Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district has been renamed as 'Ahilyanagar' announced Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday. The development comes after leaders from the ruling party had been demanding for the same. BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar in February this year demanded the name to be changed following the renaming of Aurangabad. "Ahmednagar city's name must be changed to Ahilya Nagar. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have changed the name of Aurangabad and Osmanabad after a demand raised by everyone. Following that people are also demanding of changing the name of Ahmednagar to Ahilya Nagar," he had said.
Earlier this year in February, the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government renamed Aurangabad to 'Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar' and Osmanabad to 'Dharashiv'.
Aurangabad derives its name from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, while Osmanabad was named for a 20th-century ruler of the princely state of Hyderabad.
Likewise, Ahmednagar was named after Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1949. Malik Ahmed Nizam Shah was the founder of the Nizam Shahi dynasty and the Ahmadnagar Sultanate.
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CM Shinde's announcement to rename Ahmednagar after Ahilyabai Holkar came on her birth anniversary as the CM reached the Malwa queen's birth place. She was born to a Marathi family in Chaindi village of the district in 1725 and was later crowned as the Queen of Malwa kingom.
In 1733, she was married to Indore's Holkar dynasty heir Khanderao Holkar. In 1754, Khanderao lost his life in a battle after which the command of Holkar empire was handed over to Ahilyabai. She died on August 13, 1795.