4. Maharashtra before the Times of Shivaji Maharaj

The word 'Budruk' is used to show that the original town is different from the new one. The original town is called 'Budruk' and the new one is 'Khurd' (For example, Vadgaon Budruk and Vadgaon Khurd).

Baluta (or balut) was the share of agricultural produce given by the peasants to the artisans for the services they rendered to the village community.

Vatan is an Arabic word. In Maharashtra, it is used to refer to hereditary land for which the holder does not have to pay revenue.

• (1) People from Africa who had settled along the Konkan coastline — Siddi people
• (2) The author of 'Amrutanubhav' — Sant Dnyaneshwar
• (3) Sant Tukaram's place — Dehu (near Pune)
• (4) He composed Bharuds — Sant Eknath
• (5) He explained the importance of physical fitness — Ramdas Swami
• (6) Women Sants — Sant Soyrabai, Sant Nirmalabai, Sant Muktabai, Sant Janabai, Sant Kanhopatra, Sant Bahinabai Siurkar

He was a great Sant of the Varkari movement and a highly skilled organiser. He awakened the sense of equality in men and women belonging to all castes through the medium of his excellent keertans and well-known abhanga compositions. His pledge was 'नाचू कीर्तनाचे रंगी । ज्ञानदीप लावू जगी ।।'. He even travelled up to Punjab to propagate his thoughts, and his compositions are respectfully included in the 'Guru Granth Sahib' of the Sikhs.

He was a great Sant in the Varkari movement who wrote the 'Dnyaneshwari' (or 'Bhavartha-deepika') to elucidate the meaning of the Sanskrit 'Bhagavad Geeta' in Marathi. He also composed the 'Amrutanubhav'. Through his works, he preached the importance of the path of devotion and showed a simple way of worship that common people could follow. He essentially gave the prestige of a religion to the Varkari movement, and his 'Pasayadaan' uplifts the mind.

He was a great Sant of the Bhakti movement in Maharashtra who created many diverse compositions including abhangas, gavalana, and bharuds. He explained the Bhakti part of the Sanskrit work 'Bhagwat' in Marathi and beautifully portrayed people's lives in the 'Bhavarth Ramayana'. He demonstrated through his own conduct that there is no need to renounce worldly matters to attain the highest truth, and he forcefully defended the Marathi language, declaring it was not inferior to Sanskrit.

Belonging to Dehu near Pune, his abhangas are deeply pleasing, lucid, and reach great poetic heights; his 'Gatha' is considered a precious treasure of the Marathi language. He asked people to find God by showing love and compassion to the unhappy and tormented. He strongly criticized hypocrisy and superstition in society, stressing that true devotion must always be coupled with morality. Despite severe opposition from dogmatic people, he faced them with noble courage.

In those times, agriculture was entirely dependent on rainwater. If it did not rain, the crops would fail, causing the prices of foodgrains to rise sharply and making it extremely difficult for people to get food. There was also a severe scarcity of water and a complete lack of fodder for cattle. Entire families were devastated, farm animals died, and local industries came to a standstill. As a result, people were forced to leave their villages and wander to faraway regions in search of a livelihood, making droughts an unimaginable calamity.