Sir Gangadhar Rao Chitnavis (1862 - ?) was an Indian landholder and politician in the Central Provinces, British India.

Background and family

Chitnavis belonged to the prominent Chitnavis family of

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

, a

Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) is a caste group mainly found in Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris and according to the historian, ...

family that had followed the

Bhonsla The Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle) are a prominent group within the Maratha clan system of kunbi origin. They claimed descent from the Sisodia Rajputs but were likely Kunbi tiller-plainsmen. History Earliest members The earliest a ...

rulers from

Berar Berar may refer to: *Vidarbha, the eastern region of Maharashtra Province, India, historically known as Berar *Berar Sultanate (1490–1596), one of the Deccan sultanates *Berar Subah (1596–1724), a Subah of the Mughal Empire *Berar Province (1724 ...

to Nagpur in the middle of the eighteenth century. At Bhonsla court of Nagpur, Chitnavis had served as secretaries and ministers until the middle of the nineteenth century. He was son of Madhav Rao Chitnavis. His brother

Shankar Madhav Chitnavis Shankar Madhav Chitnavis (born 1867 - ) was a statutory officer and worked a deputy commissioner of Central Province. He was brother of Gangadhar Rao Chitnavis. He was member of First and Second Legislative Council of Central Provinces and Ber ...

was a Statutory officer and worked a deputy commissioner of Central Province. His son Madhav Gangadhar Chitnavis established five charitable and religious trusts namely Sir Gangadharrao Chitnavis Memorial Medical Research Trust, Smt. Dadimay Memorial Medical Research Research, Balkrishna Deosthan Trust, Sant Sonaji Maharaj Trust and the Gopalkrishna Deosthan Trust. His residence Chitnavis wada, a listed heritage building, is now owned by the Gopalkrishna Deosthan Trust.

Career

Chitnavis was president of the Nagpur Municipality. He was appointed as a member of the

Imperial Legislative Council The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...

in 1893 and represented the Landholders Constituency from the

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the B ...

for several years. In 1902, he was chosen to represent the

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. ...

at the coronation in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

and Queen

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

. He was Governor-appointed President of First and Second Legislative Council of

from 1921 to 1923 and from 1923 to 1926. He was a member of the Indian National Congress.

Honours

Gangadhar Rao was awarded CIE by the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

on 25 May 1895 and later knighted as a KCIE in a special honours list on 12 December 1911.London Gazette, 12 December 1911
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References

{{reflist Politicians from Nagpur Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian knights 1862 births Members of the Council of India Year of death missing Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India History of Madhya Pradesh People from the Central Provinces 19th-century Indian politicians