Topography :
Raigad district is situated on the west coast of Maharashtra in the Konkan region. Bordering the district is Thane to the north, Pune and the Sahyadri ranges to the east, Satara to the southeast, Ratnagiri to the south, the Arabian Sea to the west and the city of Mumbai to the northwest.
History :
Formerly known as Colaba, 1st January 1981 this district took its name from the Raigad fort situated in the district.In the 12th century, the hill on which Raigad fort has been built was known by several names such as Tanas, Rajivar, Rairi and Raigiri. Foreseeing the strategic importance of the fort located on the boundary of the Konkan region and the Deccan Plateau, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj established his capital on Raigad. A British delegate described it as the Gibraltar of the East. The fort, a favourite of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is also an inspiration to thousands of Maharashtrians. It has witnessed the glorious coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and is also the place where he breathed his last.
Around 1869 Mahatma Jyotiba Phule restored the Samadhi of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the Raigad fort. In 1897 Lokmanya Tilak brought back this historical monument into the public eye, underlining its importance for public awareness.
Culture :
The district is home to the people of Agri community, who are in the State Government list of Other Backward Castes (OBC) and the Katkari tribe, recognized as a primitive tribe by the Central Government. Other tribes in the district are the Thakar and Warli. As the district is blessed with a long seacoast, people of the Koli community, whose main occupation is fishing, can also be found in large numbers.
Personalities
Tanaji Malusare, one of the most able generals of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and nick-named (Sinha) lion by him, was born in Umrath village of the district.
Vasudev Balwant Phadke, the first revolutionary, was born in village Shirdhon in the year 1845. He worked with the Mumbai Military in the accounts section. Later he organized the youth of Pune and Satara districts and revolted against the British. His rebellion created havoc across India and England. This revolutionary was given life imprisonment in 1879.
Author of the first travelogue in Marathi language Maaza Pravaas (My journey), Godse Bhatji,was from Varsai village of the district.
Vinoba Bhave, the pioneer of Bhoodan (gift of land) movement, Mahatma Gandhi’s first individual Satyagrahi, committed follower of Mahatma Gandhi and author of Geetai, the Marathi translation of Bhagvad Gita, was born in 1895 in Gagode village in Pen taluka.
Shivram Mahadev Paranjape, a litterateur with a nationalist spirit, daring reporter and an influential orator, was originally from Mahad. He started a weekly journal Kaal (the Age) in 1898; he was thus known as Kaalkarte Paranjpe (maker of Kaal). He was charged with sedition for extremist writing in this journal and imprisoned for 19 months. He was the president of Marathi Natya Sammelan (Theatre Festival) held at Pune in 1913 and Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (Literature Convention) held at Belgaum in 1929.
Chintaman Dwarkanath Deshmukh, a great economist and the first Indian governor of the Reserve Bank, was born in the village of Nate. He spent his childhood in Tale and Roha. He was the first recipient of the prestigious Jagannath Shankarsheth Sanskrit Scholarship. He was the first Indian to rank highest in the Indian Civil Service exam in 1918, a record that remained unchallenged by any Indian until Independence. The British Government awarded him knighthood in 1937. He was appointed the Finance Minister of India in May 1950. He received the Magsaysay Award, an internationally acclaimed prestigious award in 1959, for his excellent service in the administration. He was the architect of the first Five Year Plan of the country. He resigned from the post of Finance Minister owing to differences with Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru over the formation of Comprehensive Maharashtra (Sanyukta Maharashtra), inclusive of Mumbai.
Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, popularly known as Prabhodhankar Thackeray, was born in this district. A social reformer, journalist, powerful orator and a historian, he published three periodicals viz. Sarathi, Lokhitwadi and Prabhodhan. In fact, it was because of his periodicalPrabhodhan that he was known as Prabhodhankar.
Ganpat Krishnaji Patil, the first Marathi typesetter and publisher, was born in Thal village. He prepared ink devoid of animal fat and setup his printing press at Boribandar in Mumbai, thus laying foundation to the fine printing tradition in Maharashtra.
Mohan Dhariya, the former Vice President of the Planning Commission and former Minister in the Central Government, was born in the district. He completed his schooling in Mahad and is the founder of the environmental organization Vanrai.Education
The Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technical University was established in 1989 in Lonere at Mangaon taluka, which is the first university in Konkan belt as well as the State’s rural area. Ultramodern technical courses in fields such as petrochemicals, atomic power generation, etc. are available for study in this totally residential university, which is the only one of its kind in Maharashtra.
Ref : manase.org
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