Desh (hindi:देश)
Derived from Sanskrit word (देशः) this word means "country"
In the context of the history of Maharashtra, the Marathi people, and of the Maratha Empire or Maratha Confederacy, founded by Shivaji as the "Hindawi Swaraj" (Hindu Free State), "Desh" is an abbreviation for "Maharashtra-desh", that historical region of the west-central Deccan, that is called the Pune and Marathwada divisions of contemporary Maharashtra State of the Indian Union.
Marathwada came to be called separately because it had been conquered by the Nizam of Hyderabad
