Who was Ahilyabai Holkar?

About 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.
• Titles:
  • 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’.
• Military Contribution:
  • 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 engaged the Frenchman Chevelier Dudrenec in 1792 to help modernize her army by raising four battalions.
• Administration:
  • 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 established courts for justice and arbitration in citizens’ disputes.
  • She also made some landmark decisions during her reign, including the removal of traditional law confiscating the property of childless widows.
  • She was known for being accessible to all her subjects and held daily audiences where people could approach her.
  • Breaking another norm of the time, Ahilyabai did not observe the custom of purdah (seclusion of women).
• Cultural Contribution:
  • She welcomed stalwarts such as Marathi poet Moropant, Shahir Ananta Gandhi, and Sanskrit scholar Khushali Ram into her capital.
  • She made Maheshwar (literally, “abode of Lord Shiva”) her capital and offered employment to several craftsmen, artists, and sculptors.
  • She was a great pioneer and builder of Hindu temples.
  • 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.
  • Ahilyabai also helped construct multiple forts, roads, wells, and rest houses.
  • Promotion of craft: She established a textile industry in Maheshwar, which today is very famous for its Maheshwari sarees.