The city lies in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, India, and is governed by Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC).

city of braves; Śūrpāraka) or Supparak of ancient India and was a busy trade centre and an important seat of Buddhism.

It was one of the administrative units under the Satavahanas and is mentioned in the inscriptions of Karle, Nashik, Naneghat and Kanheri.

In ancient times, it was the largest township on India's west coast, trading with Mesopotamia, Egypt, Cochin, Arabia and Eastern Africa.

The Mahabharata and the Puranas state that the Śūrpāraka was reclaimed from the sea for the dwelling place of Parashurama and it became a tirtha for this reason.

The Buddhist Suppara Jataka, believed to be of the 6th century BC, talks of Sopara as a prosperous port trading with ports of S.W.Asia, Gujarat, Malabar and Sri Lanka, its experts (navigation pilots- bodhisattvas), and the seas that they voyaged across.

[8] In April 1882, Bhagvanlal Indraji, a noted archaeologist, numismatist and epigraphist excavated at the Burud Rajache Kot mound in Merdes village, near Sopara.

From the center of the stupa (inside a brick-built chamber) a large stone coffer was excavated which contained eight bronze images of Maitreya Buddha which belong to the c. 8th-9th century CE.

The coins and the artifacts found during the excavations at the site of this ancient town can still be viewed in the Asiatic Society of Mumbai museum.

[citation needed] In an old Muslim graveyard near Ramkund, the fragments of 8th and 9th major rock edicts of Asoka were found.

These rock edicts can be viewed in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai.

[10] During an excavation in 1993, a ring well, fragments of Roman Amphorae Red Polished Ware and Glass (all belong to the early centuries of the Common Era) were found.

[citation needed][11] It seems that during the Early Historical period, Sopara was located on the mainland facing Agashi island on the north and Bassein to the south.

The area around Bhatela Pond is a landing place or bunder, where even remains of a Portuguese jetty and customs house are seen.

The evidence is further corroborated by a joint excavation in 1993 carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India and the British Academy, Hyderabad where antiquities of the Early Historical period (Satavahana and Kashatrapa period) – lead and copper coins, semi-precious stone beads, small fragments of Northern Black Polished Ware, amphorae pieces and Islamic Blue Glazed ware were discovered.

Further near-shore and off-shore marine archaeological exploration and excavation would be helpful to ascertain the extent of the ancient port city.

So father, son, brother, master, friend, acquaintance and neighbour should think,'This is virtuous, this is the ceremony I should practice, until my object is achieved.'"

[16] A Gujarati novel-based on historical events written by Zaverchand Meghani named Gujaratno Jay mentions that parents of famous Jain laymen Vastupal and Tejpal who constructed Dilwara Temples had stayed in Sopara for some period of time after running away from home.