Editing Bal Thackeray (section)

== Early life ==
{{Main|Thackeray family}}
Thackeray was born on 23 January 1926 in [[Pune]], the son of [[Prabodhankar Thackeray]] and his wife Ramabai Thackeray.<ref name="Kaminsky" /> The family belongs to the [[Marathi people|Marathi]] [[Hindu]] [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]] community.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/mumbai/milestones-in-the-life-of-sena-chief-bal-thackeray/article1-960556.aspx |title=Milestones in the life of Sena chief Bal Thackeray |website=[[Hindustan Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120120712/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Milestones-in-the-life-of-Sena-chief-Bal-Thackeray/Article1-960556.aspx |archive-date=20 November 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=2 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="South Asia Bulletin">{{cite journal |title=Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East |journal=South Asia Bulletin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-AUAQAAIAAJ |volume=16 |issue=2 |page=116 |year=1996 |publisher=University of California, Los Angeles |access-date=15 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502032613/http://books.google.com/books?id=3-AUAQAAIAAJ |archive-date=2 May 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> His father Keshav was an admirer of India-born British writer [[William Makepeace Thackeray]], and changed his own surname from Panvelkar to "Thackeray" an Anglicised version of their ancestral surname "Thakre".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The story of Thackerays: Roots and an anglicised surname |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/the-story-of-thackerays-roots-and-an-anglicised-surname-1623344-2019-11-28 |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=India Today |date=28 November 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

Bal's father was a journalist and [[cartoonist]] by profession; he was also a social activist and a writer who was involved in a [[Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti]], which advocated the creation of a separate linguistic state for Marathi speakers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-17 |title=Remembering Prabodhankar Thackeray on his 137th Birth Anniversary |url=https://www.news18.com/news/lifestyle/remembering-prabodhankar-thackeray-on-his-137th-birth-anniversary-5973469.html |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=News18 |language=en}}</ref> He also started a magazine named Prabodhan, where he promoted Hindu philosophies and nationalistic ideals to revive [[Hindutva]] in society. This proved to be highly influential in shaping Bal Thackeray's political views.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Thube |first=Surajkumar |date=2020-12-30 |title=How Prabodhankar Thackeray contributed to the rise of Hindutva in 20th-century Maharashtra |url=https://scroll.in/article/982665/how-prabodhankar-thackeray-contributed-to-the-rise-of-hindutva-in-20th-century-maharashtra |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref>

Bal was the eldest of eight siblings, with brothers Shrikant Thackeray (father of [[Raj Thackeray]]) and Ramesh Thackeray, and five sisters (Sanjeevani Karandikar,<ref name="purandarepg26">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JS1hBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT26 |page=26 |title=Bal Thackeray and the rise of Shiv Sena |author=Vaibhav Purandare |year=2012 |publisher=Roli Books Private Limited |isbn=9788174369918}}</ref> Prabhavati (Pama) Tipnis, Malati (Sudha) Sule, Sarla Gadkari and Susheela Gupte).

Raj in 2006 broke away from Shiv Sena to form his own political party called the [[Maharashtra Navnirman Sena]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-10-10 |title=Raj Thackeray launches new party - Express India |url=http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=64115 |access-date=2023-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010223148/http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=64115 |archive-date=10 October 2012 }}</ref> Despite Raj's breakaway from the main party, he continues to maintain that Thackeray was his ideologue and relations between them improved during Thackeray's final years.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1"/>