Page:The Imperial Durbar Album of the Indian princes, chiefs and zamindars.djvu/37



THE founder of the house of Indore Was the celebrated Mulhar Rao Holkar who lived in days when martial spirit and bravery were the essential requisites to gain eminence. Naturally endowed with these, Mulhar Rao, though the son of an ordinary peasant, rapidly attained a position which has made his name famous in Indian history. The original surname of the family was 'Virkar'. This was supplanted by the present one, which is apparently derived from the name of the village of Hol, the birth-place of Mulhar Rao, situated on the river Neera, in the Deccan. He was only five years of age at the time of the death of his father Khundoji, which took place in 1694 A.D. His mother took the boy to Khandesh to her brother Narayanrao, who was a shilledar under Kadam Bandes. Through the influence of his maternal uncle, young Mulhari was enrolled among the troopers of Bandes. The youth's indomitable courage and military bearing brought him to the notice of the Peshwa, Baji Rao I, who took him in service in 1724 A.D. and put hint at the head of a body of 500 horse. Within the short space of seven years, Mulhari of Hol, who was now called Mulhar Rao, had acquired a large estate in Central India, by conquest and was managing it on his own account. The Peshwa had great confidence in the loyalty, wisdom, and courage of Mulhar Rao; hence, he entrusted to him the task of watching Mahratta interests in Malwa, and conferred upon him the title of 'Subhedar of Malwa.' Later on, Mulhar Rao was employed against the Nizam, the Portuguese, and the Rohilas, whom he, successfully brought to terms.

At the disastrous battle of Paniput in 1761 A.D. the Mahratta Confederacy suffered a signal defeat; and from here Mulhar Rao cautiously retreated and set himself to consolidate his possessions. He died at Alampur in 1766 A.D. His only son Khunde Rao had been killed before him at the siege of Kumbheri in 1754 A.D. and the latter's son, Malerao, succeeded Mulhar Rao, but died a raving madman in 1767 A.D. His mother Ahilyahai declined to adopt an heir, but took upon herself the management of the State, retaining its civil administration in her own hands, and entrusting the organisation and supervision of the military to Tukoji Rao, a distant kinsman of hers, who was a genuine soldier of great promise.

Ahilyabai discharged her onerous duties with such tact, and such strictness tempered with justice, that her regime is not only looked upon to this day among the Indore subjects with admiration, but has elicited encomiums from historians both Indian as well as foreign. She managed the Indore State for thirty years. During this time there was uninterrupted peace and prosperity among the people.

Ahilyabai died in 1795 A.D. and was succeeded by Tukoji Rao, who was already an old man of seventy, and naturally respected as the leading Mahratta Chief. He died in 1797 A.D. and after him there was all confusion. He left two legitimate and two illegitimate sons. Mulhar Rao, one of the former, put himself under the aegis of Nana Fadnavis. His brother sought the support of the Sindhia. The two brothers struggled on; while Yashawant Rao, the elder of the illegitimate sons, managed to seize the State, successfully removing his antagonists in one way or the other and, in 1809 A.D. Yashawant Rao became the head of the house of Holkar. He died in 1811 A.D.