Raigad District (Marathi: रायगड जिल्हा), is a district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is located in the Konkan region. The district was renamed after Raigad, the fort that was the former capital of the Maratha leader Shivaji Maharaj, and is located in the interior regions of the district, in dense forests on a west-facing spur of the Western Ghats of Sahyadri range. In 2011 the district had a population of 2,635,394, compared to 2,207,929 in 2001. In 2011 urban dwellers had increased to 36.91% from 24.22% in 2001.
The district is bounded by Mumbai Harbour to the northwest, Thane District to the north, Pune District to the east, Ratnagiri district to the south, and the Arabian Sea to the west. It includes the large natural harbor of Pen-Mandwa, which is immediately south of Mumbai harbour, and forming a single landform with it. The northern part of the district is included in the planned metropolis of Navi Mumbai, and its port, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port.
The district includes towns/cities of Mangaon, Roha, Panvel, Pen, Khopoli, Kharghar, Taloja, Khalapur, Uran, Patalganga, Rasayani, Nagothana, Poladpur, Alibag, Karjat and Mahad. The largest city both in area and population is Panvel. The district also includes the isle of Gharapuri or Elephanta, located in Uran which has ancient Hindu and Buddhist caves.
Raigad Distric Headquarters is Alibag
Alibag, ( मराठी : अलिबाग किंवा रामनाथ ) is a coastal town and a municipal council in Raigad District in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is also the headquarters of the Raigad district. The original name of this place was Ramnath which is just adjacent to main city Alibag.
Alibag is located about 30 km south of Mumbai, at 18°38′29″N 72°52′20″E. The average elevation is 0 metres (0 feet).
Alibag was developed in 17th Century by Sarkhel Kanhoji Aangre the naval chief of King Shivaji's Kingdom. Alibag is a costal town and municipal council in Raigad district in Kokan region of Maharashtra, India. It is the headquarter of the Raigad district. Raigad's first name was "Kulaba". Today's Ramnath was the main village at that time. A Bene Israelite named Ali used to live there at that time . He was a rich man and owned many plantations of mangoes, coconuts in his gardens. Hence the locals used to call the place "Alichi Bagh"(Marathi for "Gardens of Ali"), or simply "Alibagh", and the name stuck.
Just 3 kilometers away from Alibag on Alibag-Mumbai highway you will find one small village Khandale having population of around 5000 people,which is also heading Gram Panchayats. Khandale is surrounded by wonderful Shiva temples such as Sidheshwar, Kankeshwar. During Shrawan month the beauty on these hillocks is breathtaking and on each Shrawani Somwars thousands of Alibagkars visit this place for worship and enjoying nature beauty. Also on the same highway goddess Patrudevi Mandir is located in small Ghat calles Karle Khind. Khandale is also very famous for white onions, which are sold all over Maharashtra as "Khandale Kande". This unique breed of onions are having very rich contributions in Ayurvedik medicines and very useful during summer heat which is having unique sweeter taste. Rewdanda, Chaul, Nagon, Akshi, Varsoli,Thal, Kihim and Aawas villages were known as "Ashtagare" at that time. During those times there were some naval battles out of which one was fought at Varsoli between Kanhoji Aangre and Siddi of Janjira in the year 1706. In 1722 English and Portuguese jointly attacked on Kulaba fort and they lost this war. At Chaul there was a battle between the English and Sakhoji in 1730. Sakhoji won this war and brought down the losing party along with their captain at Kulaba. Kanhoji even issued his own currency in the form of a silver coin called the Alibagi rupaiya. Alibaug and its surrounding villages are the historic hinterland of Bene Israeli Jews. There is a synagogue in the "Israel Ali" (Marathi- इस्राएल आळी meaning Israel lane) area of the town.
Alibag also houses a Magnetic Observatory which was set up in 1904. It serves as one of the significant observatories forming part of a global network now run by Indian Institute of Geomagnetism.The observatory has two buildings; the first building has magnetometers that record changes occurring in the Geo magnetic fields. The second building consists of precision recording instruments, which give data about geomagnetic storms caused by solar storms which is shared with different countries.
After the British took over the old Colaba and this region, they established four Anglo – Vernacular medium school and 30 government schools in the year 1865–66.
In the year 1861 the first school for girls was started in Alibag.
The Mission Church started the first English school in Alibag in 1879.
J.S.M. College Alibag,formerly known as Topiwala Industrial High school was renamed General Arunkumar Vaidya High School after General Arunkumar Vaidya who studied there.
Other notable schools include R.C.F School and junior College,
Saint Mary's Convent School,
Chandrakant Hari Keluskar Homeopathic Medical College and
J. R. H. Kanyashala Alibag.
The Other notable school is in the village Khandale which is run by Konkan Education Society.
Tourism is the mainstay of the town's economy. Since the late 1990s the town and municipality have seen development of industrial sites. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) was the first industrial unit set up near Alibag. Other companies include Ispat industries Ltd (Mittal Group), Welspun Maxsteel Ltd (Welspun Group), Gas Authority Of India Limited (GAIL), HP LPG and Reliance Petrochemicals (RPCL) are also located near the town.
