MUMBAI: The state cabinet on Wednesday approved changing the name of Ahmadnagar city and district to Ahilyanagar. Less than two years ago, the then Uddhav Thackeray government had agreed to rename Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Darashiv.
Officials said many people's representatives and organizations had demanded that Ahmednagar be renamed after the 18th century warrior queen Devi Ahilyabai Holkar. The Indore Rani within the Maratha confederation established Maheshwar (in Parliament) as the seat of the Holkar dynasty.
“The process of changing the names of districts, talukas and municipal corporations will be done after getting approval from the Centre,” the official said.
“Disto would be much happier with drought relief.”
Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh on Wednesday condemned the decision to rename Ahmadnagar as Ahilyanagar and said the district needed drought relief. “This decision…is unfortunate. Ahmednagar district would have been much happier if financial measures had been provided for drought relief.The Mahayuti government has decided to change the name of the city without doing anything for development. “We are implementing the 'Yogi pattern' of creating the illusion of development in the world,” Shaikh said. This is the third time in the last two years that a city in Maharashtra has been renamed. In June 2022, the former Uddhav Thackeray cabinet approved the long-pending plan to rename Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad as Darashiv.
The cabinet decision was taken amid pressure on the then undivided Shiv Sena, which accused the rebel MLAs led by current CM Eknath Shinde of compromising the core ideology of Hindutva. “This decision honors the achievements of Punyashlok Ahilya Devi, takes her thought, work and memory forward and inspires representatives of the people to do good work. With this decision, the Municipality of Ahmednagar An important aspiration of the residents, district residents and 13 million people of Maharashtra has been fulfilled,” Dy CM Ajit Pawar said in a post on X. Shinde and Sushila Shinde of Chaundi village (now Ahmednagar district). There, his father Mankoji Shinde, a scion of the respected Dangal (Gadariya) family, was the Patil.
“Punyashlok Ahilya Devi is beneficial for all. But the government is distorting history. The city of Ahmadnagar, the capital of the Nizamshahis, was founded by Majrak Ahmad in 1494. There is a history of militarization of hundreds of Maratha families under their rule. These Marathas later established Swarajya. The government is trying to change this history by bowing to the demands of some leaders.” Shaikh said. After the death of her husband Khande Rao Holkar and her father-in-law Malhar Rao Holkar, Ahilyabai personally took over the administration of the Holkar dynasty. She defended the state of Malwa from invaders and personally led her troops into battle with Tukoji Rao Holkar as her military commander. She is also known for building various Hindu temples and dharmashalas throughout the Indian subcontinent. Ahiyabai is also known for breaking traditional gender rules in the 18th century.
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