Ahilyabai Holkar Biography Life Education History
Ahilyabai Holkar Biography – Ahilyabai Holkar (1725-1795) was the Queen of the Kingdom of Malwa. She was born in the village of Chondi in Maharashtra, India, on 31st May 1725 and later came to be known as Rajmata Ahilyadevi Holkar. She was the daughter of Mankoji Shinde, a Dhangar community member who served as the village’s patil.
Her father educated her and she grew up in a humble and religious family until one day her destiny changed forever, and she got married in the Malwa kingdom in the 18th century.
Ahilyabai Holkar Biography – Early life
Ahilyabai was born on 31st May, 1725, in the village of Chaundi in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district. Mankoji Rao Shinde, her father, was the village Patil. Although women were not allowed to attend school at the time, Ahilyabai‘s father taught her to read and write.
Malhar Rao Holkar, a general in the service of the Maratha Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao and Malwa king, stopped at Chaundi on his route to Pune and spotted the eight-year-old Ahilyabai at the village temple. He took the girl to the Holkar region as the wife for his son, Khanderao (1723–1754), after recognizing her intelligence and integrity.
In 1733, she married Khanderao Holkar. She gave birth to a son Malerao in 1745 and a daughter Muktabai in 1748. Malerao was mentally ill and died in 1767 as a result of his disease. Later, Ahilyabai broke another custom by marrying her daughter to Yashwantrao, a courageous but poor man.
Ahilyabai Holkar Biography – Ruler
In 1754, Ahilyadevi‘s husband was killed in combat. Malhar Rao Holkar, her father-in-law, died twelve years later. She ruled Malwa from 1766 until her death in 1795, having been taught by Malhar Rao in both administrative and military concerns. Malhar Rao’s letter to her in 1765 demonstrates his faith in her ability during the turbulent war for power in the eighteenth century.
After Malhar’s death, as well as the death of her son, Ahilyadevi petitioned the Peshwa to take over the administration herself. Some in Malwa were opposed to her taking power, but the army of Holkar was ecstatic at the possibility of her leadership.
The Peshwa granted permission, and she proceeded to administer Malwa in a most enlightened manner, even restoring a Brahmin who had opposed her, with Tukoji Holkar (Malhar Rao’s adoptive son) as the head of military affairs. Ahilyadevi never followed purdah, but she did hold a daily public audience and was always willing to listen to anyone who needed it.
Ahilyabai Holkar Biography – Achievements
Ahilyadevi‘s accomplishments include the transformation of Indore from a small village to an affluent and attractive metropolis. She established Maheshwar, a settlement on the Narmada River’s banks, as her own capital. Ahilyadevi was a patron of several Hindu temples and erected forts and roads in Malwa. She also funded festivals. She built scores of temples, ghats, wells, tanks, and rest homes outside of Malwa, extending from the Himalayas to South Indian pilgrimage locations. Kashi, Gaya, Somnath, Ayodhya, Mathura, Hardwar, Kanchi, Avanti, Dwarka, Badrinarayan, Rameshwar, and Jaganathpuri are among the sites she decorated, according to the Bharatiya Sanskritikosh. Ahilyadevi was ecstatic when she saw bankers, merchants, farmers, and cultivators prosper, but she rejected any claims to their money, whether through taxes or feudal rights. She funded all of her endeavours with the legal profits she earned from a happy and successful land.
When compared to adjacent Bhopal, Jabalpur, or Gwalior, Indore has grown substantially since India’s independence: economically, through business and financial development, and politically, through the creation of effective government. The residents proudly proclaim that they live in a “mini-Mumbai,” referring to the enormous metropolis 600 kilometres distant. Ahilyadevi‘s legacy of good deeds, religious devotion, and policies enriched the city well into the twenty-first century.
Ahilyabai Holkar Biography – Death
Ahilyabai died at the age of 70 on August 13, 1795. Ahilyabai’s reign is remembered as a defining period in the history of the Malwa Empire. Tukoji Rao Holkar, Ahilyabai’s commander-in-chief and nephew, succeeded her in 1797, but soon abdicated in favour of his son Kashi Rao Holkar.
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