Raja Sir Muttaiya Annamalai Muthiah Chettiar (5 August 1905 – 12 May 1984) was an Indian banker, politician, philanthropist, socialite and cultural activist who served as Mayor of Madras city (1933) and Minister of Excise and Education (1936–37) in the provincial government of Madras Presidency.Tamil scholar honoured
''The Hindu''. 6 August 2005.
''The Hindu''. 6 August 2006. He was holder of the hereditary title Kumar-rajah (1929–48) and later,

Raja of Chettinad ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in history of South Asia, South Asia and History of ...

(1948–84). Muthiah Chettiar's father Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar was also a famous educationist and along with him he founded the

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

in the town of

Chidambaram Chidambaram is a town and municipality in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vellar River where it meets the Bay of Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Chidambaram taluk. The town is believed to be of si ...

in Tamil Nadu.Dr. Rajah Sir Muthiah Chettiar – Biography on release of postal stamp on his honour
Indianpost.com. Retrieved on 10 December 2018. He was also the third Nattukottai Chettiar to be

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed; the first two were his nephew and father.Muthiah, S. (8 September 2003) . ''The Hindu''. The government of Tamil Nadu honoured him with the title ''Tamil Isai Kavalar''.

Early life

He was born on 5 August 1905, son of Dr. Rajah

Sir Annamalai Chettiar ''Diwan Bahadur'' Sir Satappa Ramanatha Muttaiya Annamalai Chettiar, Raja of Chettinad KCSI (30 September 1881 – 15 June 1948) was an Indian industrialist, banker, educationist and philanthropist from Tamil Nadu. He is the founder of Annama ...

, the

and a distinguished member of the

Nattukottai Nagarathar The Nagarathar (also known as Nattukottai Chettiar) is a Tamil caste found native in Tamil Nadu, India. They are a mercantile community who are traditionally involved in commerce, banking and money lending. They use the title Chettiar and a ...

community. He studied mostly in Madras, graduating from the

Presidency College, Chennai Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

in 1922. He then went to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

on his family's business, acquiring expertise in banking.

As a banker

He became a member of the Madras Legislative Council, representing the South Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with which he was associated for 50 years, and was elected its President in 1941. He was appointed member of the Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee (1931). In 1929, he became a member of the Corporation of Madras and was elected mayor in 1933 and 1934. In 1943, he was elected president of the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry. He was associated with the Imperial Bank of India (now the State Bank of India) and the

Indian Bank Indian Bank is an Indian public sector bank, established in 1907 and headquartered in Chennai. It serves over 100 million customers with 39,734 employees, 5,721 branches with 5,428 ATMs and Cash deposit machines. Total business of the bank has ...

As an educationist

Interest in education was part of the family heritage. He was associated with his father in making Sri Meenakshi College, Chidambaram the nucleus of

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

. While pursuing his political career as Chief Whip and Legislative Assembly Chairman of the Justice Party, he retained his interest in education. In 1936 he was appointed Minister-in-Charge of education, Public Health and Excise, and was also the pro-Chancellor of

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

for over a year. He remained on the Board of Management of the Pachaiyappa's Charities for 33 years. He was also on the Syndicate of the Madras University and the Board of Management of the

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is a public technical university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. As one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), it is recognized as an Institute of National Importance and has be ...

. In 1948 he became Pro-Chancellor of Annamalai University which expanded to include the faculties of Education, Fine Arts, Culture, Law and Medicine. Two UGC centres of advanced study in marine biology and

linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

came into being. The Engineering and Technology Department developed into a post-graduate centre. The Muthiah Polytechnic, Annamalainagar, and the Annamalai Polytechnic, Chettinad, were established. He was interested in the study of

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of P ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

and culture. His services to the Tamil cause earned him the title of ''Tamil Isai Kavalar''.Encomiums on Raja Muthiah Chettiar – The Hindu
Hindu.com (4 August 2004). Retrieved on 2018-12-10.

In politics

He earned the reputation of being a sensitive Parliamentarian, impartial and balanced, as a leader of the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

in 1939 and when he held charge of Local Administration and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Religious Endowments. He was the first Mayor of Chennai (then called Madras) when the mayoralty was reinstated for the

Corporation of Chennai The Greater Chennai Corporation, formerly known as the Corporation of Madras (1688-1996) and Corporation of Chennai (1996-2016), is the civic body that governs the city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Inaugurated on 29 September ...

in 1933. The mayoralty had been earlier removed in 1792, when the act made Madras a municipality. In 1946 he was elected member of the Constituent Assembly at New Delhi.

Awards and legacy

He was knighted in the 1941

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...

, and was invested by the

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

on 24 June 1941. He also had the rare honour of hosting a lunch in the Chettinad House for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. The government of India bestowed on him

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 1973, and the Tamil Nadu government honoured him with the "Tamil Isai Kavalar" title in 1979. New York World University awarded an honorary doctorate to him in 1982. He died on 12 May 1984 in Madras leaving an impressive record of interests and achievements. The Indian government honoured him with a postal stamp issued on his memory on 21 December 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muthiah Chettiar, M A 1905 births 1984 deaths Tamil Nadu politicians Indian bankers 20th-century Indian educational theorists Mayors of Chennai Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry Indian Knights Bachelor Knights Bachelor Annamalai University faculty Businesspeople from Chennai 20th-century Indian businesspeople 20th-century Indian philanthropists