The credit for regenerating the people of Maharashtra goes to the poet-saints Jnanadeva, Tukaram, Vaman Pandit, Eknath and Ram Das who infused in them a feeling of common interest and patriotism. To quote Ranade: “This religious revival was the work also of the people, of the masses and not of the classes.
At its head were saints and prophets, poets and philosophers who sprang chiefly from the lower orders of society-tailors, carpenters, potters, gardeners, shopkeepers, barbers and even scavengers more often that Brahmans.” The movement which these saints led for the spiritual and social emancipation of the masses produced a new spirit of democratic equality and homogeneity among the people of Maharashtra.
The profound impact made by this movement is evident from the fact that even some of the saints such as Chokhamela and Banka Mahar belonged to the depressed classes. With Ram Das, the reformist movement became a religio-political rather than a purely religious movement. Ram Das urged in his vigorous language the importance of Swaraj for the Maratha people.
In his writings such as Dasobodha, as pointed out by the historian Sardesai, in his well-known work “Main Currents of Maratha History”, he preached the philosophy of action (karma) and urged his disciples to carry his message throughout the country.
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Taking all facts together, there is considerable force in historian Ranade’s argument that “the ground was prepared partly by nature, partly by the ancient history of the country, partly by the religious revival, but chiefly by the long discipline in arms which the country had undergone under Mohammadan rule for three hundred year”.
The people of Maharashtra remembered that not long ago their ancestors, the Yadavas of Devagiri and the Sangamas and the Saluvas of Vijayanagar had built up powerful empires which have preserved their ancient culture and heritage.
Marathas had lost their independence in 1296, when Ala-ud-din defeated the Yadava ruler Ramadeva and made his a vassal of the Delhi sultanate. Malik Kafur had completed the subjugation of Deccan but the subsequent events gave an opportunity to Bahmanis of Deccan to establish their rule which began in 1347 and lasted till the fifteenth century.
Two Maratha regions Konkan and the Desh could only be brought under their rule with great difficulty but the coastal Maharashtra continued to defy the Bahmani authority and in fact one of the chieftains, Shankar Rao Shirke with the help of Raja of Sangameshwar inflicted a crushing defeat on Khalaf Hasan, the Bahmani general who was killed along with a large number of his followers.
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However, the great Bahmani general, Mahmud Gawan, brought it effectively under control after leading a number of expeditions against the recalcitrant chiefs. The Bahmani state later broke up into five independent states of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, Berar, Bidar and Golkonda.
The Maratha regions came mostly under the sway of Bijapur and Golkonda rulers. The Muslim rulers, due to their small numbers, had to leave much of their administration to the Hindus. Some of them raised to high positions both in civil and military administration of the Deccan sultanates and were granted watans and jagirs.
Some of the Maratha deshmukhs must have held watans even in pre-Bahmani days. We find a number of such watandars in the beginning of the 17th century as the Mores, the Shirkes, the Dalvis, the Jadhavs, the Nimbalkars, the Ghorpades, the Surves, the Sawants, the Bhosales and others who came to prominence during this period. The Bhosales of Veruz played and important role in organizing the Marathas and founding an independent kingdom.