Prehistoric Time:
- Copper age remains were found in Maharashtra at Inamgaon, Pune.
- Early Vedic age remains of wild ox were found at Newasa.
- Mid Stone age weapons have been found at Inamgaon
- In 1853, remains of weapons of Agget stone made by Mid Stone age men were found at 'Mungi Paithan'
- According to Dr. B. S. Goh, people of Maharashtra belong to the racial group called as 'Bracci-Cephalli'
- Jorawe Civilization - In 1950, remains of a civilization which rose to power around 1600 BC (Copper Age) were found at a village called 'Jorawe' in Ahmednagar district. This civilization had spread to Ahmednagar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Pune districts; but they did not spread to Konkan and Vidarbha. At this site around 200 settlements of brick-walled square blocks were unearthed. These people were mainly agrarian and their characteristic was the use of coloured bricks. These people used weapons made of limestones. This civilization came to an end around 700 Bc
- In ancient Sanskrit literature, the region of Maharashtra was mentioned as 'Dakshinapath'
- In early times, Dravidian people used to live in Maharashtra. People of the Naga tribe later settled in Maharashtra
- Around 600 BC, the 'Ratta' people of Aryan descent came to the south from Magadha. These people have been mentioned as 'Rashtrik' in the inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka
- Later all these people intermingled and they later came to be known as 'Marahatta'. Marahatta is a word from Kannada language
- According to historians C. V. Vaidya and R. G. Bhandarkar, the terms 'Ratta' and 'Rashtrik' changed over the course of time into 'Maharatta' and 'Maharashtriya', respectively.