Thana Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Thana Town
Head-quarters of Thana District, Bombay, and also of the Salsette taluka, situated in 19° 12' N. and 72° 59' E., on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, 21 miles north-east of Bombay city. Population (1901), 16,011. Thana is prettily situated on the west shore of the Salsette creek, in wooded country. The fort, the Portu- guese cathedral, a few carved and inscribed stones, and several reser- voirs, are now the only signs that Thana was once an important city. At the close of the thirteenth century the fortunes of Thana seem to have been at their highest. It was the capital of a great kingdom, with an independent ruler. It was celebrated for producing tanushi, a kind of striped cotton cloth, which is still known as Thana cloth. In 1318 Thana was conquered by Mubarak Khilji, and a Muhammadan governor was placed in charge. A few years later four Christian missionaries were murdered here by the new rulers. In 1529, terrified by the defeat of the Cambay fleet and the burning of the Bassein coast, ' the lord of the great city of Thana ' became tributary to the Portuguese. This submission did not save him in the war that followed. The city was thrice pillaged, twice by the Portuguese and once by the Gujaratis. It was then, under the treaty of December, 1533, made over to the Portuguese. Under Portuguese rule Thana entered on a fresh term of prosperity. In 1739, with the loss of Bassein, the Portuguese power in Thana came to an end. In 1771 the English, urged by the news that a fleet had left Portugal to recover Salsette and Bassein, determined to gain possession of Thana. Nego- tiations for its cession failing, a force was dispatched to take it by force. On December 28, 1774, the fort was stormed, and the greater part of the garrison put to the sword.
Thana has been a municipal town since 1863, with an average income during the decade ending 1901 of Rs. 37,000. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 38,000. The only public works of importance are the Pokarna water-works which supply the town. Thana being less than an hour's journey from Bombay, many Government officials and business men now reside there, visiting Bombay daily. The town contains the usual public offices, a Sub-Judge's court, a civil hospital, and a dis- pensary. The chief Portuguese building is the fort, now used as a jail. It was built in 1737. Besides the civil hospital and a dispensary, there is an asylum for lunatics in Navapada, about one mile from the railway station. The chief educational institutions are the Bairamji Jijibhoy High School opened in 1880, an English school for girls, and an English middle school for boys. The number of pupils at these in 1903-4 was 253, 79, and 69 respectively. The town also contains 4 vernacular schools for boys with 505 pupils, and 2 for girls with 185.
