Maharashtra's Ahmednagar to be renamed as Ahilya Nagar, announces CM Eknath Shinde

Marking the 298th birth anniversary of Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar on Wednesday (May 31), Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that his government would rename Ahmednagar after her. The Western Maharashtrian city will now be known as Ahilyanagar.

 

 

“The government has decided to name Ahmednagar district after Punyashlok Ahilya Devi Holkar. Our government is fortunate to have taken this decision. Ahilya Devi’s work was as big and great as the Himalayan mountains. Giving her name will increase the honour of this district,” Shinde told the media.

 

Earlier in December 2022, Maharashtra Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar had informed the state Legislative Council that he was in conversation with the district administration to rename the city as ‘Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Nagar’.

 

Located in the Western region of Maharashtra, Ahmednagar has been a part of some prominent kingdoms, starting from 240 BC, “when the vicinity is mentioned in the reference to the Mauryan Emperor Ashok”, as per the district’s official website.

 

In the Medieval period, the region was ruled over by the Rashtrakuta Dynasty, the Western Chalukyas, and then the Delhi Sultanate. In the last case, the rule was not direct, and a revolt by Afghan soldier Alladin Hasan Gangu led to the establishment of the Bahmani kingdom in the Deccan. In the following years, Ahmednagar, then known as Nizamshahi, became one of the five independent kingdoms to emerge from that empire.

 

In 1486, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah assumed the position of the Bahmani Sultanate’s prime minister. He successfully defeated the king of the Bahmani kingdom, who tried to dislodge him from power, in 1490. Four years later, he laid the foundation of a city close to where he had defeated the army, on the left bank of Sina river. This city was named after him: Ahmednagar.