Mankoji Shinde and Sushila Shinde welcomed Ahilya Bai into their Marathi Hindu family when she was born in the Maharashtrian hamlet of Chaundi (the modern-day Ahmednagar district), where her father, Mankoji Shinde, served as the Patil and was a descended from a reputable Dhangar family. Ahilya's father taught her to read and write even though women weren't allowed to attend school back then.
She rose to fame, so the story goes, when Malhar Rao Holkar, a general in Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I's army and the ruler of Malwa, stopped at Chaundi on his route to Pune and happened to see the eight-year-old Ahilya attending a temple worship there. On the Peshwas' recommendation, Malhar married Ahilya to his son Khande Rao Holkar after being moved by her moral qualities and piety. In 1733, she wed Khande Rao. Khande Rao had Ahilya with him on several expeditions. Her mother-in-law Gautama Bai, who is often credited with instilling Ahilya's morals, raised her during her marriage. She gave her administrative, financial, and political training before finally handing over control of Khasgi Jagir in 1759.
In 1754, Khande Rao and his father Malhar Rao Holkar besieged the Kumher fort of Jat Raja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur after requesting assistance from Imad-ul-Mulk and the commander Mir Bakhshi of the Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur. Suraj Mal had allied with Safdar Jang, the Mughal emperor's dissident wazir. During the fight, a cannonball shot by the Jat army struck Khande Rao as he was reviewing his men in an open palanquin, causing his death. Her father-in-law prevented Ahilya Bai from committing sati after the death of her husband. Malhar Rao Holkar taught her in military matters after her husband's passing.
Ahilya Bai resolved to practise Sati to attend her spouse at his funeral pyre after she had abandoned all life's pleasures following the death of her husband Khande Rao. People urged her not to participate in Sati, but she refused, claiming that her husband had promised to be at her side throughout, but has since abandoned her. It was eventually her father-in-law Malhar Rao who made ardent emotional pleadings to stop her once she had made up her decision to conduct Sati and was not changing her mind. He stated:
"Daughter, my son left me whom I raised with a hope that he would support me in my old age. Now, will you also leave me, an old man, alone to be drowned in the fathomless ocean? ... Will you also leave me without any support? Still, if you don't want to change your mind, let me die first."
Malhar Rao Holkar passed away in 1766, 12 years after Khande Rao, his son. Male Rao Holkar, the only son of Khande Rao and the grandson of Malhar Rao, took over as the king of Indore in 1766 while Ahilya Bai served as regent. However, he passed away just a few months later in April 1767. Following the demise of her son with Khande Rao, Ahilya Bai ascended to the throne of Indore.
Ahilya Bai, who had been groomed to lead, asked Peshwa Madhav Rao I to give her control over the Holkar dynasty when Malhar Rao and her son passed away. The Holkar faction of the Maratha army supported her despite opposition from others in Malwa. On December 11th, 1767, the Peshwa gave her permission, and Malhar Rao's adoptive son Tukoji Rao Holkar served as her military commander. She then went on to rule Malwa in the most progressive way possible, including installing a Brahmin who had previously been against her. Ahilya Bai frequently visited her subjects and was available to anybody who needed her assistance.
After Male Rao Holkar passed away, Gangadhar Rao, Malhar Rao Holkar's dewan, attempted to seize Ahilyabai's position as queen by asking her to adopt him as her son and give him full administrative powers. However, Ahilyabai politely declined and rebuffed his proposal. Then Gangadhar Rao organized an uprising against her and encouraged Raghunathrao, Peshwa Madhavrao's uncle, to assault the Holkar kingdom of Indore. Ahilyabai immediately sent letters to the relatives of her late father-in-law, Mahadji Scindia & Damaji Rao Gaekwad, pleading for help after learning about Raghunathrao's army's camp at the banks of the river Shipra through her spies. Tukoji then helped assemble the Holkar army.
The Nagpur Bhonsales despatched their soldiers to help her, and Peshwa Madhavrao gave Ahilyabai the go-ahead to attack Raghunathrao. To fight Raghunathrao, Ahilyabai headed to the battleground accompanied by her female bodyguards. Raghunathrao was startled by Ahilyabai's bravery and withdrew, saying he had only come to express his condolences to Ahilyabai for the passing of her son Male Rao. After being placed under house imprisonment, Gangadhara Rao was rehired in his same position. Dewan Gangadhar Rao and Ahilyabai Holkar's disagreement had important political and interpersonal ramifications. Despite the fact that Ahilyabai's triumph gave her more power over the kingdom, the fight soured her relationship with Gangadhar Rao, her confidant and closest advisor.
One of Ahilya Bai's achievements was transforming the little village of Indore into a thriving and lovely metropolis. Her personal capital, though, was the adjacent town of Maheshwar on the banks of the Narmada River. She also oversaw the construction of a number of infrastructure projects in Malwa, sponsored celebrations, and donated money for regular prayer at several Hindu temples. She constructed numerous Hindu temples, Ghats, wells, tanks, and rest houses outside of Malwa, all over the Indian subcontinent, from the Himalayas to southern India's major pilgrimage sites like Kashi, Gaya, Somnath, Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Kanchi, Avanti, Dwarka, Badrinath Temple, Rameshwaram, and Jagannath Puri.
Ahilya Bai did not believe that she had any legal claim to their money, whether via taxes or a feudal right. She also fostered the ascent of merchants, farmers, and cultivators to levels of opulence.
Numerous accounts exist of her concern for her subjects. She is said to have sponsored a youngster herself and provided him with clothing and jewellery as part of the adoption ritual in one occasion when her minister refused to permit the adoption of a child without receiving the appropriate payment.
Ahilya Bai gave the Bhils and Gonds tribes hilly regions and the right to a minor charge on goods travelling through their territory, but she was unable to resolve the problem amicably in the case of the Bhils and Gonds, who unethically loot her boundaries. Malcolm said that she did pay "considerate attention to their habits" in this particular instance.
Maheshwar, the capital of Ahilya Bai, was the centre of literary, musical, artistic, and commercial activity. She supported Khushali Ram, a scholar of Sanskrit, as well as the well-known Marathi poet Moropant and the Maharashtrian Shahir Anantaphandi. At her capital, artisans, sculptors, and artists were paid well and given honours; at Maheshwar, she even started a textile business.
At the age of 70, Ahilyabai passed away on August 13th, 1795. Ahilyabai is a modern-day lady whose reign is recognised as the Maratha Empire's golden era. Ahilyabai was replaced by Tukoji Rao Holkar, her commander-in-chief and nephew, who promptly abdicated the throne in 1797 in favour of his son Kashi Rao Holkar.
Sumitra Mahajan, a former speaker of the Lok Sabha, wrote a novel titled "Matoshree" that is based on the life of Ahilyadevi Holkar.
In her honour, the airport in Indore is known as Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport.
Statue Image - Source - Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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