Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti
The Samyukta Maharashtra Movement achieved its aim when the present state of Maharashtra was created on 1 May 1960. The state reorganization left Marathi-speaking areas in Northern Karnataka, such as Belgaon, outside Maharashtra. The newly liberated people of Goa in a 1967 referendum rejected merger with Maharashtra.
History of Maharashtra
The death of Aurangzeb in 1707, after an exhausting 27 years of war against the Marathas, led to the swift decline of the Mughal Empire. During much of this era, the Peshwas, 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. During their rein, the Maratha empire reached its zenith in 1760, dominating most of the Indian subcontinent. Bajirao I, the second Peshwa from the Bhat family 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 Puar brothers and Pilaji Gaekwad. These leaders also did not come from the traditional aristocratic families of Maharashtra. Separate from Bajirao I, Raghoji Bhonsle expanded Maratha rule in central and East India. All these military leaders or their descendants later became rulers in their own right during the Maratha Confederacy era.