Chakrāvarti Yashwant Rao Holkar (1776–1811) also known as Jaswantrao Holkar belonging to the Holkar dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy was the Maharaja of the Indore. He was a gifted military leader and educated in accountancy as well as literate in Persian and Marathi and Urdu.

The Holkars were a family that was part of the Maratha Empire, which held the rank of subahdar under Peshwa Baji Rao I. When the Maratha Empire began to weaken due to internal clashes, the Holkars declared themselves the rulers of Indore in Central India, existing as an autonomous member of the Maratha Empire until 1818. Later, their kingdom became a princely state under the protectorate of British India.