Ratnagiri, Port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Maharashtra, India
Ratnagiri is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The town spreads along the mouth of the Kajali River, surrounded by green hills and valleys that rise toward the Sahyadri mountain range.
The Bijapur rulers governed the town until 1731, when the kings of Satara took control. The British incorporated the area into their administration in 1818 and used it as a coastal administrative seat.
Fishermen bring their catch ashore each morning and sell it at small markets where locals look for the best sardines and mackerel. In the villages around the city, farming families harvest rice twice a year and tend coconut palms that grow in almost every yard.
National Highway 66 runs through the area and links it to larger cities along the western coast. The Konkan Railway stops here and offers connections north and south, while regional buses travel to surrounding towns.
A two-story building on the edge of town housed the last king of Burma during his exile, which lasted more than two decades. His family lived there in relative seclusion, surrounded by gardens and guards, until his death in 1916.
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