Ahmednagar
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A 1908 mention
This entry has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Ahmednagar, 1908
District taluka, and city, in Bombay. See
Renaming as Ahilyanagar
The pros and cons
Manu S Pillai, March 17, 2024: The Times of India
Ahmednagar To Ahilyanagar: The Return Of The Native?
This renaming is particularly unconvincing. Because the Nizam Shahs’ connection to the city was longer, richer, and more meaningful. Ahilyabai left Maharashtra aged eight
Ahilyabai Holkar (1725-95) was a woman of high accomplishments. On the one hand were her religious charities: feeding houses, riverside ghats, and temple reconstruction, most famously of Kashi Vishwanath, demolished by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1669. But she was also capable of good governance. A British official – who had no special incentive to flatter “native” figures – would describe her as “one of the purest and most exemplary rulers that ever existed”.
She showed much personal fortitude too. Widowed before 30, Ahilyabai watched her son go insane and her daughter commit sati. As a woman in a world of men, she forcefully asserted her right to administer the Holkar dynasty’s lands herself. Remembered as part-queen, part-saint ever since, there’s no doubt that Ahilyabai is a historical figure of importance.
Earlier this week, Maharashtra govt decided to honour the queen by renaming the city of Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar. On the face of it, this is somewhat odd. The rani left Maharashtra aged eight, and her career was largely spent in today’s MP. She was born in Ahmednagar district, yes, but at Chondi, almost 100km outside the city that now bears her name.
As such, the Holkar dowager had little to do with Ahmednagar. So, we are left with another explanation. Ahilyabai belonged to dhangar caste…
Ahmednagar. The city never bore the name of a conqueror or invader. It was founded by the first Nizam Shahi sultan, who was of wholly local Deccani descent. Ahmed I’s family were in fact Brahmins who converted to Islam. In 1518, the Nizam Shahs even went to war against another sultanate to reclaim their ancestral village and present it to their Brahmin relations.
The Nizam Shahs’ connection to Ahmednagar was longer, richer, and more meaningful than Ahilyabai’s, who happened to be born in the general vicinity. The writer is a historian.
