Marking the 298th birth anniversary of Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar, Maharashtra Chief Minister announced to rename Ahmednagar after her as Ahilyanagar.
Key details:
- Located in the Western region of Maharashtra, Ahmednagar has been a part of some prominent kingdoms, starting from 240 BC.
- In the Medieval period, the region was ruled over by the Rashtrakuta Dynasty, the Western Chalukyas, and then the Delhi Sultanate.
- 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.Â
- This city was named after him: Ahmednagar.
Ahilyabai Holkar
- Ahilyabai was born in Chondi village of Ahmednagar to the village head Mankoji Shinde.
- After her husband’s death (Khande Rao Holkar) in the Battle of Kumbher against the king of Bharatpur in 1754, Ahilyabai took control of Malwa.
- In 1780, she had the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi rebuilt, nearly a century after Mughal king Aurangzeb ordered its destruction.
- Apart from holy sites like Badrinath, Dwarka, Omkareshwari, Gaya, and Rameswaram, Holkar also supported the construction of resting lodges for travellers, and of public ghats.