Ahilya Bai Holkar was the hereditary noble queen of the Maratha Empire, in early-modern India.
20 Facts About Ahilyabai Holkar
2.
Ahilyabai Holkar established Maheshwar as the seat of Holkar Dynasty.
3.
Ahilyabai Holkar trained her into administration, accounts, politics etc and eventually handed over her Khasgi Jagir in 1759.
4.
In 1754, Khande Rao, alongside his father Malhar Rao Ahilyabai Holkar, laid the siege of Kumher fort of Jat Raja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur on request of support from Imad-ul-Mulk and the Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur's general Mir Bakhshi.
5.
Malhar Rao Ahilyabai Holkar died in 1766,12 years after the death of his son Khande Rao.
6.
Ahilyabai Holkar proceeded to rule Malwa in the most enlightened manner, even reinstating a Brahmin who had previously opposed her.
7.
Ahilyabai Holkar herself went to the battlefield with her female bodyguards to face Raghunathrao.
8.
Ahilyabai Holkar's victory helped her to establish her authority over the kingdom, but the conflict strained her relationship with Gangadhar Rao, who was her trusted advisor and confidant.
9.
Ahilyabai Holkar commissioned several infrastructure projects in Malwa, sponsored festivals and gave donations for regular worship in many Hindu temples.
10.
Ahilyabai Holkar patronized the famous Marathi poet Moropant and the shahir Anantaphandi from Maharashtra, and patronised the Sanskrit scholar, Khushali Ram.
11.
Ahilyabai Holkar repealed a traditional law that had previously empowered the state to confiscate the property of childless widows.
12.
Ahilyabai Holkar gave birth to a son Male Rao and daughter Muktabai in 1745 and 1748, respectively.
13.
Ahilyabai Holkar was a very able ruler and organizer, highly respected during her lifetime, and considered as a saint by a grateful people after her death.
14.
Ahilyabai Holkar loved to see her people prosper, and to watch the fine cities grow, and to watch that her subjects were not afraid to display their wealth, lest the ruler should snatch it from them.
15.
The Ahilyabai Holkar family was known for avoiding using public cash to meet their personal and family expenses.
16.
Ahilyabai Holkar inherited personal funds estimated at sixteen crores rupees at the time.
17.
In 1742, the Maratha ruler Malhar Rao Ahilyabai Holkar made a plan to demolish the mosque and reconstruct Vishweshwar temple at the site.
18.
In 1780, Malhar Rao's daughter-in-law Ahilyabai Holkar rebuilt the present temple adjacent to the mosque.
19.
Ahilyabai Holkar funded the reconstruction of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi1780 which had been destroyed in the past and subsequently converted into a mosque by Aurangzeb in 1669.
20.
Ahilyabai Holkar had crafted the temple, sent her officers to inspect and find the best stone for the temple in whole region, and they finally found munger black stone as the best choice in Jaynagar.