This idea that somehow the marAThA v1s were doing something special, namely "secular v1ism" that was later emulated by other v1s in the peninsula is indeed a poorly supported idea coming out of "white indologists" & their fellow travelers. They have long spouted misconceptions
https://twitter.com/shrikanth_krish/status/1452091979161083912
like the v1s dispersed throughout the subcontinent & beyond by earlier rulers being purveyors of a purely non-secular "vedism" or "tantrism". Any serious student will note that the v2s (real or honorary) were not doing this for some idealism like that which permeates occidental
academe (e.g. critical theories). Rather, it had a very practical function of utilizing v1s in a secular capacity as administrators. This "secular" function of the v1 goes back to the shruti & the marahaTTa v1s were simply 1 of the last great iterations of this phenomenon.Their
negative characterization on occasions by other v1s relates primarily to their participation in marUnmatta activities of plunder of holy sites (e.g. the marahaTTa v1 thief who plundered ahobilam) rather than other activities. shivAjI himself was advised to perform prAyashchitta
for any v1s he might have killed during his raids)& accordingly did so. One thing that set them apart was that more than other south Indian v1 groups (during the transition to modernity) they in sense reverted to an older v1 role, i.e. the overlap with the v2 domain of warfare.
This gave them a new sense of agency and power that was slipped away from groups further south whose martial activities had waned after the vijayanagaran collapse.
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