_Literature._--As elsewhere in India, the modern vernacular literature of the Maratha country arose under the influence of the religious reformation inaugurated by Ramanuja 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 Namdev (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_. Dnyanoba, a younger contemporary, wrote a paraphrase of the Sanskrit _Bhagavad Gita_, 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 Ramdas (1608-1681), who exercised great influence over him, and whose _Dasbodh_, a work on religious duty, is a classic. Contemporary with Ramdas and Sivaji was Tukaram (1608-1649), a Sudra 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 Sridhar (1678-1728), the most copious of all, who translated the _Bhagavata Purana_, and the learned Mayura or Moropant (1729-1794), whose works smell too much of the lamp to satisfy European standards of criticism. Mahipati (1715-1790) was an imitator of Tukaram, 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. Lavanis, or erotic lyrics, by various writers, are popular, but are often more passionate than decent. Another branch of Marathi literature is composed of _Pawadas_ 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.