Earliest forms[edit source | editbeta] The first written attestation of Marathi, a stone document found in Maharashtra, dates from

from a period of roughly more than 2,000 years ago.. The stone inscription at Akshi Taluka Alibaug District Raigad is the first clearly dated stone inscription. The brief description is as follows. | | | : | : | - | |

| | It can be transliterated as : gee susha santu |swasti om |pasimasa - mudrdhipati | sri konkana chakri - varti | sri kesidevray |mahapradha na bhairjoo senui taseemeeni kale pravratamane saku sanvatu :934 pradha- vi savsare : adhiku deeve sukre bau - lu | bhairjoove tatha bodana tatha nau kunvali ardhoyu pradhanu |mahalashu - meechee waaan | lunaya kachlee ja.[18] An inscription at the feet of Bahubali (Shravanabelagola, Karnataka) is also considered to be one of the oldest marathi inscriptions (981 AD). It reads " Chavundaraye karaviyale, Ganga Raje suttale karaviyale". Also, an interesting couplet is found in the monk Udyotansuri's Kuvalayamala in the 8th century, referring to a bazaar where the Marhattes speak Didhale (Dile - given), Gahille (Ghetale - taken). The Marathi translation of the Panchatantra is also considered very old.[19] It is because the language was spoken so widely that the deeds of charitable gifts like the one at Patan recording the maintenance grants given by King Soidev to Changdev's University and the imperial mandates expected to be obeyed by all, like the Edict of King Aparaditya (1183), were inscribed in Marathi. The Pandharpur inscription (1273) of the days of Raja Shiromani Ramdev Rao is in flawless Marathi. Marathi was now spoken by all classes and castes.