Rod Marathas | Marathas in Haryana

-Deepender Deswal



PANIPAT: There is quite a bit of Maharashtra in Jatland, which went down memory lane on Friday — remembering the third battle of Panipat fought between  Marathas and Afghans. Descendants of these Maratha warriors, now numbering seven lakh, are living all over Haryana, but it is the historic Bhadar village, dominated by Maratha Rod population, which is in the focus on the 250th anniversary of the third battle of Panipat.

And within this village, it is the old Shiva temple, which stands testimony to the bravery of the Marathas.

Sarpanch Kaptan Singh Rod told The Times of India that the temple existed even before 1761, but was in a dilapidated condition.

The sarpanch stated, "The Maratha soldiers stayed in this village before the battle and the villagers supplied them with essential commodities. Later, after the defeat, many soldiers returned to this village and their numbers increased gradually.

Now, around 50% of the total population of 5,000 is of Maratha Rods." Virender Maratha, convener of Marath Jagriti Manch and resident of Karnal, confirmed that there are around seven lakh Maratha Rod population in Haryana, descendants of the warriors who hid in the state after the defeat of the Maratha army at the hands of Afghans.

The locals stated that around 80% of visitors to these places are Marathis.

(Times of India)