Kagal is a town in

Kolhapur district Kolhapur district (Marathi pronunciation: olʱaːpuɾ is a district in the Maharashtra state of India. The city of Kolhapur is its district headquarter. It is situated near Panchaganga river. It is bordered by the Sangli district to the Nor ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of Maharashtra.

History

During the rule of the

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

s and

British raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

, the town was the seat of a noble Ghatge

family who were among the most important in princely state of

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is ...

. Sultan Mahmud Padshah, the Muslim ruler of Bijapur, rewarded in 1572 the Kagal dynasty founder Piraji Raje, the descendant of Kamraja Suryavanshi, the progenitor of Ghatge family known as ''Zunzar Rao'' (Valiant Fighter), with the title Sarjerao and the Kagal pargana, then consisting of 69 and a 1/2 villages, as a Jagir (vassal estate) within the princely state of

(later a salute state). The name of his dynastic line came corrupted to Ghatge 'Jump ahead'. During incessant 19th century warfare and depredations, some of the villages were lost, reducing their number to 41, covering 298 km2, as guaranteed by article 3 of the Treaty entered into by the Maharaja of Kolhapur with the British Government in 1826.

Geography

Kagal is a

taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

in Kolhapur district. It is located at the boundary of Maharashtra and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. The Chhatrapati Shahu Sahakari Sakar Karkhana is located here. The Dudhganga river passes through Kagal. Kagal is located at . It has an average elevation of 553 metres (1814 feet).

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, Kagal had a population of 23,775. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Kagal has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 64%. In Kagal, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age. Marathi is the predominant native language here, it is widely spoken.

Notable people

Shahu of Kolhapur Shahu (also known as Chhatrapati Rajarshi Shahu, Shahu IV, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, Kolhapur's Shahu) (26 June 1874 – 6 May 1922) of the Bhonsle dynasty of Marathas was a Raja (reign. 1894 – 1900) and the first Maharaja (1900–1922) of ...

, also known as Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. *

Anand Yadav Anand Ratan Yadav ( Marathi: आनंद रतन यादव; 30 November 1935 – 27 November 2016) was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India. He is best known for his autobiography ''Zombi'' (झोंबी). He was born on 30 Novembe ...

, a Sahitya Academy Award winner was born in this city. *

Gopal Krishna Gokhale Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( �ɡoːpaːl ˈkrɪʂɳə ˈɡoːkʰleː9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was an Indian 'moderate' political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement. Gokhale was a senior leader of the India ...

, did his primary education at Kagal. *

Hasan Mushrif Hasan Mushrif is an Indian politician. He is leader of the Nationalist Congress Party and a rural development and labour minister in the Government of Maharashtra. He is a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Kolhapur's Kagal ...

, is a leader of the

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party ...

and a former minister in the government of Maharashtra. He is member of the

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha or the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated in the Nariman Point area of South Mumbai in the capital Mumbai. Presently, 288 me ...

from Kolhapur’s Kagal Assembly seat. *

Yuvraj Akhileshraje Ghatge Of Kagal Junior Yuv(a)raj(a) (Sanskrit: युवराज) is an Indian title for the crown prince, and the heir apparent to the throne of an Indian (notably Hindu) kingdom or (notably in the Mughal Empire or British Raj) princely state. It is usually applied t ...

The Kagal-Hatkanangale industrial area

The Kagal-Hatkanangale industrial area is situated 12 km from Kolhapur city and the airport. The nearest railway station is at Kolhapur 13 km away from the industrial area. The industrial area is located 3 km from the National Highway 4 (Mumbai-Bangalore). The Karnataka State boundary is just 3 km from this estate and Belagavi, a city just 70 km from the estate. Nearest airport is Kolhapur (12 km) Ratnagiri port is 110 km and Panaji (Goa)and Dabolim airport 210 km. Two other major cities Pune and Mumbai are accessed via the National Highway and railways. The other major industrial areas, Shiroli, Udyamnagar in Kolhapur and Gokul-shirgaon, are just 12 km, 15 km and 5 km from this area. 5-star MIDC is the main industry and other big companies are arriving.

References