Short answers, pulled from the story.
A copper-plate inscription from 739 CE found in Satara marks the earliest known written record of Marathi. This artifact predates other major literary works by centuries and establishes the language's presence in medieval India.
Mukundaraja wrote Vivēkasindhu, the oldest prose book in Marathi, during the 13th century. He was a Nath yogi who based his work on teachings attributed to Shankaracharya.
The Government of India designated Marathi as a scheduled language following independence in 1947. Reorganization of Bombay state on the 1st of May 1960 created Maharashtra for Marathi speakers and Gujarat for Gujarati speakers.
Eighty-three million native speakers were recorded in the 2011 census. The government approved classical language status for Marathi on the 3rd of October 2024.
Indic scholars identify forty-two distinct dialects of spoken Marathi across India including Varhadi, Zaadi Boli, Thanjavur Marathi, Arey Marathi, and Kasaragod dialects. Standard Marathi relies on dialects used by academics and print media.