Ratlam

Ratlam State

Ratlam State was founded in 1652 by a great-grandson of Raja Udai Singh of Jodhpur, namely Raja Ratan Singhji, son of Mahesh Das of Jalor. The latter, father, and son, had performed important military services for the Emperor Shah Jahan by defeating the Persians and Uzbeks in Afghanistan. In reward for their services and in recognition of their great deeds of valour, large territories in the south-western districts of Rajputana and northern Malwa were conferred on them. Their capital became Rattram named after Raj Ratan Singh and his first son Ram Singh as "Ratram", which later got translated to Ratlam.

Maharaja Ratan Singh 1652/1658, courageous in youth, he gained Padshah Shah Jahans notice by calming the Emperors favourite elephant which had run amok in the Agra Palace Garden, fought for the Emperor against the Persians in Kabul and Qandahar, later in 1652, the Emperor substituted Jalore for the pargana of Ratlam and many other areas, and he became the first Raja of Ratlam, in 1658 a false rumour of the death of the Emperor resulted in a frenzied scramble for succession to the throne amongst his sons. Dara Shikoh who was officiating for his father, sent a combined army of Rajputs and Muslims under the command of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur, against his brother Aurangzeb. The Maharaja, as head of the Rathore clan, was persuaded to hand over command of the Imperial army to Maharaja Ratan Singh. Non-co-operation by the Muslim commanders resulted in the army sustaining heavy losses in the fierce battle at Dharmat, as well as the death of Ratan Singh (said to have sustained 80 sword wounds on his body), he married (amongst others), Maharani Sukhroopde Kanwar Shekhawat Ji Sahiba, daughter of Kunwar Purshottam Das of Jhajhar [Shekhawati], and had issue. He died in 1658 in battle at Dharmat near Ujjain.

Padam Singh of Ratlam

Ratlam was one of the first commercial cities established in Central India. The city quickly became known for trading in opium, tobacco, and salt, as well as for its bargains called "Sattas". Before the opening of the Rajputana State Railway to Khandwa in 1872, there was no better place to trade than in Ratlam.

The city is known for its love of food, its taste particularly the world popular salty snack 'Ratlami Sev'. The purity of Gold Jewellery and Saree Market of Ratlam outshines in India.

Ratlam was part of the Malwa Agency of Central India during the British Raj. The state's capital was Ratlam town in modern Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh. Ratlam was originally a huge state, but the then ruler Ratan Singh opposed Aurangzeb in the Battle of Dharmatpur and was killed after a brave fight. The state was then reduced and the title of Maharaja has eventually stripped away; the title was later restored by the British during Maharaja Sajjan Singh's rule. On 5 January 1819 Ratlam State became a British protectorate

The state had an area of 902 sq mi, which was closely interlaced with the territories of the princely state of Sailana. In 1901, Ratlam State had a population of 83,773,[5] with the city population of 36,321. The state had an estimated revenue of £34,000 and paid a £2,850 tribute.

Ratlam is located at coordinates: 23°19′0″N 75°04′0″E (23.316667, 75.066667). The city has an area of 22.0 square miles (50.0 km²). It is very close to the borders of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Ratlam, like most of Madhya Pradesh, has humid subtropical climate (Cfa) zone. Three distinct seasons are observed: summer, monsoon and winter. Summers start in mid-March and can be extremely hot from April through June. Highs can reach 112 °F (44 °C), although the humidity is extremely low. The monsoon season starts in late June, with temperatures averaging around 100 °F (38 °C), with sustained, torrential rainfall and high humidity. The average rain fall is 37 inches (937 mm). Winters start in mid-November and are dry, cool and sunny. Temperatures average about 39–46 °F (4–8 °C), but can fall close to freezing on some nights.[6] Ratlam gets moderate rainfall of 35 to 38 inches (890 to 970 mm) from July through September, due to the southwest monsoon.

According to the 2011 Census, the city of Ratlam has a population of 264,914 of which 134,915 are male and 129,999 are female. The sex ratio is 964 females to 1000 males. Children between the 0 to 6 years of age constitute 29,763 individuals. The total number of literates in Ratlam was 204,101, which constituted 77.0% of the population with male literacy of 81.2% and female literacy of 72.8%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Ratlam was 86.8%, of which male literacy rate was 91.7% and female literacy rate was 81.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 27,124 and 12,567 respectively. The total number of households in Ratlam is 53133.[1]

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