Ratnagiri (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

city on the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

coast in

Ratnagiri District Ratnagiri District (Marathi pronunciation: �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The administrative headquarter of the district is located in the town of Ratnagiri. The district is 11.33% urban. The district ...

in the southwestern part of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India. The district is a part of

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

division of Maharashtra. The city is known for the Hapus or Alphonso mangoes. Ratnagiri is the birthplace of Indian independence activist

Lokmanya Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence a ...

. Thibaw, the last king of

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, alongside his consort

Supayalat , image = Queen Supayalat of Burma.jpg , image_size = , caption = , succession = Chief queen consort of Burma , reign = 12 April 1879 – 29 November 1885 , predecessor ...

and two infant daughters were exiled to a two-storied brick mansion in Ratnagiri. The building is now known as Thibaw Palace.

Geography

Ratnagiri is located at . It has an average elevation of 11 meters (36 feet). The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east

Climate

Transport

Road Ratnagiri is well connected to the other parts of the state and country by National Highways & State Highways. National Highways

NH 66 National Highway 66, commonly referred to as NH 66 (erstwhile NH-17 and a part of NH-47), is a mostly 4 lane long busy National Highway (India), National Highway that runs roughly north–south along the western coast of India, parallel to t ...

( Panvel – Edapally ), NH 166 ( Ratnagiri –

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

) and Coastal Highway ( Rewas – Reddy ) pass through the city. MSRTC operates bus services to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...

, Vasai,

Nala Sopara Nala Sopara or Nallasopara (Pronunciation: aːla sopaɾa formerly known as Sopara or Supara, is a town within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The town lies in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, India and is governed by Vasai-Virar Municipal ...

, Kalyan,

Bhiwandi Bhiwandi () is a city in the Thane district in Maharashtra, India. It is located northeast of Mumbai and northeast of the city of Thane. The city is a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Bhiwandi is a commercial city and a major trade ce ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

Panaji Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary ...

Nanded Nanded is a city in Maharashtra state, India. It is the tenth largest city in the state and the seventy-ninth most populous city in India. It is the second largest city in Marathwada region. It is the district headquarters of Nanded distric ...

, Latur,

Tuljapur Tuljapur is a town with a municipal council in Osmanabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative seat of Tuljapur taluka. Tuljapur is the location of the annual Tulja Bhavani fair during Navaratri (September–Octo ...

Akkalkot Akkalkot () is a City and a municipal council in Solapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated 38 km southeast of Solapur and close to the border of Karnataka state. City is the home to Shri Swami Samarth, a 19th ...

Ambajogai Ambajogai, (also called Ambejogai or Ambanagari) is a municipal council, Tehsil and subdivision in Beed district in the state of Maharashtra, India. Ambajogai is known as cultural capital of Marathwada. The town is named as Ambajogai after ...

Beed Beed (Marathi pronunciation: iːɖ is a city in Marathwada region of Maharashtra state in India. It is the administrative headquarters in Beed district. History Beed is a historical city of possibly medieval origin. Its early history is ob ...

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

, Gargoti,

Gadhinglaj Gadhinglaj ( �əɖᵊɦiŋɡləd͡z is a city in India in the Kolhapur district in the southwest corner of the state of Maharashtra, India. It is located on the banks of the river Hiranyakeshi. It is the Taluka (Tehsil) headquarters of Gadh ...

, Nrushimhawadi, Ichalkaranji,

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks o ...

, Miraj,

Tasgaon Tasgaon Tasgaon is a city in Maharashtra and a municipal council in Sangli district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Tasgaon city is developing city in Maharashtra. Tasgaon was given as Jahagir to Parshuram Bhau Tasgaonkar by Narayanrao Ba ...

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subse ...

, Islampur, Satara,

Belgaum Belgaum (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous ...

Hubli Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad distr ...

Bijapur Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural ...

and other major towns of the state.

North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation The North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation - (NWKRTC), is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. It serves routes to towns and cities in ...

also operates buses from Belgaum, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Indi, Muddebihal, Sindgi, Athani, Jevargi and Talikota. A number of private buses regularly ply for

and

and a few for

. Railways

Ratnagiri Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for ...

is a major Railhead on

Konkan Railway The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The first passenger train ran on Konkan railway tracks on 20 March 1993, between Udupi and ...

route.

is also one of the two divisions of

Konkan Railway Corporation Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) is an Indian public sector undertaking which operates Konkan Railway and also undertakes other railway-related projects. It is wholly-owned by the Government of India under the administrative control of ...

. The city is well connected to

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital of ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

, Bhuj,

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

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, Margao,

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, Kanyakumari,

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

and other major towns of the country. Every train passing through the city halts here. Connectivity to western Maharashtra is proposed through Vaibhavwadi Road –

route.

Collector and District Magistrate

M. Devender Singh (IAS:MH2011) has joined as Collector and District Magistrate, Ratnagiri on 01-10-2022.

Political Leadership

Ratnagiri Municipality : The Ratnagiri Municipality was established in 1876. The incumbent president is Mr.Pradeep Salvi (

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...

). Ratnagiri (Vidhan Sabha constituency) : Uday Samant (

), Minister of Higher and Technical Education,

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term. Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisla ...

represents Ratnagiri constituency in State Assembly since 2004. Ratnagiri–Sindhudurg (Lok Sabha constituency) :

Vinayak Raut Vinayak Raut (born 15 March 1954) is an Indian politician serving as the Member of Parliament, Loksabha. He is leader of Shiv Sena in Lok Sabha representing Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in the 17th Lok Sabha. Originally from Mumbai, Raut ...

(

) represents Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Loksabha, lower house of the parliament since 2014.

Education institutes

*Government College of Engineering, Ratnagiri *M.M.A.K.Desai Highschool *Mane's international school *Podar International School, Ratnagiri
Sarvankash Vidya Mandir
*Gangadhar Govind Pathwardhan English Medium School (G.G.P.S) *College of Fisheries, Shirgaon, Ratnagiri (DBSKKV) * Government Polytechnic, Ratnagiri * Indian Technical Institute (ITI) Ratnagiri * Finolex Academy of Management and Technology (An engineering college affiliated to

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate university, collegiate, State university (India), state-owned, Public university, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the un ...

) * Government college of Pharmacy, Ratnagiri *Patwardhan High School, Ratnagiri. * Phatak High School, Ratnagiri *Late T.P. Kelkar Jr. college of Science Ratnagiri * R. B. Shirke High School * Mistry High School, Ratnagiri * M. S. Naik High School. * Gogate Joglekar College *St.Thomas English Medium School *Rajendra Mane College of Engineering & Technology (Affiliated to

) *Rajendra Mane Polytechnic *A.D.Naik Urdu Medium School *Sacred Heart Convent High School, Ratnagiri. *Mane's international school *S.B.Keer Law College. *Jagadguru Narendracharya Maharaj Educational Institute

Marine Biological Research Station

The

Maharashtra Government Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

under the Department of Fisheries established the Marine Biological Research Station (MBRS) in 1958 at Ratnagiri, which is presently attached with Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, Dist.: Ratnagiri. The research station has a 10 hectare area as field facility including a three storied building at the main campus, a well equipped aquarium and museum, a modernised brackish water fish farm, a Mechanized Fishing and Research Vessel, Seed Production facilities and various laboratories at its disposal. The Marine Biological Research Station, Ratnagiri is one of the premier institutes, especially in the South Konkan Coastal Fisheries Zone, having a mandate for development of fish production technologies, transferring the technologies to fish culturists, entrepreneurs and the industry, and generating professionally trained manpower in fish culture.

History

Ratnagiri was an administrative capital under the

Sultanate of Bijapur The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia Islam, Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim ...

. A fort built by the Bijapur Sultanate, reconstructed by the Maratha king

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adils ...

in 1670 is located on a headland near the harbour. In 1731 Ratnagiri came under the control of the Kingdom of Satara, and in 1818 it was annexed to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. Ratnagiri is the birthplace of Indian freedom fighter

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya ( IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

. He was born on 23 July 1856 after which he moved to

with his family when he was 10 years old. In 1886, King Thibaw of

was sent to Ratnagiri after he was deposed and his country annexed by the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. Along with his pregnant wife, his junior queen, and his two young daughters, he would live out the rest of his life in Ratnagiri, as a prisoner of the British Crown. Ratnagiri was chosen for its remote location, some 3,000 miles from Thibaw's former royal seat of

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

, accessible only by sea for parts of the year and far from any territory of any rival European power. Ratnagiri was also the place of confinement for Vinayak Damodar Savarkar from 1921 to 1935, initially in jail and subsequently under local confinement.

References

External links

{{Ancient Dharmic centres of Higher Learning Port cities and towns of the Arabian Sea Port cities in India Talukas in Maharashtra Cities and towns in Ratnagiri district Tourist attractions in Konkan Ratnagiri Cities in Maharashtra