Maratha vis-à-vis Kunbi
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The debate
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Prabodhan Pol and Sumeet Mhaskar, Sep 3, 2025: The Times of India
Even in 2023, Shinde govt had assured that Marathas with documents that connect them to ‘Nizam-era’ – Telangana recognises Marathas as OBC – would receive Kunbi caste certificates. This time too, Jarange has been assured of govt’s intention. But it’s a complex matter.
Marathas and Kunbis aren’t identical communities. Kunbis enjoy OBC status and reservation benefits, so Marathas seek to claim Kunbi lineage to access these advantages in Maharashtra. The Maratha claim to a ritually ‘lower’ shudra social status is to access a tiny proportion of public jobs and higher educational opportunities. This, despite the fact that Marathas have benefited immensely from the 10% EWS quota.
Marathas are a dominant caste | Beneath the labels lie intricate memories and fiercely contested claims. Implications extend beyond Maharashtra’s borders since Patidars in Gujarat, Jats in Haryana, Kapus in Andhra and Vokkaligas in Karnataka have been fighting similar battles, all politically powerful castes facing similar community pressures.
Economically vulnerable sections within these communities press for OBC status. These campaigns may appear straightforward pleas for quotas, but they actually reopen deep disputes rooted in history and caste politics of modern India. The Maratha-Kunbi debate represents part of a broader national pattern in which historically dominant castes seek strategic repositioning within India’s reservation framework. These battles raise fundamental questions about caste identities, social mobility and widespread misunderstandings about the factual purposes of affirmative action. Who Marathas & Kunbis were | In precolonial times, Maratha identity remained remarkably fluid and inclusive. It encompassed diverse warrior groups, cultivators and local elites bound more by service to the Maratha polity than by rigid caste hierarchies.
In 17th and 18th centuries, Maratha state comprised administrative elites, landed gentry and peasant networks that collectively shaped western India’s society, politics and economy. Historians have consistently noted that ‘Kunbi’ was not an endogamous sub-caste but functioned as a broad occupational label for land cultivators. Some families within peasant communities gradually adopted Maratha styling, indicating that the boundaries between Kunbi and Maratha identities were continually blurred.
Identities begin to separate | Affluent families invested in genealogies that linked them to Rajputs, thereby consolidating Maratha claims as ‘authentic’ Kshatriyas.
By late 19th century, ordinary Kunbi households accepted their Shudra status. While Kunbis were socially and economically disadvantaged, they were not oppressed in the same manner as the ‘untouchable’ castes.
Marathas gain political heft | The ‘Maratha’ label acquired new dimensions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through colonial censuses, the 1919 Government of India Act and non-Brahmin political mobilisations.
Records from this period mark the beginning of formal differentiation between Marathas and Kunbis. Following appeals from Maratha groups, substantial numbers of Kunbis registered themselves as Marathas in the 1921 and 1931 colonial censuses.
Kunbi communities adopted the Maratha identity to access resources and social honour. Over time, many Kunbi households embraced Maratha cultural markers and expanded their influence, reflecting notable porosity between these groups. These transformations increased the Maratha identity’s political weight and reshaped local hierarchies, endowing emergent identities with new political significance. Non-Brahmin politics and electoral opportunities expanded claims to political representation. Consequently, ‘Maratha’ became not merely a cultural but a central political category. From the late 1940s through the early 1960s, Marathas established decisive control over regional politics. This marked the beginning of boundary closure between Marathas and Kunbis, reflected in the stark political and economic power differentials that emerged between these communities.
Marathas’ claim of Kunbi origins | Inclusion of Kunbis in the OBC list highlighted their socially and educationally disadvantaged position. On the other hand, since the 1950s, Maratha demands for inclusion in the OBC list have been consistently rejected due to their inability to demonstrate social and educational backwardness.
Today’s Maratha protesters rely heavily on colonial gazetteers, census reports, and administrative documents to argue for Maratha-Kunbi equivalence – hence the Fadnavis govt’s assurance yesterday to Jarange of a GR to implement the Hyderabad gazette (1918) – Marathwada then was under Hyderabad. While historical records provide some support for their case, the current demand to treat all Marathas as ‘Kunbi’ represents a selective interpretation of complex history.
This approach overlooks the fact that from the mid-20th century to the present, the Marathas have exerted phenomenal control over regional politics, economy and society. While Kunbis too hold an influential position, it is limited to specific areas of the state. Moreover, besides Kunbis, there are more than 260 castes that are part of the OBC list that are extremely disadvantaged compared to the Marathas.
The courts, too, have noted that granting blanket Kunbi certificates to all Marathas would constitute a “social absurdity.” Maratha reservation may have originated for claiming a share in scarce jobs and education. However, its present avatar seeks to usurp the political space occupied by the OBC community.
Pol teaches at Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Mhaskar teaches at OP Jindal Global University
See also
Maratha vis-à-vis Kunbi
