THANE, Maharashtra

Main Attraction: Thane, Lake City

Thane is known as the Lake City because of the umpteen lakes found there. Thane was the terminus of the first railway in India built from Mumbai in 1853 and was an important Portuguese trading center until the Marathas captured it in 1739. This city of lakes has many lakes and the some of them are Masunda Talao, Upvan Lake, Kacharali Talao, Makhamali Talao, Siddheshwar Talao, Bramhala Talao, Ghosale Talao, Railadevi Talao etc.

Brief History:

The documentary evidences available reveal that ‘Thane’ was formerly known and named as “Shreesthanak”. Thane is renowned historically for its great culture and rich heritage. In ancient times, Thane was an excellent port and commercial centre. From pre-historic times, Thane coast had relations with Egypt, Phoenicia, Babylon, Greece, Perthia and Persia. As far back as record remains for courage and enterprise, as traders, settlers and travellers both by land and sea, the Hindus held a high place among the dwellers on the shores of the Indian Ocean. The fact noticed by several Arab writers of the 9 th and 10 th centuries reveal that as is still the case in Mumbai, the trade tongue of the Thane part was Gujrathi.

An inscription of a Minister of his queen recording the gift of a cistern near a cave at Kanheri has been discovered, which shows that King Rudraman ruled North Konkan i.e. Thane and Colaba during 2nd century A.D. A passage in the Mahabharata describes ‘Arjun’ stopping at the most holy ‘Shurparak’ on his way to Somnath came across a place full of Brahmin temples, apparently at or near the Kanheri caves in Thane District. Formerly in Thane district there were five groups of caves in the small island of Sashti viz. at Kanheri, Kandivte, Jogeshwari, Mandapeshwar and Magathan.

The carving of Ashoka’s edict (BC 225) remains the earliest known fact in the history of Thane. The merchants who carried on Thane trade were local Hindus, Musalman and Parsi traders and not only inland trade but also the rich products were imported via Thane port. During the reign of the great Maushervan (531-578) when the Persians were the rulers of the commerce of the Eastern seas, the relations between western India and Persia were extremely close. The shilaharas ruled over North Konkan for more than 400 years. They gave liberal patronage to art and literature. The temples at Ambernath, Pelar and Walkeshwar, which are still extant; testify to the architectural and sculptural skill of the age. After the shilaharas, North Konkan saw the advent of Yadava rule crumbled after a heroic resistance by Harpaldev under Mahammedan rule.

Early in the fourteenth century the Turk rulers of Delhi forced their ways into Thane from two sides. From the North Alpkhan (1300-1318), who established the power of Ala-ud-din Khilji (1297-1317) in Gujarat, came south as far as Sanjan or Thana, then a place of wealth and trade, and after a sturdy and at first successful resistance, defeated the Chief of Sanjan and his war-like subjects, the Parsis. The Musalmans ruled during the period (1300-1500), A.D. After them came the Portuguese traders who rounded the Cape Hope and appeared on the Kalikat Coast in the 16th Century. Their object was to treat all Indians as friends and all Indian rulers as alias. Their only trade rivals were the Moors of Mecca, the Arabs and the Egyptians. The Portuguese were faithful allies never attacking others, except on occasions in self-defence. The 16th Century saw the advent and rise of Portuguese defeated Shivaji at sea. But he came perilously near them on land taking several ports in the North-East of Thane and attacking Ghod – Bunder in Salsette. The Marathas continued to rule the district till 1817 i.e., when the struggle between the British and the Peshwas came to an end and the power was transferred to the British.

Thane district of today formed a part of North Konkan district till 1817. It was the district Headquarters from olden times. Its boundaries have undergone numerous changes; some parts of South Konkan district were merged with North Konkan in 1830 and 1833. The expanded North Konkan district was renamed as “Thane’ district in 1833. On 16th April 1853, first railway line was opened for traffic from Bombay to Thane. The opening of this railway line is one of the most important landmarks in the economic development not only of the Bombay-Thane region but also of the outlying areas and hinterland. The British Government neither encouraged nor discouraged, the creation of local self-governing institutions like municipalities for which a demand was made by the local citizens. Thane district had its first municipality at Kalyan followed by Thane and Bhiwandi. The district was at par with other places in the country in social and cultural fields. The famous Marathi GranthaSangrahalaya was established in Thane in 1894, which is devoted to the collection of valuable books in Marathi language. In 1960, the bilingual State of Bombay was bifurcated and the present State of Maharashtra came into existence.

In 1969, the tahsil of Kalyan was bifurcated into Kalyan and Ulhasnagar and since then the district has experienced no jurisdictional changes. The Census town of New Mumbai (Thane) was added in 1982 in order to decongest Greater Mumbai by shifting population and office complexes to New Mumbai. Two new municipal corporations Thane and Kalyan were added after 1981, increasing the number of Corporations in the State from 5 in 1981 to 11 in 1991. The number of corporations again increased to 15 in 2001 Census. The 4 corporations added are Navi-Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad and Nanded-Waghela. Within the district, with the addition and deletion of villages and towns in municipalities and municipal corporations, the number of villages has increased from 1,697 in 1991 to 1,748 in 2001. The number of towns has also increased from 23 in 1991 to 37 in 2001 and also tahsils from 13 to 15 (Vikramgad and Ambarnath are new tahsils). At present, Thane district has 51 towns and 1721 villages (including 17 uninhabited villages) distributed among the 15 tahsils.