Literature.—As elsewhere in India, the modern vernacular literature
of the Maratha country arose under the influence of the religious
reformation inaugurated by Rāmānuja early in the 12th century.
He and his followers taught devotion to a personal deity instead of
the pantheism hitherto prevalent. The earliest writer of whom we
have any record is Nāmdēv (13th century), whose hymns in honour
of Vithoba, a personal form of Vishnu, have travelled far beyond
the home of their writer, and are even found in the Sikh Àdi Granth.
Dnyānōbā, a younger contemporary, wrote a paraphrase of the
Sanskrit Bhagavad Gītā, which is still much admired. Passing over
several intermediate writers we come to the period of the warrior
Sivaji, the opponent of Aurangzeb. He was a disciple of Rāmdās
(1608–1681), who exercised great influence over him, and whose
Dāsbōdh, a work on religious duty, is a classic. Contemporary with
Rāmdās and Sivaji was Tukārām (1608–1649), a Śūdra by caste,
and yet the greatest writer in the language. He began life as a petty
shopkeeper, and being unsuccessful both in his business and in his
family relations, he abandoned the world and became a wandering
ascetic. His Abhangs or “unbroken” hymns, probably so called
from their indefinite length and loose, flowing metre, are famous in
the country of his birth. They are fervent, but though abounding
in excellent morality, do not rise to any great height as poetry.
Other Marathi poets who may be mentioned are Śrīdhar (1678–1728),
the most copious of all, who translated the Bhāgavata Purāna, and
the learned Mayūra or Mōrōpant (1729–1794), whose works smell
too much of the lamp to satisfy European standards of criticism.
Mahīpati (1715–1790) was an imitator of Tukārām, but his chief
importance rests on the fact that he collected the popular traditions
about national saints, and was thus the author of the Acta sanctorum
of the Marathas. Lāvaṇīs, or erotic lyrics, by various writers, are
popular, but are often more passionate than decent. Another
branch of Marathi literature is composed of Pāwāḍās or war-ballads,
mostly by nameless poets, which are sung everywhere throughout
the country. There is a small prose literature, consisting of narratives
of historical events (the so-called Bakhars), moral maxims
and popular tales.
In the 19th century the facilities of the printing press are responsible for a great mass of published matter. Most of the best works have been written in English by learned natives, upon whom the methods of European scholarship have exercised more influence than elsewhere in India, and have given rise to a happy combination of western science with Oriental lore. No vernacular authors of outstanding merit have appeared during the last century.
Konkani once had a literature of its own, which is said to have been destroyed by the Inquisition at Goa. Temples and manuscripts were burnt wholesale. Under Roman Catholic auspices a new literature arose, the earliest writer being an Englishman, Thomas Stephens (Thomaz Estevão), who came to Goa in 1579, wrote the first Konkani grammar, and died there in 1619. Amongst other works, he was the author of a Konkani paraphrase of the New Testament in metrical form, which has been several times reprinted and is still a favourite work with the native Christians. Since his time there has grown up a considerable body of Christian literature from the pens of Portuguese missionaries and native converts.
Authorities.—Marathi is fortunate in possessing the best dictionary of any modern Indian language, J. T. Molesworth’s (2nd ed., Bombay, 1857). Navalkar’s (3rd ed., Bombay, 1894) is the best grammar. The earliest students of Marathi were the Portuguese, who were familiar only with the language as spoken on the coast, i.e. with the standard dialect of the northern Konkan and with Konkani. They have since devoted themselves to these two forms of speech. For the former, reference may be made to the Grammatica da lingua Concani no dialecto do norte, by J. F. da Cunha Rivara (Goa, 1858). For Konkani proper, see A. F. X. Maffei’s Grammar (Mangalore, 1882) and Dictionaries (ibid., 1883). These are in English. Monsenhor S. R. Dalgado is the author of a Konkan-Portuguese Dictionary (Bombay, 1893).
For further information regarding Marathi in general, see the list of authorities under Indo-Aryan Languages. For accounts of Marathi literature, see the preface to Molesworth’s Dictionary; also J. Murray Mitchell’s “The Chief Marathi Poets” in Transactions of the Congress of Orientalists, London, 1892, i. 282 sqq., and ch. viii. of M. G. Ranade’s Rise of the Maratha Power (Bombay, 1900). For Konkani literature, see J. Gerson da Cunha’s “Materials for the History of Oriental Studies among the Portuguese,” in the Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Orientalists, ii. 179 sqq. (Florence, 1881). A full account of Marathi, given in great detail, will be found in vol. vii. of the Linguistic Survey of India (Calcutta, 1905). (G. A. Gr.)
MARATHON, a plain on the N.E. coast of Attica, divided from the plain of Athens by the range of Pentelicus; it contained four villages—Marathon, Probalinthos, Tricorythos and Oenoe—which originally formed an independent tetrapolis and in historical times still upheld peculiar rites and legendary associations, chiefly connected with Heracles and Theseus. In the 6th century B.C. it served as a base for Peisistratus (q.v.), who owned much property in that district, for securing the rest of Attica. The plain derives its fame mainly from the battle in which the Athenians and Plataeans defeated the Persians (490 B.C.). The Persian force had been sent by King Darius to punish the Athenians for previous interferences in Asia and to restore their tyrant Hippias. It was probably by advice of the latter that the generals Datis and Artaphernes landed their troops, numbering perhaps 50,000, at Marathon. The Athenians, on the recommendation of their strategus Miltiades, resolved to meet this force in the open field, and sent out their full levy of 9000 heavy infantry under the polemarch Callimachus. They were joined on the way by 1000 Plataeans, but were disappointed of the assistance which they expected from Sparta. From their station at the head of the Vrana valley, which slopes down to Marathon plain, the Athenians for some days observed the Persian army, which gave no sign of proceeding to attack. After some waiting, Miltiades, who seems throughout to have played a more prominent part than his superior Callimachus, drew up the Athenian army for battle and charged down upon the enemy, whose line was formed on the level about a mile distant. The Athenian wings, whose formation had been made specially deep, broke the opposing divisions by their impact; the centre was at first overborne by the superior weight of the native Persians, but ultimately was relieved by the victorious wings, which closed in upon the Persian centre. The Persians were thereupon driven back into the sea all along the line, and, although the majority regained their ships, no less than 6400 were left dead, as against 192 Athenians. The Persian fleet, of which perhaps a detachment had been sent on before the battle, now sailed round Cape Sunium in order to effect a landing at Phalerum, close by Athens, and with the help of traitors within the walls to take the city by surprise. But Miltiades, who had suspected some plot all along, and had lately been warned by a signal on Mt Pentelicus which he interpreted as a message to the Persians, marched back the victorious army in time to defend Athens. The enemy, upon noticing his presence, did not venture a second disembarcation and retired straightway out of Greek waters. The details of the battle, and the Persian plan of campaign, are not made clear by our ancient sources, but reconstructions have been attempted by numerous modern authorities. (M. O. B. C.)
The tumulus or “Soros” was excavated by M. Stais in 1891 and 1892. A slight previous excavation had brought to light some prehistoric implements, and it was supposed that the mound had no connexion with the battle; but it has now been discovered that the presence of those prehistoric objects was accidental. Underlying the mound was found a stratum about 85 ft. long by 20 broad, consisting of a layer of sand, above which lay the ashes and bones of many corpses; together with these were the remains of many lecythi and other vases, some of them contemporary with the Persian wars, some of them of much earlier style, and probably taken in the emergency from neighbouring cemeteries. It is conjectured with some probability that a large vase containing ashes may have been used as the burial urn of one of the Athenian generals who fell. There was also, in the middle of the stratum, a trench for funeral offerings about 30 ft. by 3; it contained bones of beasts, with ashes and fragments of vases. There can therefore be no doubt that the tumulus was piled up to commemorate the Athenians who fell in the battle, and that it marks the place where the carnage was thickest. A selection from the contents of the tumulus has been placed in the National Museum at Athens. (E. Gr.)
See Herodotus vi. 102–117; W. M. Leake, The Topography of Athens (London, 1841), ii. 203–227; R. W. Macan, Herodotus, iv.-vi. (London, 1895), ii. 149–248; G. B. Grundy, The Great Persian War (London, 1901), pp. 145–194; J. A. Munro in Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1899, pp. 186–197. For the tumulus, Ἀρχαιολογικὸν Δελτίον 1891, pp. 67 sqq. See also Miltiades.
MARAZION, a small seaport in the St Ives parliamentary division of Cornwall, England, on the shore of Mount’s Bay, 2 m. E. of Penzance, served by the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901), 1251. A causeway of boulders and pebbles, thrown up by the sea and passable at low tide, unites Marazion with the insular St Michael’s Mount (q.v.). The church of St Hilary, destroyed by fire in 1853, had a very fine spire, which has been
