title=Forgotten Indian history: The brutal Maratha invasions of Bengal}}</ref> In 1737, the Marathas defeated a Mughal army in their capital, in the [[Battle of Delhi (1737)|Battle of Delhi]]. The Marathas continued [[Battles involving the Maratha Empire|their military campaigns]] against the [[Mughals]], [[Nizam]], [[Nawab of Bengal]] and the Durrani Empire to further extend their boundaries.

By 1760, the domain of the Marathas stretched across most of the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="ansar">[https://books.google.com/books?id=XRpFol4AnO0C&pg=PA133 The Rediscovery of India: A New Subcontinent] Cite: ''"Swarming up from the Himalayas, the Marathas now ruled from the Indus and Himalayas in the north to the south tip of the peninsula. They were either masters directly or they took tribute."''</ref> The Marathas even discussed abolishing the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal throne]] and placing Peshwa [[Vishwasrao]] on the Mughal imperial throne in [[Delhi]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QO4KjzuJ52QC&q=vishwasrao+peshwa+throne+delhi&pg=PA130|title=Islamic Renaissance In South Asia (1707–1867): The Role Of Shah Waliallah & His Successors|last=M.A.Ghazi|publisher=Adam Publishers & Distributors|via=Google Books|isbn=978-81-7435-400-6}}</ref> At its peak, the empire stretched from [[Tamil Nadu]]{{sfnp|Mehta|2005|p=204}} in the south, to [[Maratha conquest of North-west India|Peshawar]] (modern-day [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]]<ref name="XWiACEwPR8C p.16">{{cite book|author=Sailendra Nath Sen|title=An Advanced History of Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&pg=PR22|year=2010|publisher=Macmillan India|isbn=978-0-230-32885-3|page=16}}</ref> {{#tag:ref|Many historians consider [[Attock]] to be the final frontier of the Maratha Empire<ref>Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bharatiya Itihasa Samiti, Ramesh Chandra Majumdar – ''[[The History and Culture of the Indian People]]: The Maratha supremacy''</ref>|group=note}}) in the north, and [[Maratha expeditions in Bengal|Bengal]] in the east. The Northwestern expansion of the Marathas was stopped after the [[Third Battle of Panipat]] (1761). However, the [[Maratha Resurrection|Maratha authority in the north was re-established]] within a decade under Peshwa [[Madhavrao I]].<ref>{{cite book|author=N.G. Rathod|title=The Great Maratha Mahadaji Scindia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPq640stHJ0C&pg=PA8|year=1994|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-85431-52-9|page=8}}</ref> Under Madhavrao I, the strongest knights were granted semi-autonomy, creating a confederacy of Maratha states led by the [[Gaekwad]]s of [[Baroda State|Baroda]], the [[Holkar]]s of [[Indore State|Indore]] and [[Malwa]], the [[Scindia]]s of [[Gwalior State|Gwalior]] and [[Ujjain]], the [[Bhonsale]]s of [[Nagpur kingdom|Nagpur]] and the [[Paramara dynasty|Puars]] of [[Dhar State|Dhar]] and [[Dewas State (Maratha Confederacy)|Dewas]].

In 1775, the East India Company intervened in a Peshwa family succession struggle in [[Pune]], leading to the [[First Anglo-Maratha War]], which resulted in a Maratha victory.<ref name="Naravane2">{{Cite book |last=Naravane |first=M.S. |title=Battles of the Honorourable East India Company |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |year=2014 |isbn=978-81-313-0034-3 |pages=63}}</ref>

====Maratha Navy====
Shivaji developed a potent [[Maratha Navy|Naval force]] during his rule. In the early part of the 1700s, under the leadership of [[Kanhoji Angre]], this navy dominated the territorial waters of the western coast of India from [[Bilimora]], [[Gujarat]]<ref>{{cite book|title=280 years ago, Baroda had its own Navy|work=The Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/280-years-ago-Baroda-had-its-own-Navy/articleshow/6638897.cms}}</ref> to [[Savantwadi]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sridharan|first1=K|title=Sea: Our Saviour|publisher=New Age International (P) Ltd.|isbn=978-81-224-1245-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9PiwJF7V4EQC&q=kanhoji+angre&pg=PA43|year=2000}}</ref> It attacked [[Company Rule in India|British]], [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]], [[Dutch India|Dutch]] and [[Siddi]] Naval ships and kept a check on their naval ambitions. The [[Maratha Navy]] was dominant in the area until around the 1730s, was in a state of decline by the 1770s and ceased to exist by 1818.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Yogesh|title=Coastal Histories: Society and Ecology in Pre-modern India|publisher=Primus Books|isbn=978-93-80607-00-9|pages=66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTTGWSme30YC&q=maratha+dhulap+navy&pg=PA66|year=2010}}</ref>

====Revenue system and Chauth====
One of the tools of the empire was collection of [[Chauth]] or 25% of the revenue from states that submitted to Maratha power. The Marathas also had an elaborate land revenue system which was retained by the British East India Company when they gained control of Maratha territory.<ref>Wink, A., 1983. Maratha revenue farming. Modern Asian Studies, 17(04), pp.591-628.</ref>

== British colonial period (1818–1947 CE) ==
[[File:Pune Palace.jpg|thumb|The [[Aga Khan Palace]] in Pune, where [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and his associates were interned during the [[Indian independence movement]].]]

=== Company Rule ===
{{Further|Company rule in India}}
The [[East India Company]] controlled [[Mumbai]] beginning in the 17th century and used it as one of their main trading posts. The Company slowly expanded areas under its rule during the 18th century. Their conquest of Maharashtra was completed in 1818 with the defeat of [[Peshwa]] [[Bajirao II]] in the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]].<ref>Omvedt, G.in 1973. Development of the Maharashtrian Class Structure, 1818 to 1931. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.1417-1432.</ref>

=== British Raj ===
{{Further|British Raj|Bombay Presidency}}
The British ruled for more than a century and brought huge changes in every aspect of life for the people of the Maharashtra region. Areas that correspond to present day Maharashtra were under direct or indirect British rule, first under the [[East India Company]] and then, from 1858, under the [[British crown]]. During this era, Maharashtra region was divided into the [[Bombay presidency]], [[Berar Province|Berar]], [[Central Provinces|Central provinces]], [[Hyderabad state]] and various [[Princely state]]s such as [[Kolhapur State|Kolhapur]] and [[Miraj Senior|Miraj]].

The [[British Raj]] saw standardization of [[Marathi language|Marathi grammar]] through the efforts of the Christian missionary [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]]. Carey also published the first dictionary of Marathi in [[devanagari]] script. The most comprehensive Marathi-English dictionary was compiled by Captain [[James Thomas Molesworth]] and Major [[Thomas Candy]] in 1831. The book is still in print nearly two centuries after its publication.<ref>{{cite book|first1=James|last1= Molesworth|first2= Thomas|last2= Candy|author3=Narayan G Kalelkar|title=Molesworth's Marathi-English dictionary|year=1857 |edition=2nd |publisher=J.C. Furla, Shubhada Saraswat Prakashan|location=Pune|isbn=978-81-86411-57-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=owHmI3qi_BIC&q=william+carey+printing++marathi+sharma+modi&pg=PP7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/molesworth/|title=A dictionary, Marathi and English. 2d ed., rev. and enl|last=Molesworth|first=J. T. (James Thomas)|website=dsal.uchicago.edu|access-date=2019-06-29}}</ref> [[James Thomas Molesworth|Molesworth]] also worked on standardizing Marathi. He used Brahmins of [[Pune]] for this task and adopted the Sanskrit-dominated dialect spoken by this caste in the city as the standard dialect for Marathi.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chavan|first1=Dilip|title=Language politics under colonialism: caste, class and language pedagogy in western India|publisher=Cambridge Scholars|location=Newcastle upon Tyne|isbn=978-1-4438-4250-1|pages=136–184|edition=first|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuIxBwAAQBAJ&q=poona+marathi&pg=PA148|access-date=13 December 2016}},</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Natarajan|editor-first1=Nalini |last=Deo|first=Shripad D.|title=Handbook of twentieth century literatures of India|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CT |isbn=978-0-313-28778-7|page=212 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lTnv6o-d_oC&q=pune+culture+theatre+movies&pg=PA207}}</ref>
[[File:Mumbai 03-2016 30 Gateway of India.jpg|thumb|right|[[Gateway of India]], built in the early 20th century in the [[Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture|Indo-Saracenic style]] of architecture, which combines [[Architecture of the United Kingdom|British]], [[Indo-Islamic architecture|Indo-Islamic]] and [[Hindu temple architecture|Hindu temple]] architectural styles.]]
People from Maharashtra played an important part in the social and religious reform movements as well as the nationalist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Notable [[Civil society]] bodies founded by Marathi leaders during 19th century include the [[Poona Sarvajanik Sabha]], the [[Prarthana samaj|Prarthana Samaj]], the Arya Mahila Samaj and the [[Satya Shodhak Samaj]]. The Sarvajanik Sabha took an active part in relief efforts during the famine of 1875–76, and is considered the forerunner of the [[Indian National Congress]] established in 1885.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Gordon|title=Provincial Politics and Indian nationalism: Bombay and the Indian National Congress, 1880 - 1915|publisher=Univ. Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-20259-6|page=92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4kaZV5CdzsAC&q=poona+sarvajanik+congress&pg=PR6|access-date=20 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Roy|editor-first1=Ramashray|title=India's 2004 elections: grass-roots and national perspectives|publisher=Sage|location=New Delhi [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-7619-3516-2|pages=87|edition=1. publ.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0gS9XKBfi50C&q=+sarvajanik+sabha&pg=PA86|access-date=8 September 2016}}</ref> The most prominent personalities of Indian Nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th century were [[Gopal Krishna Gokhale]] and [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], who were on opposite sides of the political spectrum, were both from Pune. Tilak was instrumental in using Shivaji and [[Ganesha]] worship to forge a collective Maharashtrian identity for Marathi people.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Kosambi|editor-first1=Meera |last=Lane|first=James |title=Intersections: socio-cultural trends in Maharashtra |chapter=A Question of Maharashtrian identity|publisher=Sangam|location=London|isbn=978-0-86311-824-1|pages=59–70|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XU8dmAiaZSgC&q=shivaji+maharashtra+ramdas+mahipati&pg=PA59}}</ref> The Marathi social reformers of the colonial era include [[Mahatma Jyotirao Phule]], his wife [[Savitribai Phule]], [[Justice Ranade]], feminist [[Tarabai Shinde]], [[Dhondo Keshav Karve]], [[Vitthal Ramji Shinde]] and [[Pandita Ramabai]].<ref>Ramachandra Guha, "The Other Liberal Light," [http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/magazine/104203/the-other-liberal-light ''New Republic'' 22 June 2012]</ref> Jyotirao Phule was a pioneer in opening schools for girls and Marathi [[dalits]] castes.

The non-Brahmin Hindu castes of Maharashtra started organizing at the beginning of the 20th century with the blessing of [[Shahu of Kolhapur]]. The campaign took off in the early 1920s under the leadership of [[Keshavrao Jedhe]] and Baburao Javalkar. Both belonged to the Non-Brahmin party. Their early goals included capturing the [[Ganpati]] and [[Shiv Jayanti]] festivals from Brahmin domination.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hansen|first1=Thomas Blom|title=Wages of violence: naming and identity in postcolonial Bombay|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, N.J.|isbn=978-0-691-08840-2|page=33|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-y3iNt0djbQC&q=pune&pg=PA31|access-date=10 January 2017}}</ref> They combined nationalism with anti-[[Caste system in India|casteism]] as the party's aims.<ref>Omvedt, G., 1973. Non-Brahmans and Communists in Bombay. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.749-759.</ref>
[[File:Kolhapur New Palace.jpg|thumb|[[New Palace, Kolhapur]]]]
In the 1930s, Jedhe merged the non-Brahmin party with the Congress party, changing it from an upper-caste dominated body to a more broadly based but also [[Maratha]]-dominated party.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Omvedt|first1=Gail|title=Non-Brahmans and Nationalists in Poona|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=9|issue=6/8|pages=201–219|jstor=4363419}}</ref> Another notable Marathi figure of the time was [[B. R. Ambedkar]], who led the campaign for the rights of [[Dalit]]s, a caste that included his own [[Mahar]] caste. Ambedkar disagreed with mainstream leaders like Gandhi on issues including [[untouchability]], the government system and the [[partition of India]]. He initiated the [[Dalit Buddhist movement]], creating a new [[school of Buddhism]] called [[Navayana]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYInC70BSEgC&pg=PA10|title=Religious Converts in India: Socio-political Study of Neo-Buddhists|last=Shastree|first=Uttara|publisher=Mittal Publications|year=1996|isbn=978-81-7099-629-3|pages=1–20|language=en}}</ref> leading to the Dalit movement that still endures. As the nation's first [[Ministry of Law and Justice (India)|Law and Justice Minister]], Ambedkar played a pivotal role in writing the [[constitution of India]] and is considered the ''Father of the Indian Constitution''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/facts.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511104514/http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/facts.htm|archive-date=2011-05-11|title=Some Facts of Constituent Assembly|access-date=2019-07-30|quote=On 29 August 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to prepare a Draft Constitution for India.}}</ref>

The ultimatum in 1942 to the British to [[Quit India Movement|Quit India]] was given in Mumbai and culminated in the transfer of power and the independence of India in 1947. Raosaheb and Achutrao Patwardhan, Nanasaheb Gore, [[Shreedhar Mahadev Joshi]], Yeshwantrao Chavan, Swami Ramanand Bharti, Nana Patil, Dhulappa Navale, V.S. Page, Vasant Patil, Dhondiram Mali, [[Aruna Asif Ali]], Ashfaqulla Khan and several other leaders from Maharashtra played a prominent role in this struggle. [[B.G. Kher]] was the first Chief Minister of the tri-lingual [[Bombay Presidency]] in 1937.

By the end of the 19th century a modern manufacturing industry was developing in the city of Mumbai.<ref>Majumdar, Sumit K. (2012), India's Late, Late Industrial Revolution: Democratizing Entrepreneurship, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|1-107-01500-6}}, retrieved 2013-12-07</ref> The main product was cotton and the bulk of work force in these [[cotton mills]] was from Western Maharashtra, specifically from the coastal Konkan region.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kd1CDgAAQBAJ&q=marathi+labor&pg=PR7|title=Rival Claims: Ethnic Violence and Territorial Autonomy Under Indian Federalism|last1=Lacina|first1=Bethany Ann|publisher=University of Michigan press|isbn=978-0-472-13024-5|location=Ann arbor, MI, USA|page=129}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=David|title=Emergence of an Industrial Labor Force in India: A Study of the Bombay Cotton Mills, 1854-1947|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-00885-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/emergenceofindus0000morr/page/63 63]|url=https://archive.org/details/emergenceofindus0000morr|url-access=registration|quote=konkan.}}</ref> The census recorded for the city in the first half of the 20th century showed that nearly half the population of the city listed Marathi as their mother tongue.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chandavarkar|first1=Rajnarayan|title=The origins of industrial capitalism in India business strategies and the working classes in Bombay, 1900-1940|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge [England]|isbn=978-0-521-52595-4|page=33|edition=1st pbk.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFa5tb75QUsC&q=marathi&pg=PR10}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Gugler|editor-first1=Josef|title=World cities beyond the West: globalization, development, and inequality|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-83003-4|page=334|edition=Repr.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lw3iPzyfpdQC&q=marathi&pg=PA328}}</ref>

== Post-Independence ==
[[File:Hyderabad State reorganization 1956.png|thumb|right|[[Hyderabad state]] in 1956 (in yellowish green). After reorganization in 1956, Regions of the state west of Red and Blue lines merged with [[Bombay State|Bombay]] and [[Mysore state]]s respectively and rest of the state ([[Telangana]]) was merged with [[Andhra State]] to form the state of [[Andhra Pradesh]].
]]

=== Bombay State ===
{{See also|Akola Pact}}
After India's independence, the [[Deccan States]], including [[Kolhapur]], were integrated into [[Bombay State]], which was created from the former Bombay Presidency in 1950.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Kolhapur City|url=http://www.kolhapurcorporation.gov.in/english/Ancient_Historical_Places.html|publisher=Kolhapur Corporation|access-date=12 September 2014}}</ref> In 1956, the [[States Reorganisation Act]] reorganized the Indian states along linguistic lines, and Bombay State was enlarged by the addition of the predominantly [[Marathi language|Marathi]]-speaking regions on [[Marathwada]] ([[Aurangabad Division]]) from erstwhile [[Hyderabad state]] and [[Vidarbha]] region from the [[Central Provinces and Berar]]. The southernmost part of Bombay State was ceded to [[Karnataka|Mysore]]. [[File:Bombay 1956-1960.svg|thumb|The enlarged bilingual [[Bombay state]] between 1956 and 1960|alt=|left]]From 1954 to 1955, the people of Marathi speaking areas strongly protested against being included in the bilingual [[Bombay state]]. In response, the [[Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti|Samyukta Maharashtra Movement]] was formed to fight for a united Maharashtra for the Marathi people.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Radheshyam Jadhav|title=Samyukta Maharashtra movement|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Pune-pioneered-Samyukta-Maharashtra-movement/articleshow/5874479.cms|access-date=12 September 2014|work=[[The Times of India]]|agency=Bennet, Coleman & Co. Ltd.|publisher=[[The Times Group]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Samyukta Maharashtra movement|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-what-is-the-samyukta-maharashtra-movement-1983811|access-date=12 September 2014|work=[[Daily News and Analysis]]|agency=Diligent Media Corporation|publisher=Dainik Bhaskar Group}}</ref> The [[Mahagujarat Movement]] also advocated for a separate [[Gujarat]] state. [[Annabhau Sathe]], [[Keshavrao Jedhe]], [[S.M. Joshi]], [[Shripad Amrit Dange]], [[Pralhad Keshav Atre]] and [[Gopalrao Khedkar|Gopalrao]] Khedkar were prominent activists in the campaign to create a separate state of Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital. On 1 May 1960, following mass protests and 105 deaths, Bombay State was divided into the new states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bhagwat|first1=Ramu |title=Linguistic states|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/People-dont-want-Vidarbha-to-be-treated-as-colony-of-Maharashtra/articleshow/21564818.cms|access-date=12 September 2014|work=[[The Times of India]]|agency=Bennet, Coleman & Co. Ltd.|publisher=[[The Times Group]]}}</ref>

The state continues to have a dispute with [[Karnataka]], to the south, over the regions of [[Belgaum]] and [[Karwar]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Banerjee|first1=S|title=The Saffron Wave: The Eleventh General Elections in Maharashtra|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=32|issue=40|pages=2551–2560|jstor=4405925}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Sirsikar|first1=V.M.|title=Politics in Maharashtra, Problems and Prospects|publisher=University of Poona|location=Poona|page=8|url=http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAD260.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Belgaum border dispute|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140730/nation-current-affairs/article/belgaum-border-dispute-karnataka-govt-warns-against-taking-law|access-date=12 September 2014|work=[[Deccan Chronicle]]|agency=Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1211891/ |title=The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 |website=Indiankanoon.org |access-date=2016-02-27}}</ref> Some Marathi-majority talukas were also transferred to the [[Adilabad district|Adilabad]], Medak, Nizamabad and Mahaboobnagar districts of new Telugu State (now [[Telangana]]), to the east of Maharashtra, in 1956.

== Since 1960 ==
The present state of Maharashtra came into being on 1 May 1960 as a Marathi speaking state according to [[States Reorganisation Act, 1956|Linguistic state reorganization]] with Congress party's [[Yashwantrao Chavan]] being the first chief minister of the state. The state since its inception has seen huge growth in Industry in a number of areas of the state, increased urbanization, and migration of people from other states of India.

===Government and politics===
[[File:Maharashtra Districts.png|right|thumb|Present day State of Maharashtra]]
The [[Indian National Congress|Congress party]] and its allies have ruled the state for the major part during the state's existence. After the brief tenures of [[Yashwantrao Chavan]], who was inducted as defence minister by Prime minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]], and [[Marotrao Kannamwar]], who died after one year in office, [[Vasantrao Naik]] was Chief minister from 1963 to 1975.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brass|first1=Paul R.|title=The politics of India since independence|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=[New Delhi]|isbn=978-0-521-54305-7|page=127|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtKe6XV8z7wC&q=maharashtra+caste&pg=PR10|access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref> The politics of the state in this period was also dominated by leaders such as Yashwantrao Chavan, [[Vasantdada Patil]], [[Vasantrao Naik]], and [[Shankarrao Chavan]].

[[Sharad Pawar]] became a significant personality within the state in 1978 when he broke away from the Congress party to form an alliance government with the [[Janata party]]. During his career, Pawar split Congress twice, with significant consequences for state politics.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wilkinson|first1=Steven|title=Elections in India: Behind the Congress Comeback|journal=Journal of Democracy|volume=16|issue=1|pages=153–167|doi=10.1353/jod.2005.0018|s2cid=154957863}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kamat|first1=AR|title=Politico-economic developments in Maharashtra: a review of the post-independence period, - JSTOR|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=15|issue=40|pages=1669–1678|jstor=4369147}}</ref> In 1999, after his dispute with the party president [[Sonia Gandhi]] over her foreign origins, in 1999, Pawar left the party and formed the [[Nationalist Congress Party]] (NCP). The party, however, joined a [[Indian National Congress|Congress]]-led coalition to form the state government after the 1999 Assembly elections.

The Congress party enjoyed a nearly unchallenged dominance of the state political landscape, until 1995 when the coalition of [[Shiv Sena]] and the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) secured an overwhelming majority in the state, beginning a period of coalition governments.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Palshikar |first1=S|last2=Birmal|first2=N|title=Maharashtra: Towards a New Party System|journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=39|issue=51|pages=5467–5472|jstor=4415934}}</ref> Shiv Sena was the larger party in the coalition. From 1999 until 2014, the NCP and INC formed one coalition while Shiv Sena and the BJP formed another for three successive elections, which the INC-NCP alliance won. [[Prithviraj Chavan]] of the Congress party was the last Chief Minister of Maharashtra under the Congress-NCP alliance that ruled until 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.firstpost.com/politics/clean-yet-invisible-prithviraj-chavan-quits-as-maharashtra-cm-did-anyone-notice-1732223.html|title=Clean yet invisible: Prithviraj Chavan quits as CM, did anyone notice?|work=[[Firstpost]]|access-date=29 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/prithviraj-chavan-rivals-narayan-rane-maharashtra-assembly-polls/1/377333.html|title=Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan's rivals get key posts for Assembly polls|work=[[India Today]]|access-date=29 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main52.asp?filename=Ne280412Coverstory.asp|title=Right man in the wrong polity|work=[[Tehelka]]|access-date=29 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006113537/http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main52.asp?filename=Ne280412Coverstory.asp|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

The [[Indian National Congress|INC]] during its rule enjoyed overwhelming support from the state's influential [[Cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra|sugar co-operatives]], as well as thousands of other cooperatives, such as rural agricultural cooperatives involved in the marketing of dairy and vegetable produce, [[credit union]]s, etc.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brass|first1=Paul R.|title=The politics of India since independence|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=[New Delhi]|isbn=978-0-521-54305-7|page=142|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtKe6XV8z7wC&pg=PR10|access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref>

For the better part of its existence, politics of the state was also dominated by the mainly rural [[Maratha]]–[[Kunbi]] caste,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mishra|first1=Sumita|title=Grassroot politics in India|publisher=Mittal Publications|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7099-732-0|page=27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9kQcBmKcOsC&pg=PA27}}</ref> which accounts for 31% of the population of Maharashtra. They dominated the cooperative institutions; and with the resultant economic power, and controlled politics from the village level up to the Assembly and [[Lok Sabha]].<ref name="Routledge">{{cite book|last1=Vora|first1=Rajendra|editor1-last=Kumar|editor1-first=Sanjay|editor2-last=Jaffrelot|editor2-first=Christophe|title=Rise of the plebeians?: the changing face of Indian legislative assemblies|publisher=Routledge|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-0-415-46092-7|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|chapter=Chapter 7 Maharashtra or Maratha Rashtra}}</ref><ref name="Popular Prakashan">{{cite book|editor1-last=Kulkarni|editor1-first=A.R.|editor2-last=Wagle|editor2-first=N.K.|last1=Sirsikar|first1=V.M.|title=State intervention and popular response: western India in the nineteenth century|publisher=Popular Prakashan|location=Mumbai|isbn=978-81-7154-835-4|page=9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t7f0JEWk6HMC&pg=PR7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Maratha morcha: Over 150 MLAs, MLCs set to join the march in Nagpur on Wednesday|url=http://www.firstpost.com/politics/maratha-morcha-over-150-mlas-mlcs-set-to-join-the-march-in-nagpur-on-wednesday-3154804.html|access-date=27 October 2017|work=Firstpost}}</ref> Major past political figures of the Congress party from Maharashtra—such as [[Keshavrao Jedhe]], [[Yashwantrao Chavan]],<ref name="Popular Prakashan"/> [[Shankarrao Chavan]], [[Vilasrao Deshmukh]], and Sharad Pawar—have been from this group. Of the 18 [[List of Chief Ministers of Maharashtra|Chief Ministers]] so far, as many as 10 (55%) have been Maratha.<ref name="A quota for the ruling class">{{cite news|last1=Kakodkar|first1=Priyanka|title=A quota for the ruling class|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-quota-for-the-ruling-class/article6163911.ece|access-date=27 October 2017|work=The Hindu|language=en-IN}}</ref> Since the 1980s, this group has also been active in setting up private educational institutions.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dahiwale|first1=S. M.|title=Consolidation of Maratha Dominance in Maharashtra Economic and Political Weekly |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=30|issue=6|pages=336–342|jstor=4402382}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kurtz|first1=Donald V.|title=Contradictions and conflict: a dialectical political anthropology of a University in Western India|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden [u.a.]|isbn=978-90-04-09828-2|page=50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0X5DquN8LkIC&pg=PR7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Language and society: steps towards an integrated theory|last1=Singh|first1=R.|last2=Lele|first2=J.K.|publisher=E.J. Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-90-04-08789-7|pages=32–42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PLiAlGzLFQC&q=chitpavan}}</ref>

In the 1980s, Shiv Sena and the BJP parties began gaining a foothold in the state especially in the urban areas such as Mumbai. The Shiv Sena was formed in the 1960s by [[Bal Thackeray|Balashaheb Thackerey]], a cartoonist and journalist, to advocate and agitate for the interests of [[Marathi people]] in [[Mumbai]]. In its early years in the late 1960s, the party specifically targeted immigrants to Mumbai from South India.<ref>Subramanian, R.R., A Tale of Two Cities: Reconstructing the 'Bajao Pungi, Hatao Lungi'campaign in Bombay, and the Birth of the 'Other'. Editorial Note, p.37.[http://subversions.tiss.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/3_Reetika-Subramanian_SubVersions-Vol-3-Issue-2-final.pdf]</ref> Over the following decades, the party slowly expanded its base, and took over the then Bombay corporation in the 1980s. The original base of the party was lower middle and working class Marathi people in Mumbai and surrounding urban areas. The leadership of the party came from educated upper caste Maharashtrians. However, since 1990s, strong men have emerged who control their local areas through intimidation and extortion. This has phenomenon has been named "dada-ization" of the party.<ref name="Hansen2018">{{cite book|author=Thomas Blom Hansen|title=Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bf5ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-18862-1|pages=102–103}}</ref><ref name="JaffrelotKumar2012">{{cite book|author1=Christophe Jaffrelot|author2=Sanjay Kumar|title=Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA240|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-51662-7|pages=240–}}</ref>
In the early 1990s, some of the party leaders incited violence against Muslims which resulted in riots between Hindus and Muslims.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-34444720080709 |title = Shiv Sena politician convicted over 1992 Mumbai riots|newspaper = Reuters|date = 9 July 2008}}</ref> The Shiv Sena and the BJP came into the power at the state level in 1995, which was a big blow to the INC. A split emerged within Shiv Sena when Bal Thackeray anointed his son [[Uddhav Thackeray]] as his successor over his nephew [[Raj Thackeray]] in 2006. Raj Thackeray then left the party and formed a new party called [[Maharashtra Navnirman Sena]] (MNS). Raj Thackeray, like his uncle, also tried to win support from the [[Marathi people|Marathi community]] by whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment in Maharashtra, for instance against [[Bihari people|Biharis]] and other north Indians.

The BJP is closely related to the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS), and is part of the [[Sangh Parivar]].In early years, the party originally derived its support from the urban upper castes such as Brahmins and non-Maharashtrians. However, in the 21st century, the party was able to penetrate the Maratha group by fielding Maratha candidates in elections.<ref name="Routledge"/> The RSS was formed in the 1920s in Nagpur by Maharashtrian brahmins, and remains dominated by that community.

===Economy===
Prior to Indian independence, manufacturing industry in what became Maharashtra was based mainly in the city of Mumbai. After the formation of Maharashtra, the state government established the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation ([[MIDC]]) in 1962 to spur growth in other areas of the state. In the decades since its formation, MIDC has acted as the primary industrial infrastructure development agency of the government of Maharashtra. Since its inception, MIDC has established at least one industrial area in every district of the state.<ref>Anand, V., 2004. Multi-party accountability for environmentally sustainable industrial development: the challenge of active citizenship. PRIA Study Report, no. 4, March 2004.[https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/12505/anand_2004_multi-party.pdf?sequence=1]</ref> The areas with biggest industrial growth were the Pune metropolitan region and areas close to Mumbai such as [[Thane district]] and [[Raigad district]].<ref name="hindu">{{cite news|last=Menon|first=Sudha|title=Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial belt: Placing Pune at the front|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2002/03/30/stories/2002033000801300.htm|access-date=29 January 2012|newspaper=The Hindu Business Line}}</ref> After the [[Economic liberalisation in India|1991 economic liberalization]], Maharashtra began to attract foreign capital, particularly in the information technology and engineering industries. The late 1990s and first decade of the 21st century saw huge development in the Information Technology sector, and IT Parks were set up in [[Aundh (Pune)|Aundh]], and [[Hinjawadi|Hinjewadi]] areas of Pune.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Heitzman|first1=James|title=The city in South Asia|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-57426-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/cityinsouthasia0000heit/page/218 218]|url=https://archive.org/details/cityinsouthasia0000heit|url-access=registration|quote=pune.|access-date=14 November 2016}}</ref>

Maharashtra has hundreds of private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions. Most of the private colleges were set up after the State Government of [[Vasantdada Patil]] liberalised the Education Sector in 1982.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bhosale|first1=Jayashree|title=Economic Times: Despite private participation Education lacks quality in Maharashtra|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2007-11-10/news/27682218_1_educational-institutes-education-barons-professional-education|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010054204/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2007-11-10/news/27682218_1_educational-institutes-education-barons-professional-education|archive-date=10 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Politicians and leaders involved in the huge cooperative movement in Maharashtra were instrumental in setting up the private institutes<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dahiwale |first1=S. M.|title=Consolidation of Maratha Dominance in Maharashtra|journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=30|issue=6|pages=341–342|jstor=4402382}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Baviskar|first1=B. S.|title=Cooperatives in Maharashtra: Challenges Ahead|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=42|issue=42|pages=4217–4219|jstor=40276570}}</ref>

Maharashtra was a pioneer in the development of [[Agricultural Cooperative]] Societies after independence. In fact, it was an integral part of the then Governing [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] party's vision of 'rural development with local initiative'. A 'special' status was accorded to the [[sugar]] cooperatives and the government assumed the role of a mentor by acting as a stakeholder, guarantor and regulator,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lalvani|first1=Mala|title=Sugar Co-operatives in Maharashtra: A Political Economy Perspective|journal=The Journal of Development Studies|volume= 44|issue=10|doi=10.1080/00220380802265108|pages=1474–1505|s2cid=154425894}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Patil |first=Anil |url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/09sugar.htm |title=Sugar cooperatives on death bed in Maharashtra |publisher=Rediff India |access-date=27 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828234602/http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/09sugar.htm |archive-date=28 August 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="helsinki">{{cite web|url=http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers2/Das72.pdf|publisher=XIV International Economic History Congress, Helsinki 2006, Session 72|title=Problems and Prospects of the Cooperative Movement in India Under the Globalization Regime|author1=Banishree Das|author2=Nirod Kumar Palai|author3=Kumar Das|name-list-style=amp|access-date=28 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924051908/http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers2/Das72.pdf|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Apart from sugar, Cooperatives played a crucial role in dairy,<ref>{{cite web|title=Mahanand Dairy|url=http://www.mahanand.in/Index.aspx?mid=1|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124105202/http://mahanand.in/Index.aspx?mid=1|archive-date=24 November 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> cotton, and fertiliser industries.
Support by the state government led to more than 25,000 cooperatives being set up by 1990s in Maharashtra.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dahiwale |first1=S. M. |title=Consolidation of Maratha Dominance in Maharashtra |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=340–342 |jstor=4402382 }}</ref>

====Drought of 1972-73====
In 1963, the government of Maharashtra asserted that the agricultural situation in the state was constantly being watched and relief measures were taken as soon as any scarcity was detected. On the basis of this, and asserting that the word famine had now become obsolete in this context, the government passed "The Maharashtra Deletion of the Term 'Famine' Act, 1963".{{sfn|Sainath|2010|p=1}} They were unable to foresee the drought in 1972 when 25 million people needed help. The relief measures undertaken by the Government of Maharashtra included employment, programmes aimed at creating productive assets such as tree plantation, conservation of soil, excavation of canals, and building [[Man-made lentic water bodies of Maharashtra|artificial lentic water bodies]]. The public distribution system distributed food through fair-price shops. No deaths from starvation were reported.{{sfn|American Association for the Advancement of Science|Indian National Science Academy|International Rice Research Institute|Indian Council of Agricultural Research|1989|pp=379}}

Large scale employment to the deprived sections of Maharashtrian society which attracted considerable amounts of food to Maharashtra.{{sfn|Drèze|1991|p=89}} The implementation of the Scarcity Manuals in the state prevented the mortality arising from severe food shortages. The relief works initiated by the government helped employ over 5 million people at the height of the drought in Maharashtra leading to effective famine prevention.{{sfn|Waal|1997|p=15}} The effectiveness of the Maharashtra was also attributable to the direct pressure on the government of Maharashtra by the public who perceived that employment via the relief works programme was their right. The public protested by marching, picketing, and even rioting.Nevertheless, the measures taken by the government were praised for being a model program for famine relief.{{sfn|Drèze|1991|pp=92–93}}{{sfn|Drèze|1991|pp=93}}

==== Farmers' suicides ====

Since 1990s, there has been a huge increase in number of suicides committed by [[Farmers' suicides in India|Farmers in India]] with Maharashtra accounting for the largest percentage of cases. The main reason cited was their inability to repay [[loans]] mostly taken from banks and [[NBFC & MFI in India|NBFCs]].<ref>{{cite book |title=NCRB report |chapter=Farmer suicides in India |publisher=NCRB / Government of India |chapter-url=http://ncrb.gov.in/StatPublications/ADSI/ADSI2014/chapter-2A%20farmer%20suicides.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224032129/http://ncrb.gov.in/StatPublications/ADSI/ADSI2014/chapter-2A%20farmer%20suicides.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-24 |access-date=25 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=In 80% farmer-suicides due to debt, loans from banks, not moneylenders |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/in-80-farmer-suicides-due-to-debt-loans-from-banks-not-moneylenders-4462930/ |access-date=25 March 2019 |work=The Indian Express}}</ref>
Other reasons included the difficulty of farming semi-arid regions, poor [[agricultural]] income, absence of alternative income opportunities, and the absence of suitable counselling services.<ref>Gruère, G. & Sengupta, D. (2011), Bt cotton and farmer suicides in India: an evidence-based assessment, The Journal of [[Development Studies]], 47(2), 316–337</ref><ref>Schurman, R. (2013), Shadow space: suicides and the predicament of rural India, [[Journal of Peasant Studies]], 40(3), 597–601</ref><ref>Das, A. (2011), Farmers' suicide in India: implications for public mental health, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 57(1), 21–29</ref><ref name="Mishra, Srijit 2007">{{cite web|title=Risks, Farmers' Suicides and Agrarian Crisis in India: Is There A Way Out?|author=Mishra, Srijit|publisher=[[Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research]] (IGIDR)|year=2007|url=http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2007-014.pdf}}</ref><ref name = "Gruere">{{cite web|url=http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp00808.pdf|year=2008|title=Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: Reviewing the Evidence|author=Guillaume P. Gruère, Purvi Mehta-Bhatt and Debdatta Sengupta|publisher=International Food Policy Research Institute}}</ref><ref name="Nagraj">{{cite web|author=Nagraj, K.|year=2008|title=Farmers suicide in India: magnitudes, trends and spatial patterns|url=http://www.macroscan.com/anl/mar08/pdf/Farmers_Suicides.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512173317/http://www.macroscan.com/anl/mar08/pdf/Farmers_Suicides.pdf|archive-date=12 May 2011}}</ref> In 2004, the Mumbai High Court commissioned a report from the [[Tata Institute of Social Sciences|Tata Institute]] on the phenomenon.<ref name="InfoChange">Staff, [[InfoChange]] August 2005. {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20120516012923/http://infochangeindia.org/agriculture/books-a-reports/644-farmer-suicides-in-maharashtra-since-2001-says-tiss-report.html 644 farmer suicides in Maharashtra since 2001, says TISS report]}}</ref><ref name=TataReport>Dandekar A, et al, Tata Institute. [http://www.vnss-mission.gov.in/htmldocs/Farmers_suicide_TISS_report.pdf Causes of Farmer Suicides in Maharashtra: An Enquiry. Final Report Submitted to the Mumbai High Court 15 March 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809074417/http://vnss-mission.gov.in/htmldocs/Farmers_suicide_TISS_report.pdf }}</ref> The report cited "government's lack of interest, the absence of a safety net for farmers, and lack of access to information related to agriculture as the chief causes for the desperate condition of farmers in the state."<ref name="InfoChange" />

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
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* [http://historicalmaharashtra.blogspot.in/ महाराष्ट्राचा गौरवशाली इतिहास / The History of Maharashtra.....]
* [[James Grant Duff]], ''History of the Mahrattas,'' 3 vols. London, Longmans, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green (1826). {{ISBN|81-7020-956-0}}
* [[Mahadev Govind Ranade]], ''Rise of the Maratha Power'' (1900); reprint (1999). {{ISBN|81-7117-181-8}}
* {{cite book|last1=Eaton|first1=Richard M.|title=The new Cambridge history of India.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-25484-7|page=154|edition=1. publ.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGd2huLXEVYC&q=marathi&pg=PR12|access-date=25 March 2016}}
* {{cite book |last=Sailendra Nath Sen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA172 |title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization |publisher=New Age International |year=1999 |isbn=978-81-224-1198-0 }}
* {{citation |last=Gordon |first=Stewart |author-link=Stewart N. Gordon |title=The Marathas 1600–1818 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-26883-7 |ref={{sfnref|Gordon, The Marathas|1993}}}}
* {{citation |last=Mehta |first=Jaswant Lal |title=Advanced Study in the History of Modern India: Volume One: 1707–1813 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC |year=2005 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-1-932705-54-6}}
* {{Citation |publisher=Oxford University Press US |isbn=978-0-19-828636-3 |last=Drèze |first=Jean |chapter=Famine Prevention in India |editor1-last=Drèze |editor1-first=Jean |editor2-last=Sen |editor2-first=Amartya |title=The Political Economy of Hunger: Famine prevention |year=1991 |pages=32–33 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OeuDneRZEpIC&q=famines+after+independence+in+india |location=Oxford |author-link=Jean Drèze}}
* {{Citation |title=Famine crimes: politics \& the disaster relief industry in Africa |last=Waal |first=Alexander De |editor=African Rights (Organization) and International African Institute |isbn=978-0-253-21158-3 |lccn=97029463 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV3XROXhn5oC |year=1997 |publisher=African Rights & the International African Institute |author-link=Alex de Waal}}
* {{Citation |title=Food security – by definition |first=P |last=Sainath |author-link=Palagummi Sainath |newspaper=The Hindu |url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/food-security-by-definition/article596311.ece?ref=relatedNews |access-date=5 October 2010 |location=Chennai, India }}
* {{cite book |last1=American Association for the Advancement of Science |last2=Indian National Science Academy |last3=International Rice Research Institute |last4=Indian Council of Agricultural Research |isbn=978-971-10-4210-3 |title=Climate and Food Security |series=International Symposium on Climate Variability and Food Security in Developing Countries, 5–9 February 1987 New Delhi, India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IK2Ciu8Wz8kC |year=1989 |publisher=International Rice Research Institute |location=Manila}}
{{Refend}}
<references group="note" />

== External links ==
* [http://www.marathimati.com/Maharashtra/Maharashtra_Past_Present.asp Maharashtra State Past Present & History In Marathi Language]
* [http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/community/community_historyShow.php Maharashtra Government's website]

{{Maharashtra}}
{{History of India by State}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maharashtra (history)}}
[[Category:History of Maharashtra| ]]
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| footnotes =
}}

'''UNICEF''' ({{IPAc-en||'|j|u:|n|i|,|s|ɛ|f}}), originally called the '''United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund''' in full, now officially '''United Nations Children's Fund''',{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The agency's name used to be the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund with the acronym UNICEF. The name was later shortened to the United Nations Children's Fund, but the acronym was kept.<ref name="FAQ"/> The organization makes reference to its acronym in the [[strapline]] "The C stands for children".<ref>WiredGov, [https://www.wired-gov.net/wg/news.nsf/articles/UNICEF+UK+launches+The+C+stands+for+children+Campaign+27102022102000 UNICEF UK launches 'The C stands for children' Campaign], published 27 October 2022, accessed 16 May 2023</ref>}} is an agency of the [[United Nations]] responsible for providing [[Humanitarianism|humanitarian]] and [[Development aid|developmental]] [[aid]] to [[child]]ren worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unsystem.org/content/unicef|title=United Nations Children's Fund {{!}} United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination|website=www.unsystem.org|access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/UNICEF|title=UNICEF {{!}} Definition, History, & Facts|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref> The agency is among the most widespread and recognizable social [[welfare]] organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org/where-we-work|title=Where we work|website=www.unicef.org|language=en|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref> UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering [[Antiretroviral drug|treatment]] for children and mothers with [[HIV]], enhancing childhood and [[maternal nutrition]], improving [[sanitation]], promoting education, and providing [[emergency relief]] in response to disasters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://knowledge.insead.edu/operations/agility-under-pressure-5966|title=Agility Under Pressure|author1=Luk Van Wassenhove|author2=Joachim Mikalsen|publisher=Insead|author3=Charles Delagarde}}</ref>

UNICEF is the successor of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, created on 11 December 1946, in New York, by the [[United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration|U.N. Relief Rehabilitation Administration]] to provide immediate relief to children and mothers affected by [[World War II]]. The same year, the [[United Nations General Assembly|U.N. General Assembly]] established UNICEF to further institutionalize post-war relief work.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org/stories/learning-experience-19461979|title=Learning from experience: 1946–1979|website=www.unicef.org|language=en|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref> In 1950, its mandate was extended to address the long-term needs of children and women, particularly in [[Developing country|developing countries]]. In 1953, the organization became a permanent part of the [[United Nations System]], and its name was subsequently changed to its current form, though it retains the original acronym.<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web|title=About UNICEF – FAQ|url=https://www.unicef.org/about-unicef/frequently-asked-questions#3|access-date=4 April 2017|website=UNICEF|at=What does the acronym UNICEF stand for?}}</ref>

UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary contributions from governments and private donors. Its total income as of 2020 was $7.2 billion; of which public-sector partners contributed $5.45 billion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org/about/execboard/files/2018-2021_Draft_Integrated_Budget_EB_Informal_23_June.pdf|title=UNICEF Integrated Budget 2018–2021|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104183647/https://www.unicef.org/about/execboard/files/2018-2021_Draft_Integrated_Budget_EB_Informal_23_June.pdf|archive-date=4 January 2018}}</ref> It is governed by a 36-member executive board that establishes policies, approves programs, and oversees administrative and financial plans. The board is made up of government representatives elected by the [[United Nations Economic and Social Council]], usually for three-year terms.

UNICEF's programs emphasize developing community-level services to promote the health and well-being of children. Most of its work is in the field, with a network that includes 150 country offices, headquarters and other facilities, and 34 "national committees" that carry out its mission through programs developed with host governments. Seven regional offices provide technical assistance to country offices as needed, while its Supply Division—based in the cities of [[Copenhagen]] and [[New York City|New York]]—helps provide over $3 billion in critical aid and services.<ref name="SD"/>

In 2018, UNICEF assisted in the birth of 27 million babies, administered [[pentavalent vaccine]]s to an estimated 65.5 million children, provided education for 12 million children, treated four million children with [[severe acute malnutrition]], and responded to 285 humanitarian emergencies in 90 countries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org/reports/annual-report-2018|title=UNICEF annual report 2018|website=www.unicef.org|language=en|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref> UNICEF has received recognition for its work, including the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in [[1965 Nobel Peace Prize|1965]], the [[Indira Gandhi Prize]] in 1989 and the [[Prince of Asturias Awards|Princess of Asturias Award]] in 2006. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF, along with the [[World Health Organization]] and other agencies, published guidance about healthy parenting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org/reports/key-messages-and-actions-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-prevention-and-control-schools|title=Interim Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Schools|website=unicef.org|language=en|access-date=2020-09-20}}</ref>

== History of formation ==
=== Creation===
As early as September 1943, Polish health specialist [[Ludwik Rajchman]] suggested in an article published in ''Free World'' entitled "A United Nations Health Service — Why not?" that a health service should be incorporated into the future international organization. He also proposed a "health tax" paid by member states.<ref name="bma">Balinska, Marta Alexandra. "Ludwik Rajchman: international health leader." World health forum 1991; 12 (4): 456–465. 1991.</ref>

At the end of the [[United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration|UNRRA]], Rajchman proposed to use its residual funds for a child-feeding program beneficiary of US funding.<ref name="MJ"/> The organization was created by resolution 57(I) of the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1946 and named United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). As its first chairman, Rajchman chose [[Maurice Pate]] of the [[Commission for Relief in Belgium]] to direct the agency and "to think about organizing an action, a fund for the benefit of children, war victims chiefly."<ref name="MJ">Morris, Jennifer M. The Origins of UNICEF, 1946–1953. Lexington Books, 2015. p.35</ref> Rajchman, as head of a special UN subcommittee and with the support of [[Fiorello La Guardia|La Guardia]], [[Herbert Hoover]] and Maurice Pate, presented the resolution to the [[General assembly]].<ref name="bma"/> From a temporary emergency relief agency in 1946 providing food and clothing to children and mothers displaced by [[World War II]], the agency became a permanent UN Organization in 1953,<ref name="MJ"/> and extended its efforts toward general programs of children welfare.

== Governance ==
[[File:Sudan Envoy - UNICEF Tent.jpg|250px|thumb|UNICEF-care tent in [[Sudan]]]]
UNICEF relies on country offices to help carry out its work through a unique program of cooperation developed with the host government. The programs seeks to develop practical strategies for fulfilling and [[Humanitarian protection|protecting the rights of children and women]]. Regional offices guide this work and provide technical assistance to country offices as needed. Overall management and administration of the organization take place at its headquarters in New York City.

Guiding and monitoring all of UNICEF's work is an executive board made up of 36 members who are government representatives. The board establishes policies, approves programs and decides on administrative and financial plans and budgets. Its work is coordinated by the bureau, comprising the president and four vice-presidents, each officer representing one of the five regional groups. These five officers are elected by the executive board annually from among its members, with the presidency rotating among the regional groups on an annual basis. As a matter of custom, permanent members of the Security Council do not serve as officers of the executive board.

The office of the secretary of the executive board helps maintain an effective relationship between the executive board and the UNICEF secretariat, and organizes field visits by board members.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.unicef.org/about/structure/|title=How UNICEF works|work=UNICEF|access-date=2017-06-06|language=en-US|archive-date=31 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131120940/https://www.unicef.org/about/structure/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.unicef.org/about/execboard/|title=Home|work=UNICEF|access-date=2017-06-06|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.unicef.org/about/execboard/index_13225.html|title=Bureau|work=UNICEF|access-date=2017-06-06|language=en-US}}</ref>

===UNICEF Regional Offices===

The following countries are home to UNICEF Regional Offices.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org/about/structure/index_regional.html|title=UNICEF Regional Offices|access-date=2020-02-26|work=UNICEF}}</ref>

* The Americas and Caribbean Regional Office, [[Panama City]], [[Panama]]
* Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]]
* East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office, [[Bangkok]], [[Thailand]]
* Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, [[Nairobi]], [[Kenya]]
* Middle East and North Africa Regional Office, [[Amman]], [[Jordan]]
* South Asia, [[Kathmandu]], [[Nepal]]
* West and Central Africa Regional Office, [[Senegal]]

==UNICEF national committees==
{{see also|List of UNICEF national committees}}
There are national committees in 34 countries, each established as an independent local [[non-governmental organization]]. Their primary function is to raise funds from the private sector, as UNICEF is entirely dependent on voluntary contributions.<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/publicpartnerships/files/UNICEF_Transparency_and_Accountability_-_Resource_Development_and_Mobilization.pdf Presentation – UNICEF's Resource Development Architecture Key Trends and Challenges] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711025127/http://www.unicef.org/publicpartnerships/files/UNICEF_Transparency_and_Accountability_-_Resource_Development_and_Mobilization.pdf }}. UNICEF. Retrieved on 2014-10-21.</ref> National committees collectively account for about one-third of the agency's annual income, including from corporations, civil society organizations, around six million individual donors worldwide.

==Promotion and fundraising==
In the United States, [[Nepal]] and some other countries, UNICEF is known for its "Trick-Or-Treat for UNICEF" program in which children collect money for UNICEF from the houses they [[trick-or-treating|trick-or-treat]] on [[Halloween]] night, sometimes instead of candy. The program was discontinued in [[Canada]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/unicef-ends-halloween-program-in-canada-1.618474 |title=UNICEF ends Halloween program in Canada |work= CBC News |access-date = 10 October 2020}}</ref>

UNICEF is present in 191 countries and territories around the world, but not involved in nine others ([[Bahamas]], [[Brunei]], [[Cyprus]], [[Latvia]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Malta]], [[Mauritius]], [[Monaco]], [[Singapore]], and [[Taiwan]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html |title=Information by country |publisher=UNICEF |access-date=2014-08-03 |archive-date=5 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205015818/http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Many people in [[developed countries]] first hear about UNICEF's work through the activities of one of the 36 [[List of UNICEF national committees|national committees for UNICEF]]. These [[non-governmental organizations]] (NGOs) are primarily responsible for [[fundraising]], selling UNICEF greeting cards and products, creating private and public partnerships, advocating for children's rights, and providing other support. The [[US Fund for UNICEF]] is the oldest of the national committees, founded in 1947.<ref>[http://www.unicefusa.org/site/c.duLRI8O0H/b.25933/k.8DDD/US_Fund_for_UNICEF__US_Fund_for_UNICEF.htm US Fund for UNICEF], unicefusa.org {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024144251/http://www.unicefusa.org/site/c.duLRI8O0H/b.25933/k.8DDD/US_Fund_for_UNICEF__US_Fund_for_UNICEF.htm }}</ref>

On 19 April 2007, [[Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg]] was appointed UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children,<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/media/media_39402.html Press center – HRH Grand Duchess of Luxembourg becomes Eminent Advocate for Children]. UNICEF. Retrieved on 2012-03-26.</ref> in which role she has visited Brazil (2007),<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/aids/brazil_42137.html Brazil – UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children visits AIDS projects in São Paulo]. UNICEF. Retrieved on 2012-03-26.</ref> China (2008),<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/aids/china_45156.html China – Summer camp aims to help children in China affected by AIDS]. UNICEF. Retrieved on 2012-03-26.</ref> and Burundi (2009).<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/burundi_50003.html Burundi – Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg visits Burundi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061115/http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/burundi_50003.html }}. UNICEF. Retrieved on 2012-03-26.</ref>

In 2009, the British retailer [[Tesco]] used "Change for Good" as advertising, which is trademarked by UNICEF for charity usage but not for commercial or retail use. This prompted the agency to say, "it is the first time in Unicef's history that a commercial entity has purposely set out to capitalize on one of our campaigns and subsequently damage an income stream which several of our programs for children are dependent on". They went on to call on the public "who have children's welfare at heart, to consider carefully who they support when making consumer choices".<ref>[http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0725/1224251305112.html "Unicef accuses Tesco of misusing charity slogan"]. ''The Irish Times'', 25 July 2009 (2009-07-07). Retrieved on 2012-03-26.</ref><ref>[http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/tesco-in-clash-with-unicef-1841427.html Tesco in clash with UNICEF – Irish, Business]. Independent. ie. 26 July 2009. Retrieved on 2012-03-26.</ref> "Change for Good" is also supported by Australian airline [[Qantas]], relying on passengers to fundraise via a given envelope since 1991, and has raised over $36 million, with over 19,500 kg of coins every year.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Community partnerships {{!}} Qantas AU|url=https://www.qantas.com/au/en/about-us/our-company/in-the-community/community-partnerships.html|access-date=2020-09-10|website=www.qantas.com}}</ref> [[frequent-flyer program|Frequent flyers]] can also redeem their mile points to donate.<ref>{{Cite web|title={{!}} oneworld|url=https://www.oneworld.com/news/oneworld-airline-alliance-to-raise-funds-for-children-around-the-world|access-date=2021-09-15|website=www.oneworld.com|language=en}}</ref> Norman Gillespie, UNICEF Australia's chief executive, said "If every Qantas passenger traveling domestically gave us just a few of their forgotten coins each time they traveled it would make little difference to their day, but a world of difference in saving children's lives."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Unicef & Qantas Launch New Campaign – Save A Child With The Power Of Five|url=https://www.ttwasia.com/news/article/unicef-qantas-launch-new-campaign-save-a-child-with-the-power-of-five/|access-date=2020-09-10|website=ttwasia.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Sponsorship==
In 2003, UNICEF sponsored Italian football club [[Piacenza Calcio 1919]] until 2008.
[[File:Messi ball (cropped).jpg|thumb|345x345px|Lionel Messi sporting the FC Barcelona Jersey with UNICEF sponsosrship]]
On 7 September 2006, an agreement between UNICEF and the Spanish Catalan [[association football]] club [[FC Barcelona]] was reached whereby the club would donate €1.5 million per year to the organization for five years. As part of the agreement, FC Barcelona would wear the UNICEF logo on the front of their uniforms in yellow (as seen in the picture on the right of Lionel Messi).<ref>{{cite web|title=Futbol Club Barcelona, UNICEF team up for children in global partnership|url=https://www.unicef.org/media/media_35642.html|website=UNICEF|access-date=27 November 2017|archive-date=25 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425143259/https://www.unicef.org/media/media_35642.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> This was the first time a football club sponsored an organization rather than the other way around. It was also the first time in FC Barcelona's history that they have had another organization's name across the front of their uniform. In 2016, the team signed a new four-year sponsorship deal with UNICEF guaranteeing the organization £1.58 million per year and free advertising. From 2022 onwards, Barcelona has made a partnership with Swedish company [[Spotify]] and has since put the [[United Nations Refugee Agency|UNHCR]] logo in gold at the bottom of the back of their jerseys.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FC Barcelona Kits to Feature UNHCR Logo Instead Of UNICEF For Next Four Years |url=https://www.footyheadlines.com/2022/03/fc-barcelona-kits-to-feature-unhcr-logo.html?m=1 |website=footyheadlines.com |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref>

In January 2007 UNICEF struck a partnership with Canada's national [[tent pegging]] team. The team was officially re-flagged as "UNICEF Team Canada", and its riders wear UNICEF's logo in competition, and team members promote and raise funds for UNICEF's campaign against childhood HIV-AIDS.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.maharaj.org/tentpegging.shtml |title= Tent Pegging with UNICEF Team Canada |website=maharaj.org |access-date=19 July 2022}}{{reliable source}}</ref>

The Swedish club [[Hammarby Fotboll|Hammarby IF]] followed the Spanish and Canadian lead on 14 April 2007,<ref>[http://www.hammarbyfotboll.se/se/aktuellt/artiklar/ârticleid=30364 UNICEF, Hammarby strikes partnership] {{Dead link|bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}, hammarbyfotboll.se {{in lang|sv}}</ref> also raising funds for UNICEF and displaying the UNICEF name on their sportswear. The Danish football club [[Brøndby IF]] participated in a similar arrangement from 2008 to 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicef.dk/nyheder/10743/unicef-og-fc-barcelona|title=UNICEF|access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref>

In 2007, NASCAR driver [[Jacques Villeneuve]] has occasionally placed the UNICEF logo on the #27 [[Bill Davis Racing]] [[pickup truck]] in the [[NASCAR]] [[Craftsman Truck Series]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Grapevine: Villenueuve to Race for UNICEF|publisher=Autosport|url=https://www.autosport.com/nascar/news/62997/villeneuve-to-race-for-unicef|first=Diego |last=Mejia}}</ref>

Australian [[A-League]] club [[Sydney FC]] announced they would also enter into a partnership with UNICEF raising funds for children in the [[Asia-Pacific|Asia-Pacific region]], and would also display the UNICEF logo for the remainder of the [[2011-12 A-League]] season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicef.org.au/Media/Media-Releases/February-2012/Sydney-FC-and-UNICEF-do-the-rights-things-to-impro.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322050319/http://www.unicef.org.au/Media/Media-Releases/February-2012/Sydney-FC-and-UNICEF-do-the-rights-things-to-impro.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 March 2012|title=Sydney FC and UNICEF do the rights things to improve child rights throughout Asia. |publisher=UNICEF|access-date=24 February 2012}} </ref>

In [[Botswana]], UNICEF has funded the development of new state-of-the-art HIV/AIDS education for every schoolchild in Botswana from nonprofit organization [[TeachAids]].<ref>{{cite web |title=UNICEF funds TeachAIDS work in Botswana|url=http://teachaids.org/blog/unicef-funds-teachaids-work-in-botswana/|work=[[TeachAids]]|access-date=16 December 2010 }}</ref>

UNICEF announced a landmark partnership with [[Scotland|Scottish]] club [[Rangers F.C.]] UNICEF partnered with the Rangers Charity Foundation and pledged to raise £300,000 by 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=International Charity Partner – UNICEF|url=http://www.rangerscharity.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=115&Itemid=179|work=Rangers Charity Foundation|access-date=4 May 2011}}</ref>

In 2010, UNICEF created a partnership with [[Phi Iota Alpha]], making them the first Greek Lettered Organization UNICEF has ever worked with. In 2011, Phi Iota Alpha raised over $20,000 for the Tap Project and the Trick or Treats for UNICEF Campaign.

In 2013, they agreed a contract with Greek association football champions [[Olympiacos F.C.]] who will show the organization's logo on the front of their shirts.

=== UNICEF Kid Power ===
{{Main| UNICEF Kid Power}}
Started in 2015, Kid Power is a division of UNICEF that was created as an effort to involve kids in helping other kids in need. UNICEF Kid Power developed the world's first '''"Wearable for Good"''',<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/10/fitness-band-sends-kids-on-digital-humanitarian-missions/|title=Digital Humanitarian Missions: UNICEF Kid Power|magazine=Wired|last1=Rhodes|first1=Margaret}}</ref> called Kid Power Bands,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unicefkidpower.org/store/|title=UNICEF Kid Power Bands|website=UNICEF Kid Power}}</ref> which is a kids' fitness tracker bracelet that connects to a smartphone app. The app lets users complete missions, which counts total steps and awards points. The points then unlock funding from partners, which is then used by UNICEF to deliver lifesaving packets of therapeutic food to severely malnourished children around the world.

===Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box===
{{Main| Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF}}
Since 1950, when a group of children in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], donated $17 which they received on Halloween to help post-World War II victims, the Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box has become a tradition in [[North America]] during the fall.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smylie|first=James H.|url=http://www.pres-outlook.com/reports-a-resources/presbyterian-heritage-articles/856.html |title=Presbyterians initiated UNICEF's 'Trick-or-Treat' program 50 years ago |archive-date=2010-11-28| work=The Presbyterian Outlook|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128115747/http://pres-outlook.com/reports-a-resources/presbyterian-heritage-articles/856.html}}</ref> These small orange boxes are handed to children at schools and other locations before 31 October. {{As of|2012}}, the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign has collected approximately [[Canadian dollar|C$]]91 million in [[Canada]] and over [[United States dollar|US$]]167 million in the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF|url=http://youth.unicefusa.org/trickortreat/|publisher=unicefusa.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423133823/http://youth.unicefusa.org/trickortreat/|archive-date=23 April 2013}}</ref>

===Cartoons for Children's Rights===
{{Main| Cartoons for Children's Rights}}
[[Cartoons for Children's Rights]] is the collection of animated shorts based on UNICEF's [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]].
In 1994, UNICEF held a summit encouraging animation studios around the world to create individual animated spots demonstrating the international rights of children.

===Corporate partnership===
To raise money to support its Education and Literacy Programs, UNICEF collaborates with companies worldwide – international as well as small- and medium-sized businesses.

Since 2004, the organization has been supported by [[Montblanc (company)|Montblanc]], working collaboratively to help the world's children getting better access to education.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unicef.org/corporate_partners/index_montblanc.html |title=Montblanc | UNICEF's corporate partnerships |publisher=UNICEF |access-date=2014-08-03 |archive-date=27 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027120927/http://www.unicef.org/corporate_partners/index_montblanc.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

According to ''Vaccine News Daily'', [[Merck & Co.]] partnered with UNICEF in June 2013 to decrease maternal mortality, [[HIV]] and [[tuberculosis]] prevalence in [[South Africa]]. Merck's program "Merck for Mothers" will give US$500 million worldwide for programs that improve health for expectant mothers and their children.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/news/325326-merck-for-mothers-contributes-to-unicefs-south-african-efforts/ |title=Merck for Mothers contributes to UNICEF's South African efforts |last1=Rogers |first1=Emma |publisher=Vaccine News Daily |access-date=6 June 2013}}</ref>

In May 2010, [[Crucell|Crucell N.V.]] announced an additional US$110 million award from UNICEF to supply its [[pentavalent vaccine|pentavalent]] pediatric vaccine [[Quinvaxem]] to the developing world.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.leidenbiosciencepark.nl/news/news_item/t/crucell_announces_new_award_of_110_million_for_paediatric_vaccine_quinvaxem_by_unicef |title=Crucell announces new award of $110 million for paediatric vaccine Quinvaxem by UNICEF |publisher=Leiden Bio Science Park |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808045835/http://www.leidenbiosciencepark.nl/news/news_item/t/crucell_announces_new_award_of_110_million_for_paediatric_vaccine_quinvaxem_by_unicef |archive-date=8 August 2014 }}</ref>

===Corporate social responsibility===
UNICEF works directly with companies to improve their business practices, bringing them in line with obligations under [[international law]], and ensuring that they respect children's rights in the realms of the marketplace, workplace, and the community. In 2012, UNICEF worked with Save the Children and The [[United Nations Global Compact]] to develop the Children's Rights and Business Principles and now these guidelines form the basis of UNICEF's advice to companies. UNICEF works with companies seeking to improve their [[social sustainability]] by guiding them through a due diligence process where issues throughout their supply chain, such as [[child labour]], can be identified and actions to ratify them are put in place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicef.org/csr/ |title=Corporate Social Responsibility – Home |publisher=UNICEF |access-date=2014-08-03}}</ref>

===Girl Star===
The [[Girl Star]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicef.org/india/media_2673.htm |title=UNICEF India – Media center – Girl Star Project |publisher=Unicef.org |access-date=2014-08-03}}</ref> project is a series of films which documents stories of girls from the most disadvantaged communities across five northern states in India who, through via education, have managed to break socio-economic constraints to make a success of their lives and became self-sufficient. These young women have grown to become role models in their communities, inspiring younger girls to go to school and continue their education. They have selected professions from the most conventional such as teaching and nursing to the most unconventional like archery, bee-keeping, {{clarify|text=scrap management}}, often entering what has traditionally been a man's domain.

===Kids United===
{{Main| Kids United}}
[[Kids United]], succeeded by [[Kids United Nouvelle Génération]] (Kids United New Generation), is a [[French people|French]] musical group consisting of five children born between 2000 and 2009 (six children when the group was originally formed). [[Erza Muqoli]] was a founding member. It was created to support UNICEF campaigns and is sponsored by [[Hélène Ségara]] and [[Corneille (singer)|Corneille]], two [[francophone]] singers. The first album, ''[[Un monde meilleur]]'' (A better world), was launched on Universal Children's Day in 2015 and received gold certification in [[France]]. The second album, ''[[Tout le bonheur du monde (album)|Tout le bonheur du monde]]'' (All the happiness in the world), was released in 2016 and was certified 2× platinum. The group released its third album in 2017, ''[[Forever United]]''. After becoming [[Kids United Nouvelle Génération]], it released its fourth album in 2018 ''[[Au bout de nos rêves]]'' (At the end of our dreams), and its fifth album in 2019, ''[[L'hymne de la vie]]'' (The hymn of life). The group remains active and has achieved great success within Francophonic countries.

=== U-report ===
[[U-Report]] is a free SMS social monitoring tool and real-time information system for community participation, designed to strengthen community-led development, citizen engagement, and positive change. SMS polls and alerts are sent out to U-reporters and real-time response information is collected. Results and ideas are shared back with the community. Issues polled include among others health, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, youth unemployment, HIV/ AIDS, disease outbreaks; social welfare sectors. The initiative is currently operational in 68 countries and covers more than 11 million people.

===Rugby League World Cup 2021===
On 19 June 2019 the [[2021 Rugby League World Cup]] ([[England]]) announced that UNICEF would become the official tournament charity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org.uk/press-releases/rugby-league-world-cup-2021-partners-unicef-uk/|title=Rugby League World Cup 2021 Partners With Unicef UK|website=Unicef UK|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-08-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rlwc2021.com/article/41/rlwc2021-partners-with-unicef-uk|title=Rugby League World Cup 2021|website=www.rlwc2021.com|access-date=2019-08-13}}</ref> The announcement was made at [[Mansion House, London]]<ref>{{Citation|title='Inspired by 2021' Legacy Programme and UNICEF Partnership Announcement|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MU1KNmTT6Q| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211029/7MU1KNmTT6Q| archive-date=2021-10-29|language=en|access-date=2019-08-13}}{{cbignore}}</ref> as part of a launch event for the [[Rugby League World Cup]] legacy program called 'Inspired by RLWC2021'. The partnership aims to use the power of sport to raise awareness and funds for UNICEF's work protecting children in danger around the world.

In addition to the general promotion of the charity at matches and events, the 2021 Rugby League World Cup Chief Executive has also stated that there will be an officially designated "UNICEF" game at some point during the Men's World Cup.

==Celebrity ambassadors==
{{main|List of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors}}
UNICEF Ambassadors are leaders in the entertainment industry, representing the fields of film, television, music, sports and beyond. They help raise awareness of the needs of children, and use their talent and status to fundraise, advocate, and educate on behalf of UNICEF.<ref>{{cite web|title=UNICEF Ambassadors|url=https://www.unicefusa.org/supporters/celebrities/ambassadors|website=UNICEF:United States Fund|publisher=UNICEF|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>

==Facilities==
{{stack|
[[File:UNICEF world warehouse gate.jpg|thumb|right|One of the gates to the old UNICEF World Warehouse]]
[[File:1 school in a box.jpg|thumb|right|UNICEF ''School in a box'' contains basic educational items for one teacher and 40 students.]]
[[File:UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre.jpg|thumb|The UNICEF research centre at the [[Ospedale degli Innocenti]] in [[Florence]]]]
}}

===UNICEF World Warehouse===
The old UNICEF World Warehouse is a large facility in [[Denmark]], which hosts UNICEF deliverable goods as well as co-hosts emergency goods for [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] (UNHCR) and the [[International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies]] (IFRC). Until 2012 the facility was a 25,000m2 warehouse at [[Nordhavnen|Marmormolen]] in Copenhagen. With construction of a 45,000m2 [[UN City]] that is to house all UN activities in Copenhagen under one roof,<ref name='marmormolen'>{{cite web|url=http://www.byoghavn.dk/marmor-front/Marmormolen/FN+Byen.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901180829/http://www.byoghavn.dk/marmor-front/Marmormolen/FN%2BByen.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-01 |title=FN Byen |access-date=2012-07-06 |author=By & Havn |language=da |author-link=By & Havn }}</ref> the warehouse service has been relocated to outer parts of the [[Freeport of Copenhagen]]. The facility houses the UNICEF Supply Division which manages strategic hubs in [[Dubai]], [[Douala]], and [[Colón, Panama|Colón]].<ref name="SD">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org/supply/index_contact.html|access-date=28 January 2020|title=Supplies and Logistics|work=UNICEF}}</ref>

The warehouse contains a variety of items, such as [[food supplements]], [[Chlorine Dioxide Tablets|water purification tablets]], [[dietary supplement|dietary]] and [[Vitamin#Supplementation|vitamin supplements]], and the "School in a box" (pictured right).{{clarify}}{{Citation needed}}

===UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre===
The UNICEF [[Ospedale degli Innocenti|Innocenti]] Research Centre was established in 1988. It is based at the [[Ospedale degli Innocenti]] historic building in [[Florence]], [[Italy]].<ref name="unicefinnocentihistory">{{cite web |publisher=UNICEF Innocenti |title=History of Innocenti |url=https://www.unicef-irc.org/history-of-innocenti |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref>

The centre was created to strengthen UNICEF's research capability and to support its advocacy for children worldwide. It is the research arm of UNICEF, and is part of the Office of Research. The Office of Research has as its prime objectives to improve international understanding of issues relating to children's rights, to promote economic policies that advance the cause of children, and to help facilitate the full implementation of the United Nations [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]] in 190 countries and territories.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Innocenti|first=UNICEF Office of Research-|title=FAQS|url=https://www.unicef-irc.org/aboutIRC/FAQ.html|access-date=2022-01-14|website=UNICEF-IRC|language=en}}</ref>

UNICEF Innocenti develops its research agenda in consultation with other parts of UNICEF and with external stakeholders.
The program reaffirms the centre's academic freedom and the focus of IRC's research on knowledge gaps, emerging questions and sensitive issues which are relevant to the realization of children's rights, in developing and industrialized countries. It capitalizes on IRC's role as an interface between UNICEF field experience, international experts, research networks and policy makers and is designed to strengthen the centre's institutional collaboration with regional academic and policy institutions, pursuing the following goals:
* Generation and communication of strategic and influential knowledge on issues affecting children and the realization of their rights;
* Knowledge exchange and brokering;
* Support to UNICEF's advocacy, policy's and program development in support of the Millennium Agenda;
* Securing and strengthening the centre's institutional and financial basis.

Three interrelated strategies guide the achievement of these goals:
* Evidence-based analysis drawing on quantitative and qualitative information, the application of appropriate methodologies, and the development of recommendations to assess and inform advocacy and policy action.
* Enhanced partnerships with research and policy institutions and development actors, globally and at regional level, in developing and industrialized countries.
* Communication and leveraging of research findings and recommendations to support policy development and advocacy initiatives through strategic dissemination of studies and contribution to relevant events and fora.<ref>[http://www.unicef-irc.org/ Innocenti Research Centre], UNICEF-irc.org</ref>

==Position on ethical themes==
UNICEF's programmatic objectives include the promotion of safe [[abortion]]s<ref>{{cite web |title=Son preference perpetuates discrimination and violations of women's rights – it must and can end |url=https://www.unicef.org/media/media_58924.html |website=UNICEF |access-date=21 June 2020 |archive-date=21 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621202853/https://www.unicef.org/media/media_58924.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and education in [[Human population planning|family planning]] and in the use of [[contraception]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/projects/contraception/en/|title=WHO {{!}} Current HRP projects|website=WHO|access-date=21 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lepantoin.org/unicef/|title=UNICEF|website=The Lepanto Institute|language=en-US|access-date=21 June 2020}}</ref> To this end, it is one of the co-sponsors of the [[Special Programme on Human Reproduction]].<ref name=SRH>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/teams/sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-research-(srh)/human-reproduction-programme|title=sexual and reproductive health and research-SHR|access-date=9 March 2023}}</ref>

In a joint declaration of 2011,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/Preventing_gender-biased_sex_selection.pdf|title=Preventing gender-biased sex selection|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223050229/https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/Preventing_gender-biased_sex_selection.pdf|archive-date=23 December 2014}}</ref> UNICEF argued the need to combat the spread of selective abortion, through plans that favored, inter alia, the use of safe abortion services and family planning programs in order to decrease the use of abortion.

In 2013, together with WHO, it published an integrated plan of guidelines for the prevention of infant mortality caused by pneumonia and diarrhea, including, among the recommended strategies for promoting the health of women and children, access to safe abortion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicef.org/media/files/Final_GAPPD_main_Report-_EN-8_April_2013.pdf|title=Ending Preventable Child Deaths from Pneumonia and Diarrhoea by 2025|access-date=21 June 2020|archive-date=13 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813023939/https://www.unicef.org/media/files/Final_GAPPD_main_Report-_EN-8_April_2013.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

UNICEF has adopted the ABC strategy ("'''a'''bstinence, '''b'''e faithful and consistent '''c'''ondom use") promoted in various international AIDS prevention interventions.<ref>{{cite book|last1=UNICEF|first2=Joint United Nations Programme on|last2=HIV/AIDS|title=Young People and HIV/AIDS: Opportunity in Crisis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyj79Vq24GAC&q=UNICEF%2FMultiple+Indicator+Cluster+Surveys+%28MICS%29%2CMeasure+DHS%2C+1999-2001.+condom&pg=PP16|access-date=21 June 2020|publisher=The Stationery Office|language=en|isbn=978-0-11-987820-2}}</ref> The strategy was later updated as the "'''ABC to Z''' model", to include '''D'''elaying and '''V'''oluntary '''C'''ounselling & '''T'''esting.<ref>{{Cite web|last=UNICEF|title=Simple as ABC? Re-examining HIV Prevention for Youth|url=https://www.unicef.org/namibia/UNICEF_2005_ABC_advoc_feb_latest.pdf}}{{dead link|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

In 1996 the [[Holy See|Vatican]] withdrew its symbolic contribution to UNICEF on the occasion of the publication by UNICEF of a manual on emergency operations for refugee populations which supported the spread of [[Emergency contraception|emergency contraceptive practices]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Patricia |title=Good Catholics: The Battle over Abortion in the Catholic Church |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-95827-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3qkMAwAAQBAJ&q=unicef+vatican+contraception&pg=PA206 |access-date=21 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Holy See gets tough on UNICEF |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/holy-see-gets-tough-on-unicef-1.19946 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=21 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Deen |first1=T. |title=UNICEF supports birth control despite Holy See |journal=Popline |year=1992 |volume=14 |pages=3–4 |pmid=12317622 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12317622/}}</ref>

Despite this, on several occasions senior UNICEF officials have denied that the organization promoted abortion or family planning methods.<ref>{{cite news |title=UNICEF And Abortion |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/unicef-and-abortion-1.96197 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=21 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicef.it/doc/2140/unicef-e-aborto-un-chiarimento-necessario.htm|title=UNICEF e aborto, un chiarimento necessario|website=www.unicef.it|language=IT|access-date=21 June 2020}}</ref>

UNICEF also supports the adoption by states of laws that guarantee [[Homosexual union|LGBT couples]] and their children the legal recognition of their status, as these rules would help ensure the best interests of children.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicef.it/Allegati/Position_Paper_Sexual_Identification_and_Gender_Identity_12_Nov_2014.pdf|title=ELIMINATING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CHILDREN AND PARENTS BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND/ OR GENDER IDENTITY|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509113234/https://www.unicef.it/Allegati/Position_Paper_Sexual_Identification_and_Gender_Identity_12_Nov_2014.pdf|archive-date=9 May 2016}}</ref>

=={{anchor|Criticism}}Controversies==
===Adoption program===
UNICEF has a policy preferring orphanages only be used as temporary accommodation for children when there is no alternative. UNICEF has historically opposed the creation of large-scale, permanent orphanages for children, preferring instead to find children places in their (extended) families and communities, wherever possible. This has led UNICEF to be skeptical of international adoption efforts as a solution to child care problems in developing countries; UNICEF has preferred to see children cared for in their birth countries rather than be adopted by foreign parents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3228398/IA-GlPol72409.pdf?sequence=2|title=Bartholet article on human rights and adoption|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701152345/http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3228398/IA-GlPol72409.pdf?sequence=2|archive-date=1 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bothendsburning.org/|title=Both Ends Burning|access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref>

A 2013 article in ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' magazine asserted UNICEF's intervention that on giving large cash payments to developing countries can lead to a cessation of international adoptions until all of its recommendations are in place, and have even labelled UNICEF a "villain" for the extent of its negative impact on orphans.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2013/05/17/bureaucracy-keeps-adopted-children-stuck-in-international-limbo|title=Bureaucracy Keeps Adopted Children Stuck in International Limbo – US News|author=Peter Roff|work=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref>

===Child mortality===
One concern is that the child [[mortality rate]] has not decreased in some areas as rapidly as had been planned, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where in 2013 "the region still has the highest child mortality rate: 92 deaths per 1000 live births",<ref name=CMEp1>Danzhen You, Lucia Hug and Yao Chen, [http://childmortality.org/files_v19/download/unicef-2013-child-mortality-report-LR-10_31_14_195.pdf "Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2014: Estimates Developed by the UN Interagency Group for Child mortality Estimation"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150814133928/http://childmortality.org/files_v19/download/unicef-2013-child-mortality-report-LR-10_31_14_195.pdf }}. Published by the United Nations Children's Fund, The World Bank, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Division, 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2015. p. 1.</ref> and that "Globally, nearly half of under-five deaths are attributable to undernutrition."

In 2005, [[Richard Horton (editor)|Richard Horton]], editor-in-chief of ''[[The Lancet]]'', editorialized that "over 60% of these deaths were and remain preventable" and that the coverage levels for these interventions are "appallingly low in the 42 countries that account for 90% of child deaths".<ref name="horton">{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17560-0|title=UNICEF leadership 2005–2015: a call for strategic change|year=2004|last1=Horton|first1=Richard|author-link=Richard Horton (editor)|journal=The Lancet|volume=364|pages=2071–2074|pmid=15589292|issue=9451|s2cid=42522736}}</ref>

A $27 million UNICEF program in [[West Africa]] in 2001–2005 which was meant to decrease child deaths from disease has been deemed a failure, according to a study that found higher survival rates of children in some regions that weren't included in that program.<ref>{{Cite news|title=UNICEF program failed to save children: study {{!}} CBC News|language=en-US|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/unicef-program-failed-to-save-children-study-1.939386|access-date=2021-02-08}}</ref>

Critics argue that UNICEF's focus on rights rather than safety and survival is idealistic, and that by focusing on politicized [[children's rights]] instead of mere child survival, UNICEF has contributed indirectly to the [[child mortality]] crisis.<ref>{{Cite web|title=UNICEF's 'Rights' Focus Is All Wrong {{!}} Wendy McElroy|url=https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=1443|access-date=2021-02-08|website=The Independent Institute}}</ref>

=== Mismanagement and abuse of funding===
In 1995, in what was called "the worst scandal in its history", UNICEF disclosed that 24 employees in its Kenya office stole or squandered $10-million; this fraud consumed more than a quarter of the UNICEF's $37-million two-year budget for Kenya.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/05/26/millions-lost-to-fraud-at-unicef/ | title=Millions lost to fraud at UNICEF }}</ref>

In Germany, in the late 2000s, UNICEF was accused of mismanagement, abuse and waste of funds.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna23256368 | title=UNICEF Germany loses a seal of approval | website=[[NBC News]] }}</ref> This has resulted in 5,000 of UNICEF regular donors abandoning their support from the charity, and politicians and public figures, including [[Angela Merkel]], demanding explanations, and the chairwoman of UNICEF Germany resigning in 2008.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dw.com/en/donors-flee-criticisms-mount-amid-germanys-unicef-crisis/a-3111092 | title=Donors Flee, Criticisms Mount Amid Germany's UNICEF Crisis | DW | 06.02.2008 | website=[[Deutsche Welle]] }}</ref>

In 2012, UNICEF confirmed fraud in a Pakistan school rehabilitation project, where an estimated US$4 million was lost when funds were misappropriated.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.devex.com/news/unicef-confirms-fraud-in-pakistan-school-rehabilitation-project-77988 |title=UNICEF confirms fraud in Pakistan school rehabilitation project |website=devex.com |last=Mungcal |first=Ivy |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/unicef-concludes-investigation-misappropriation-funds-project-pakistan |title=UNICEF concludes investigation into misappropriation of funds in a project in Pakistan – Pakistan }}</ref>

===NSA surveillance===
{{Further|Global surveillance disclosure}}
Documents released by [[Edward Snowden]] in December 2013 showed that UNICEF was among the surveillance targets of British and American intelligence agencies.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/20/gchq-targeted-aid-agencies-german-government-eu-commissioner GCHQ and NSA targeted charities, Germans, Israeli PM and EU chief] The Guardian 20 December 2013</ref>

===Sexual assault===
Press reports in 2020 disclosed that women in the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]] accused foreign aid workers, including UNICEF workers, of sexually assaulting them. [[World Health Organization|The World Health Organization]] described the alleged actions as reprehensible and a UNICEF spokesperson acknowledged that such sexual assault cases are underreported in the region.<ref>{{Cite news|title=New Report Reveals Sexual Abuse by Aid Workers During DRC's 2019 Ebola Crisis|work=Statecraft|url=https://www.statecraft.co.in/article/new-report-reveals-sexual-abuse-by-aid-workers-during-drc-s-2019-ebola-crisis}}</ref> Prior to this, in 2018, UNICEF was hit by a wave of sexual misconduct accusations; in 2018, deputy director [[Justin Forsyth]] resigned from UNICEF following allegations that he behaved inappropriately toward female staff members.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20180424-unicef-greece-face-corruption-probe|title=UNICEF in Greece face corruption probe}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/22/world/unicef-deputy-director-justin-forsyth-resigns/index.html|title = UNICEF deputy director resigns after accusations of inappropriate behavior| date=22 February 2018 }}</ref>

UNICEF has also admitted to shortcomings in its humanitarian support of children who said that they were raped and sexually abused by French peacekeepers in [[Central African Republic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/feb/13/unicef-admits-failings-with-child-victims-of-alleged-sex-abuse-by-peacekeepers|title = Unicef admits failings with child victims of alleged sex abuse by peacekeepers|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 13 February 2018}}</ref>

Peter Newell, a convicted child sex offender, has worked closely with UNICEF: he managed a charity that received hundreds of thousand of pounds from the NSPCC, Barnardo's, Save the Children and UNICEF; and cowrote a manual on children's rights called ''Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child for Unicef'', which was published by UNICEF.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/child-rights-activist-peter-newell-convicted-of-sex-abuse-wrn0cnvm9|title=Paedophile Peter Newell had key role at child charity|first=John Simpson, Crime|last=Correspondent|via=www.thetimes.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43075546|title=Children's rights activist Peter Newell jailed for abuse|work=BBC News}}</ref>

Andrew MacLeod, the former chief of operations at the UN's Emergency Co-ordination Center, had accused UNICEF of failure to take action to prevent abuses; he stated "There are tens of thousands of aid workers around the world with pedophile tendencies, but if you wear a UNICEF T-shirt, nobody will ask what you're up to".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/international/un-staff-allegedly-responsbile-for-over-60000-cases-of-sexual-exploitation-542817|title=UN staff allegedly responsible for over 60,000 cases of sexual exploitation|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-congo-aid-idUSKBN26S02B|title=Aid groups should face tougher action over sex abuse by staff: Experts|newspaper=Reuters}}</ref>

=== Funding of UK food charities ===
In December 2020, UNICEF made funding available to feed children in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] for the first time as part of its Food Power for Generation COVID initiative. UNICEF pledged £25,000 to School Food Matters, a south London charity, to help feed children over the Christmas holidays. A partnership of Devon charities had also been given £24,000 to help feed 120 families over the winter of 2020. UNICEF said it was helping children in the UK because of an increase in food poverty in Britain, caused by the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]]. It estimates there are children going hungry in a fifth of households. Anna Kettley, from UNICEF said "We are one of the richest countries in the world and we should not have to be relying on food banks or food aid." [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP [[Zarah Sultana]] in the House of Commons said, "For the first time ever, UNICEF, the UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian aid to children, is having to feed working-class kids in the UK but while children go hungry, a wealthy few enjoy obscene riches." In response, [[Jacob Rees-Mogg]], [[Tory]] MP and [[Leader of the House of Commons]] said, "I think it is a real scandal that UNICEF should be playing politics in this way when it is meant to be looking after people in the poorest, the most deprived, countries of the world where people are starving, where there are famines and where there are civil wars, and they make cheap political points of this kind, giving, I think, 25,000 to one council. It is a political stunt of the lowest order. UNICEF should be ashamed of itself." Chris Forster, from Transforming Plymouth Together, one of the Devon charities to benefit from UNICEF donations, said, "We had one family as part of the deliveries last week literally in tears with gratitude because their cupboard was bare." [[Scottish National Party]] MP, [[Tommy Sheppard (politician)|Tommy Sheppard]] said, "It is astonishing that these comments are coming from the same government that had to be publicly shamed into following Scotland's lead and providing free school meals for children over the holidays." [[LBC]] reported that the UN humanitarian aid agency are providing over £700,000 to feed hungry children in the UK.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sparrow|first=Andrew|title=UK coronavirus: cases rise 42% in a week as tier 3 rules widened and furlough extended – as it happened|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/dec/17/uk-coronavirus-live-matt-hancock-latest-covid-tiers-rules-england-wales-christmas-latest-updates?page=with%3Ablock-5fdb492f8f08c97e60387604|access-date=2020-12-18|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Unicef to feed hungry children in UK for first time in 70-year history|url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/dec/16/unicef-feed-hungry-children-uk-first-time-history|access-date=2020-12-18|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Jacob Rees-Mogg accuses Unicef of 'playing politics' over UK food campaign|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55354958|access-date=2020-12-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Unicef to feed children in UK for first time|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-55348047|access-date=2020-12-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Rees-Mogg brands Unicef's offer to feed hungry children in UK a 'political stunt'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jacob-rees-mogg-child-food-poverty-unicef-b1775618.html|access-date=2020-12-18|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Glaze|first1=Ben|last2=Buchan|first2=Lizzy|title=Jacob Rees Mogg says Unicef should be 'ashamed' for feeding UK's hungry kids|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/jacob-rees-mogg-says-unicef-23182270|access-date=2020-12-18|website=mirror|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Unicef to feed hungry UK children for first time in 70 year history|url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/unicef-uk-hungry-children-food-school-food-matters/|access-date=2020-12-18|website=LBC|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Unicef helps feed hungry children 'as part of first UK response'|url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2020/12/16/unicef-helps-feed-hungry-children-as-part-of-first-uk-response/|access-date=2020-12-18|website=www.shropshirestar.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Unicef helps feed hungry children 'as part of first UK response'|url=https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/viralnews/18948263.unicef-helps-feed-hungry-children-as-part-first-uk-response/|access-date=2020-12-18|website=Glasgow Times|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Unicef to help feed children in the UK for the first time|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/unicef-child-poverty-hungry-children-coronvirus-first-time-797077|access-date=2020-12-18|website=inews.co.uk|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Sleigh|first=Sophia|title=Unicef to help feed UK children for first time in history|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/foodforlondon/unicef-feed-uk-children-first-time-b336596.html|access-date=2020-12-18|website=www.standard.co.uk|language=en}}</ref>{{Citation overkill}}

===''Digital Age Assurance Tools and Children's Rights Online across the Globe'' report===
In 2021, UNICEF published a report called ''Digital Age Assurance Tools and Children's Rights Online across the Globe''.<ref name="Snopes">{{Cite web |title=No, UNICEF Didn't Say Blocking Kids From Porn Violates Their Rights |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/unicef-kids-porn-report/ |access-date=2022-09-27 |website=Snopes.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The paper, focusing on human rights and digital tools, generated controversy after misleading claims and headlines about the report were spread online, originating from a story by the conservative [[Center for Family and Human Rights]].<ref name="Snopes"/> The fact-checking website [[Snopes]] rated the claim that the "report said pornography is not always harmful to children and blocking children from watching pornography online violates their rights" as false.<ref name="Snopes"/> UNICEF pulled down the report, citing misrepresentation of one of its portions.<ref name="Snopes"/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Politics|Food}}
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Afghan New Beginnings Programme]]
* [[Alliance for Healthy Cities]]
* [[Awaaz do|Awaaz do – India]]
* [[Facts for Life]]
* [[Integrated Management of Childhood Illness]]
* [[Ludwik Rajchman]], founder of UNICEF and its first Chairman
* [[James P. Grant]], who was the third executive director of UNICEF
* [[Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey]], statistical monitoring program of UNICEF
* [[Music for UNICEF Concert]]
* [[Odisha State Child Protection Society]]
* [[Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS]]
* [[Voices of Youth]]
* [[RapidSMS]] (co-developed by UNICEF)
* [[Children in emergencies and conflicts]]
* [[Refugee children]]
* [[Child marriage]]
* [[United Nations]]
{{colend}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha|1}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Links==
* [http://www.unicef.org/ Official UNICEF website]
* [https://www.unicef.org/reports/annual-report-2018 UNICEF 2018 Annual Report], downloadable in several languages
* [https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/un-and-the-rule-of-law/united-nations-childrens-fund/ United Nations Rule of Law: The United Nations Children's Fund], on the [[rule of law]] work conducted by the United Nations Children Fund.
* (EN) [https://www.unicef-irc.org/ UNICEF, Office of Research-Innocenti, Florence]
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture, 11 December 1965, ''UNICEF: Achievement and Challenge''

{{S-start}}
{{S-ach}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[Nobel Peace Prize|Nobel Peace Prize Laureate]]
| before = [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]
| years = 1965
| after = [[René Cassin]] 1968
}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[Atatürk International Peace Prize]]
| before = [[Turkish Red Crescent]] 1995
| years = 1996
| after = [[Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina]] 1997
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Humanitarian Aid}}
{{Humanitarian partners of the European Commission}}
{{Nobel Peace Prize Laureates 1951-1975}}
{{1965 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{ECOSOC}}
{{Supranationalism/World government topics|state=collapsed}}
{{UN Charter}}
{{United Nations}}
{{Prince of Asturias Award for Concord}}

[[Category:UNICEF| ]]
[[Category:1946 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1946]]
[[Category:United Nations Development Group]]
[[Category:United Nations Economic and Social Council]]
[[Category:Organizations awarded Nobel Peace Prizes]]
[[Category:Children's charities based in the United States]]