Nagothane

History

In the beginning of the sixteenth century Nagothana belonged to Gujarat [De Barros, VII. 217, in Nairne's Konkan, 41.]. In 1529 Hector de Sylveira of Bassein went up the river Nagothana, and burnt six towns belonging to the king of Cambay. The Commander of Nagothana took the field against him with five hundred horse and a large force of infantry, and endeavoured to cut off his retreat [Faria in Kerr, VI. 210.]. In 1540 Dom Joao De Castro mentions the Nagothana river as running into the south of Bombay harbour [Dom Joao De Castro, Prim. Rot. 63.]. On the defeat of the prince of Gujarat by the Portuguese, the neighbourhood of Nagothana seems to have passed from Gujarat to Ahmadnagar, the allies of the Portuguese, with whom it remained till in 1636. The Moghals handed the Ahmadnagar Konkan to Bijapur. About ten years later is passed to Shivaji. It was the also one of the center to produce currency which was used in the era of Shivaji. In 1670 Nagothana is mentioned by Ogilby as a town and landing-place at the extreme south of Gujarat [Atlas, V. 243–244, Ogilby compiled from earlier writers.], and in 1675 it appears in Fryer as Magatan [New Account, 50, 61, 77.]. It is called Negotan [Aitchison's Treaties, V. 15.] in a treaty between the English and the Pesva in 1739, and is probably the Nagina of Tiffenthaler with 249 villages and a revenue of Rs. 17,726 a year [Des. Hist. Et. Gog. I. 505.]. In 1818 it is described as less prosperous than Pen, because the river was longer and shallower and there were no salt-works [Revenue Diary 142, p. 2370.].

Geography

Nagothana is located at . It has an average elevation of 12 metres (39 feet). This village is prettily situated in a hollow surrounded by wooded hills, on the right bank of the Amba river or Nagothana creek about twenty-four miles from its mouth. Between Nagothana and the mouth of the Amba, the creek varies from an eighth to three quarters of a mile in breadth. Above Dharamtar the bed is blocked with sand banks, and, within four miles of Nagothana, it is crossed by reefs of rock which can be passed only at full tide. The creek is so filled up with sand that it is not navigable even for country craft. Steamers cross daily from Mumbai to Dharamtar. From Dharamtar a steam launch plied to Nagothana till 1914-15, but it was discontinued with the growth in automobiles. The vessels chiefly employed on the creek are phatemaris and macvas, with an occasional bandar-boat used by travellers between Mumbai and Mahabaleshwar. Phatemaris are mostly used for carrying rice and salt; and macvas for rice and firewood. In the fair season, there is a considerable traffic at Nagothana, chiefly the export of rice and the import of salt and fish. Here it's usually hot and humid in the summers and it experiences very heavy rainfall with thunderstorms during the monsoon season amounting up to 90 inches of rainfall per year. Besides it is an industrial area with companies of petrochemical, steel industries amounting employment opportunities to a great extent. It is situated about 100 km away from Mumbai and is on the Mumbai-Goa national highway 17. To the east of this town are the parts of Sahyadris which add to the beauty of the town.

Most-observed species

• Red-whiskered Bulbul

  Pycnonotus jocosus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  227
• White-throated Kingfisher

  Halcyon smyrnensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  212
• Spotted Dove

  Spilopelia chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  209
• Red-vented Bulbul

  Pycnonotus cafer (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  197
• Green Bee-eater

  Merops orientalis Latham, 1801 · Aves
  193
• Purple-rumped Sunbird

  Leptocoma zeylonica (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  186
• Red-wattled Lapwing

  Vanellus indicus (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  180
• Coppersmith Barbet

  Psilopogon haemacephalus (P.L.S.Müller, 1776) · Aves
  180