Thane

About Thane

Thane is a city in western India, in the state of Maharashtra. It neighbours Mumbai and is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. It is situated in the north-east of Salsette Island.

Thane serves as the headquarters of the Thane district and is located inside Thane taluka. It is the 15th most populous city in India, with a population of 1,890,000 according to the 2011 census.

The ancient name of Thana was Śrīsthāna. It appears as Thāna in early medieval Arab sources.

The name Thane has been variously romanised as Tana, Thana, Thâṇâ, and Thame. Ibn Battuta and Abulfeda knew it as Kukin Tana, while Duarte Barbosa knew it as Tana Mayambu. Before 1996, the city was called Thana, the British spelling of the city.

Thane emerged as an urban area during the reign of the Shilahara dynasty, which ruled north Konkan during 800-1265 CE. It was variously known as Srī-sthānaka, Sthānaka, or Srī-sthāna. The 1053 CE Chinchani inscription of Vija-ranaka of the Modha family states that brahmanas from Srī-sthāna settled at Samyana in his territory. A 1094 CE Shilahara inscription refers to Srī-sthānaka as a...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.