Etymology
The modern Marathi language developed from the Prakrit known as Mahārāshtri; the words Maratha and Marathi may be a derivative of the Prakrit Marhatta found in Jain Maharashtri literature, itself deriving from Sanskrit Maharāṣhṭra. The etymology of the word Maharashtra is uncertain; the various theories include:
- It derives from the Sanskrit words Maha ("great") and rāṣhṭra ("nation", "dominion")
- Maha (Sanskrit for "great") + rashtra, derived from the name of a clan known as rashtrika (rāṣṭrika) mentioned in some of Ashoka's inscriptions. Rashtrika alludes to a people of the Deccan who were progenitors of the Marathi-speaking people; that the later "Maharashtri Prakrit" is associated with these people
- Maha (Sanskrit for "great") + rashtra, derived from ratta, supposedly a corruption of Rashtrakuta (the name of a dynasty that held sway over the Deccan from the 8th to 10th centuries).
- Maha (Sanskrit for "great") + rathi or ratha (charioteer).
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“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
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