Dharampur

Dharampur stands in the wooded hill country of southern Gujarat, inland from the coast. It became the capital of a small state formerly known as Ramnagar, whose ruling family traced its origin to a Rajput chief called Ram Raja. Their territory included forts and villages between the coastal plain and the hills. The seat of the chiefs moved several times before Raja Dharamdevji transferred it to the settlement then called Modyegan in 1766 and gave it the name Dharampur.

In 1576 the chief of Ramnagar met the Mughal official Todar Mal and agreed to provide cavalry to the governor of Gujarat. A century later Shivaji took Ramnagar fort during his campaigns near Surat. The small state survived the changing balance of regional power, though records of its earlier history were lost in a fire in 1785. In 1802 Dharampur entered a subsidiary relationship with the British, while its rulers retained their local seat.