Jaganathan Tyagaraja (born 18 October 1895) was a

Ceylon Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, politician and member of the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It r ...

. Tyagaraja was born on 18 October 1895. He was the son of Namasivayam Tyagaraja, a wealthy

landed proprietor In real estate, a landed property or landed estate is a property (ownership right), property that generates income for the owner (typically a member of the gentry) without the owner having to do the actual work of the estate. In medieval Western E ...

from

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, the capital of

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Tyagaraja was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

. After school he joined

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, graduating with

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...

and

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

degrees. He was subsequently

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

. Tyagaraja tried unsuccessfully to obtain a seat on the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first f ...

following the death of

P. Ramanathan Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG, King's Counsel, KC ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் இராமநாதன், translit=Poṉṉampalam Irāmanātaṉ; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 19 ...

. He abided by the

Jaffna Youth Congress The Jaffna Youth Congress, was the first of Sri Lanka's Youth Leagues. It was influenced by the Indian Independence Movement, was secular and committed to Poorana Swaraj (Complete Self-Rule), national unity and the eradication of inequalities ...

' call to boycott the 1931 State Council election. The following year most of the Tamil politicians who had boycotted the election, including Tyagaraja, condemned the boycott. Tyagaraja contested the 1944 State Council

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

as a candidate in Mannar-Mullaitivu and was elected to the State Council of Ceylon. Tyagaraja supported

G. G. Ponnambalam Ganapathipillai Gangaser Ponnambalam ( ta, கணபதி காங்கேசர் பொன்னம்பலம்; 8 November 1901 – 9 February 1977) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and cabinet minister. He was the founder and l ...

's call for balanced representation in the Ceylonese legislature but nevertheless voted for

self-government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

as recommended by the

Soulbury Commission The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

. Tyagaraja contested the 1947 parliamentary election as a

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

candidate in

Mannar Mannar may refer to the following places: India * Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Chengannur Taluk, Kerala Sri Lanka * Mannar District, one of 25 districts in Sri Lanka ** Mannar Island, an island within the district **Mannar Bridge, a bridge connect ...

but was defeated by

C. Sittampalam Cathiravelu Sittampalam ( ta, கதிரவேலு சிற்றம்பலம்; 13 September 1898 – 3 February 1964) was a Ceylon Tamil civil servant, politician, Member of Parliament and government minister. Early life and famil ...

. His defeat has been attributed to his support for the

Soulbury Constitution The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

. Tyagaraja played a key role in the establishment of the

Central Bank of Ceylon The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව, Sri Lanka Maha Bankuwa) is the monetary authority of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA), it is a ...

and was an appointed member of its monetary board for 21 years (1950–71).

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyagaraja, J. 1895 births Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon People from Colombo People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan barristers Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers Tamil politicians United National Party politicians Year of death missing