Ahilyabai Holkar:
The Prime Minister will take part in a ‘Mahila Sashaktikaran Maha Sammelan’ event in Bhopal on the occasion of the 300th birth anniversary of legendary queen Ahilyabai Holkar.
- Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar (31 May 1725 – 13 August 1795) was a ruler of the Malwa territory, a part of the Maratha Confederacy, from 1767 to 1795.
- She served first as regent and then as ruler of the Holkar dynasty with its seats at Maheshwar and Indore in central India, in a period considered the zenith of the Holkar dynasty.
- Under her rule Malwa enjoyed relative peace, prosperity, and stability, and her capital, Maheshwar, was turned into an oasis of literary, musical, artistic, and industrial pursuits.
- She passed away on August 13, 1795, at the age of seventy.
- Upon her death, Ahilyabai was succeeded by Tukoji Rao Holkar, who abdicated in his son Jaswant Rao’s favor two years later.
- Jaswant Rao was the last Holkar ruler to remain independent until his 1804 defeat by and subsequent peace with the British.
- She is known as Punyashlok (“One as Pure as the Sacred Chants”).
- John Keay, the British historian, gave the queen the title of ‘The Philosopher Queen’.
- She was military-trained under her father-in-law, Malhar Rao Holkar, and personally led armies into battle.
- Ahilyabai appointed Malhar Rao’s adopted son, Tukoji Rao Holkar, the commander of the Holkar army.
- She earned a reputation for administering justice fairly during her rule, without partiality or partisanship. Ex: She sentenced her only son, found guilty of a capital offense, to death by being crushed by an elephant.
- She made Maheshwar (literally, “abode of Lord Shiva”) her capital and offered employment to several craftsmen, artists, and sculptors.
- She built hundreds of temples and Dharmashalas throughout India.
- Her most notable contribution was the renovation and repair of the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple in 1780.
