Ratnagiri

Ratnagiri, on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, has a history shaped by the sea, forts and exile. The region was part of ancient western Deccan kingdoms, passing through the hands of the Mauryas, Satavahanas and later the Rashtrakutas, Shilaharas and Yadavas of Devagiri. Its safe creeks and natural harbours made it a node in Arabian Sea trade, with fishing, coconut, rice and later mango cultivation sustaining coastal villages.

From the 14th–17th centuries, Ratnagiri’s coastline came under the Bahmani and then Bijapur sultanates, and later into the orbit of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the Maratha navy. Hill and sea forts like Ratnadurg (Bhagwati Fort) guarded the harbour and monitored movement along the Konkan. After the fall of the Maratha power, the British incorporated Ratnagiri into the Bombay Presidency as a district town and minor port.

Ratnagiri is also famous as a place of exile. The deposed Burma (Myanmar) king Thibaw and his family were kept here by the British from the 1880s until his death. Most importantly for modern India, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born in Ratnagiri district, and the town later hosted various nationalist activities. In the 20th century Ratnagiri became renowned for its Alphonso (Hapus) mangoes, cashew, maritime labour and as a quiet Konkan coastal centre mixing history, horticulture and seafaring traditions.