Ahilyabai Holkar
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A backgrounder
June 1, 2023: The Indian Express
Jawaharlal Nehru described Holkar’s rule as “almost legendary as a period during which perfect order and good government prevailed and the people prospered. She was a very able ruler and organizer, highly respected during her lifetime.”
Marking the 298th birth anniversary of Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar on Wednesday (May 31), Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that his government would rename Ahmednagar after her. The Western Maharashtrian city will now be known as Ahilyanagar.
“The government has decided to name Ahmednagar district after Punyashlok Ahilya Devi Holkar. Our government is fortunate to have taken this decision. Ahilya Devi’s work was as big and great as the Himalayan mountains. Giving her name will increase the honour of this district,” Shinde told the media. Earlier in December 2022, Maharashtra Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar had informed the state Legislative Council that he was in conversation with the district administration to rename the city as ‘Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Nagar’.
How did the city of Ahmednagar first get its name?
Located in the Western region of Maharashtra, Ahmednagar has been a part of some prominent kingdoms, starting from 240 BC, “when the vicinity is mentioned in the reference to the Mauryan Emperor Ashok”, as per the district’s official website.
In the Medieval period, the region was ruled over by the Rashtrakuta Dynasty, the Western Chalukyas, and then the Delhi Sultanate. In the last case, the rule was not direct, and a revolt by Afghan soldier Alladin Hasan Gangu led to the establishment of the Bahmani kingdom in the Deccan. In the following years, Ahmednagar, then known as Nizamshahi, became one of the five independent kingdoms to emerge from that empire.
In 1486, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah assumed the position of the Bahmani Sultanate’s prime minister. He successfully defeated the king of the Bahmani kingdom, who tried to dislodge him from power, in 1490. Four years later, he laid the foundation of a city close to where he had defeated the army, on the left bank of Sina river. This city was named after him: Ahmednagar.
Nizam Shah also later captured the fort of Daulatabad and stationed his army there. “By his kindness, peaceful demeanour & efficiency, he could win the loyalty of the local and foreign Muslims and also of the Maratha peasants and worriers. Since his origin was Hindu, he found no difficulty in winning over the confidence of Brahmins, who were highly regarded by the Hindus,” says the website.
Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book A Discovery of India (1946), wrote of him, “Ahmad Nizam Shah, the founder of Ahmadnagar in 1490, was the son of Nizam-ul-Mulk Bhairi, a minister of the Bahmani kings. This Nizam-ul-Mulk was the son of a Brahmin accountant named Bhairu…Thus the Ahmednagar dynasty was of indigenous origin.”
And who was Ahilyabai Holkar?
Ahilyabai was born in Chondi village of Ahmednagar to the village head Mankoji Shinde, who ensured that his daughter received an education, which was quite rare at that time. It is believed that Malhar Rao Holkar, the army commander to Peshwa Bajirao, spotted eight-year-old Ahilyabai at a temple service in Chondi. Impressed by her devotion and character, he decided to get his son, Khande Rao, married to her.
After her husband’s death in the Battle of Kumbher against the king of Bharatpur in 1754, Ahilyabai took control of Malwa. She excelled at administrative and military strategies under the guidance of her father-in-law, who believed she should lead her people, and not die by Sati after Khande Rao passed away. After the death of her father-in-law and son a few years later, she petitioned the Peshwa to become the ruler, backed by the support of her army.
Role in administration and temple-building
In his book, Nehru said Holkar’s rule, which lasted for thirty years (1765-1795), was “almost legendary as a period during which perfect order and good government prevailed and the people prospered. She was a very able ruler and organizer, highly respected during her lifetime.”
Notably, her role in the restoration of Hindu temples is often talked about.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Samudra Darshan Path and the Somnath Exhibition Gallery — they showcase ruins of ancient Somnath, the temple built by Holkar in 1783 — in 2021, he mentioned, “When anyone in the world looks at this grand structure today, he doesn’t merely see a temple. He sees an existence which, for hundreds, thousands of years, has been inspiring, expounding human values; a place which was called by our seers the place of light, meaning knowledge, thousands of years ago; and a place that even today is proclaiming to the world that truth can’t be defeated by untruth, that faith can’t be trampled over by terror.”
