Context: Maharashtra Education Minister told the Legislative Council that he has sought a proposal from the district administration to rename the Western Maharashtra city of Ahmednagar as ‘Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Nagar’, after the 18th century Malwa queen, Ahilyabai Holkar.
About Ahilyabai Holkar:
She was born in Chondi village of Ahmednagar to the village head Mankoji Shinde, 1725,
Ahilyabai took control of Malwa after her husband’s death in the Battle of Kumbher against the king of Bharatpur in 1754.
During her reign, Malwa was never once attacked.
It adds that under Holkar, the city of Maheshwar became a literary, musical, artistic and industrial centre, and she helped establish a textile industry there, which is now home to the famous Maheshwari saris.
Restoration of Hindu temples:
In 1780, she had the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi rebuilt, nearly a century after Mughal king Aurangzeb ordered its destruction.
Somnath temple was built by Holkar in 1783.
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.
About Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah:
In 1486, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah became the Bahmani Sultanate’s Prime Minister.
He defeated the army of the Bahamani kingdom near Ahmednagar in May 1490.
In 1494 he laid the foundation of a city close to where he defeated the army, on the left bank of Sina river, and named it after himself it as Ahmednagar.
Ahmednagar lies in the Western region of Maharashtra.
The Rashtrakuta Dynasty, the Western Chalukyas, and then the Delhi Sultanate ruled over the region in the Medieval period.
In the case of Delhi Sultanate, 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.
After some time, Ahmednagar (then known as Nizamshahi) became one of the five independent kingdoms to emerge from that empire.
