Cadambi Minakshi (12 September 1905 – 3 March 1940) was an Indian historian and expert on

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as fe ...

history. In 1936, she became the first woman to get a doctorate from the University of Madras.

Early life and education

Minakshi was born in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

on 12 September 1905 to Cadambi Balakrishnan, a bench clerk in the

Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...

and his wife, Mangalammal. Balakrishnan died when Minakshi was young and Mangalammal took care of the family. Minakshi was interested in history from an early age and visited historic sites as Mannargudi, Pudukkottai, Villuppuram and

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

. On completion of her schooling Minakshi joined the Women's Christian College in Madras, graduating in 1929. She wanted to her master's degree at

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institu ...

but her candidature was initially rejected on grounds of being a woman. However, Minakshi persisted and the authorities relented when her eldest C. Lakshminarayanan, who was working as a Professor in the college gave a written undertaking to take care of her. Minakshi eventually completed her master's degree and went on to pursue her doctorate obtaining it in 1936. Her doctoral thesis on "Administration and Social life under the Pallavas" was published in 1938 by the University of Madras as a part of a history series by eminent historian K. A. Nilakanta Sastri. The Madras daily ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' describes the book as "the eminently successful piece of research and is one of the best of a valuable series".

Career and research

Soon after obtaining her doctorate in 1936, Minakshi started looking for a job. She was, initially turned down by the All India Radio and other organizations she applied for. Finally, in 1939, Sir Mirza Ismail, the Diwan of the Mysore kingdom offered her a job as Assistant Professor at the Maharani College in Bangalore.

Death

Minakshi fell ill a few months after moving to Bangalore and died on 3 March 1940 at the age of 34. Condoling her death, the historian K. A. Nilakanta Sastri wrote to her mother in July 1941:

Works

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References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minakshi, C. 1905 births 1940 deaths 20th-century Indian historians Madras Christian College alumni Dravidologists 20th-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian social scientists University of Madras alumni Tamil scientists Scientists from Chennai Pallava dynasty Scientists from Bangalore Historians of India Indian women historians Women educators from Tamil Nadu Educators from Tamil Nadu