Ratlam (yellow) and Sailana (green) States held major parts of present day Ratlam district.
Ratlam District was created after Indian independence in 1947, primarily out of the territories of the princely states of Ratlam State and Sailana State, the rulers of Ratlam and Sailana were descendants of Maharaja Ratan Singh Rathore. Other states included Jaora State which was created by the British in 1818 and Piploda State which was a tributary of Jaora but later became a small non-gunsalute state. Ratlam District was part of the new state of Madhya Bharat. The major stop for tourism in Ratlam district is the town of Sailana which is known for its cactus garden, Palace, Kharmor Bird Sanctuary and the cave temples of Kedareshwar. Ratlam city is known for Garadu (fried Yam), Sev and Gold. Ratlam also has a DRM office of Railway.[1]
According to the 2011 census Ratlam District has a population of 1,455,069 [5] roughly equal to the nation of Eswatini[6] or the US state of Hawaii.[7] This gives it a ranking of 342nd in India (out of a total of 640).[5] The district has a population density of 299 inhabitants per square kilometre (770/sq mi) .[5] Its population growth rate over the decade of 2001-2011 was 19.67%.[5] Ratlam has a sex ratio of 973 females for every 1,000 males,[5] and a literacy rate of 68.03%. 29.90% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Tribes made up 13.65% and 28.16% of the population respectively.[5]
