Ratlam is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state of India.

The latter, father, and son, had performed important military services for the Emperor Shah Jahan by defeating the Persians and Uzbeks in Afghanistan.

In reward for their services and in recognition of their great deeds of valour, large territories in the south-western districts of Rajputana and northern Malwa were conferred on them.

Maharaja Ratan Singh Rathore 1652/1658, courageous in youth, he gained Shah Jahan's notice by calming the Emperors favourite elephant which had run amok in the Agra Palace Garden, fought for the Emperor against the Persians in Kabul and Qandahar, later in 1652, the Emperor substituted Jalore for the pargana of Ratlam and many other areas, and he became the first Raja of Ratlam his advisor was jasraj bahratt and chief commander was Parshurama ojha of Shrimali Brahmins.

[9] In 1658 a false rumour of the death of the Emperor resulted in a frenzied scramble for succession to the throne amongst his sons.

Dara Shikoh who was officiating for his father, sent a combined army of Rajputs and Muslims under the command of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur, against his brother Aurangzeb.

Ratan Singh had married (among others), Maharani Sukhroopde Kanwar Shekhawat Ji Sahiba, daughter of Kunwar Purshottam Das of Jhajhar [Shekhawati], and had an issue.

The city quickly became known for trading in opium, tobacco, and salt, as well as for its bargains called "Sattas".

Ratlam was originally a huge state, but the then ruler Ratan Singh opposed Aurangzeb in the Battle of Dharmatpur and was killed after a brave fight.

The monsoon season starts in late June, with temperatures averaging around 100 °F (38 °C), with sustained, torrential rainfall and high humidity.

[13] Ratlam gets moderate rainfall of 35 to 38 inches (890 to 970 mm) from July through September, due to the southwest monsoon.

Adivasi group of Ratlam [18] Ratlam Junction is a major junction on Delhi-Mumbai and Ajmer-Khandwa Rail routes and rail division of Indian Railways on broad gauge lines on Western Railways Zone.

[23] There are four major railway tracks passing through Ratlam City, leading to Mumbai, Delhi, Ajmer and Khandwa.

All the major superfast trains like Rajdhani, Garib Rath have their staff changing stoppage at Ratlam Junction.

Under this scheme, Indian Railways has introduced cleaning of coaches of a train en route while it halts at a particular station for 15 to 20 minutes.

[25] Ratlam Junction is referred in 2007 Hindi romantic comedy film Jab We Met.

[26] though the shooting had not happened actually in Ratlam and the places and locations mentioned in the film do not exist in the city[citation needed].

The city has regular bus services to Udaipur, Banswara, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Indore, Bhopal, Dhar, Ujjain, Nagda, Petlawad, Jhabua etc.

Ratlam has several industries which manufacture copper wire, plastic ropes, chemicals and oxygen, among other products.

Public listed companies like Dp wires, Dp abhushan ltd katria wire ltd Kataria plastics pvt IPCA laboratory pvt ets manufacturing unit of Ambi wines is also situated in Ratlam The major crops grown in the district include Soybean, Wheat, Maize, Gram, Cotton, Garlic, Onion, Peas, Guava, Pomegranate, Grapes & Opium in the region of Jaora Tehsil of Ratlam.