Wender·Vista
Ahilyanagar
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIndia
in central Maharashtra, on the Sina river

Ahilyanagar

— — a fort the empires kept passing back and forth.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A city in central Maharashtra, renamed Ahilyanagar in 2024 to honour Ahilyabai Holkar, the 18th-century Maratha queen of Indore. The older name, Ahmednagar, came from the city's founder five centuries earlier — Ahmad Nizam Shah, who laid out a sultanate capital here in 1490. The oval fort he raised still sits east of the city, walls thick enough to have held a Mughal prince and, later, Jawaharlal Nehru.

from the studio
Ahilyanagar
— bring it home

Ahilyanagar, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Ahilyanagar

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Ahilyanagar — known as Ahmednagar until the Maharashtra government renamed it in 2024 — is the headquarters of Ahilyanagar district in central Maharashtra, about 120 km northeast of Pune. It was founded in 1490 by Ahmad Nizam Shah Bahri as the capital of the Nizam Shahi sultanate. The city sits on the Sina river at roughly 657 metres elevation, and the 2011 census put the urban population near 350,000. The renaming honours Ahilyabai Holkar, the Maratha queen of Indore from 1767 to 1795.

— the stone

Ahmednagar Fort sits two kilometres east of the city, an oval bastioned wall about 1.7 km in circumference, originally raised in 1559 in stone and lime. It was held by the Nizam Shahis, the Mughals under Akbar in 1600, the Marathas, and finally the British, who used it as a prison. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and other Congress leaders were detained inside its walls from 1942 to 1945. Nehru wrote The Discovery of India there.

— the visit

The fort is open to visitors as a military heritage site managed by the Indian Army's Armoured Corps; the on-site tank museum is one of only two in Asia. The city is also a centre of Maharashtra's pomegranate belt — the surrounding district leads the country in production. Salabat Khan's Tomb, an octagonal three-storey structure on a hill 13 km south of the city, is the other landmark people drive out for, with a long view across the Deccan plateau.

— where
India · Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra
— elevation
657 m · 2,156 ft
— position
19.0948° N · 74.7480° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
2 km E
Ahmednagar Fort
Nizam Shahi fort
13 km S
Salabat Khan's Tomb
octagonal tomb
80 km NW
Shirdi
pilgrimage town
120 km SW
Pune
city
N
Ahilyanagar
Ahmednagar Fort
Salabat Khan's Tomb
Shirdi
Pune
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Ahilyanagar — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The Maharashtra government renamed the city in 2024 to honour Ahilyabai Holkar, the 18th-century Maratha queen of Indore, whose family came from the surrounding district. The older name had stood since the city's founding in 1490.

Ahmad Nizam Shah Bahri founded the city in 1490 as the capital of the Nizam Shahi sultanate. The name combined his own with -nagar, the common South Asian suffix for 'city'.

Ahilyanagar is in central Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 250 km east of Mumbai. It sits at roughly 657 metres elevation on the Sina river.

The oval bastioned fort, raised in 1559, held the Nizam Shahi, Mughal, Maratha, and British powers in turn. It served as a British prison where Nehru wrote The Discovery of India between 1942 and 1945.

Ahilyabai Holkar ruled the Maratha-aligned Holkar dynasty of Indore from 1767 to 1795. She is remembered for temple restoration, civic works, and a model of just rule that later reformers cited often.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Families with roots in Ahilyanagar district, and Maharashtrians who associate the fort with the freedom movement, tend to read this piece as a piece of regional history. A Medium tile carries it well.

The deep reds and ochres work with Indo-modern, jewel-tone maximalist, and warm-traditional interiors. It also reads well against unpainted teak or sandstone-coloured walls.

A single Large is the most common pick. A 4-tile Mural reads as a full view of the fort wall; a 9-tile Mural carries a long console or above a bed.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any room with water. Both are scratch-resistant and rated for backsplashes and shower installations.

A soft microfibre cloth with water is enough for routine cleaning. A mild non-abrasive cleaner is safe on the Dura Satin and Matte tiles installed in wet rooms.

Yes. The Ahilyanagar piece was made by Reid Wender and produced in-house at Wender Studios in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensing or third-party art is involved.

— if this one stayed with you

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