Ratlam

Ratlam State was founded in 1648 when Ratan Singh Rathore at the age of 23, armed only with a dagger, boldly attacked a mad elephant rampaging in the streets of Delhi. An impressed Shah Jahan, the Mughal builder of the Taj Mahal, inducted him into the mansabdari (impe-rial administrative system), where the Rathore Rajput served with distinction. In 1648 Ratan Singh received a jagir in Malwa, a mansab rank of 3000, the emblem of the Mahi Maratib (Order of Fish), and settled in Ratlam village as his capital.^[7]

The new town of Ratlam was founded in 1829 by Captain Borthwick.^[8]

The state was closely interlaced with the territories of the princely state of Sailana. In 1901, Ratlam State had a population of 83,773,^[9]

Ratlam is located at coordinates: 23°19′0″N 75°04′0″E (23.316667, 75.066667). The city has an area of 39 km² (15 sq mi).^[1] It is very close to the borders of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Ratlam, like most of Madhya Pradesh, has tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw) bordering humid subtropical climate (Cwa) 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 in (940 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.^[10] 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.^[2] 28.17% Scheduled Tribe (Adivasi) of total population in Ratlam district. Adivasi group of Ratlam ^[15]

Ratlam Junction is a major junction on Delhi-Mumbai and Ajmer-Khandwa Rail routes and rail division of Indian Railways on broad gauge lines on Western Railways Zone. Ratlam junction is Divisional headquarters of Western Railway Zone.^[16]

Ratlam is the first clean train station of Indian Railways network. Under this scheme, Indian Railways has introduced cleaning of coaches of a train en route while it halts at a particular station for 15 to 20 minutes. The entire train is cleaned with vacuum cleaners and toilets are washed with handheld portable HP cleaners.^[17]

Ratlam station is believed to be one of the busiest railway stations in India.^[18]

Ratlam Junction is referred to in the 2007 Hindi romantic comedy film Jab We Met.^[19]