Ma·ra·tha also Mah·rat·ta (mə-rä'tə, -rāt'ə) n.
pl.Maratha or Ma·ra·thas also Mahratta or Mah·rat·tas A member of a Hindu people inhabiting Maharashtra in west-central India.
[Marathi Marāṭhā, from Sanskrit Mahārāṣṭraḥ, Maharashtra.]
state in s.w. India, also in ref. to the Scytho-Dravidian race living there, 1763 (Mharatta), from Skt. Maharastra, lit. "great country," from maha- "great" + rastra "kingdom," from raj "to rule."