Sir Nyapathi Madhava Rau (8 June 1887 – 28 August 1972) was an Indian civil servant, administrator, and statesman who served as the 23rd dewan of Mysore from 1941 to 1945 and later as a member of the Drafting Committee of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

which drafted the

Indian Constitution The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental r ...

He was born on 8 june 1887.

Mysore civil service

Madhava Rao took the Mysore Civil Service examinations and graduated first rank, winning the Carmichael Medal. He joined the Mysore Civil Service as an Assistant Commissioner in the Gubbi town of

Tumkur district Tumakuru District is an administrative district in the state of Karnataka in India. It is the third largest district in Karnataka by land area with an area of 10,598 km2, and fourth largest by Population. It is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from ...

. Later, he was appointed as a member of a commission to investigate a revolt in the Kollegal town of the then

Coimbatore district Coimbatore district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Coimbatore is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is one of the most industrialized districts and a major textile, industrial, commercial, educ ...

. He served as Secretary of the Bhadravathi Steel Works from 1921 to 1924. He was the Trade Commissioner for

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, following this and was subsequently appointed Chief Secretary to the

Government of Mysore The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

. He then went on to become a member of the Mysore Constituent Council until his appointment as the

Diwan of Mysore The diwan of Mysore, also spelled dewan of Mysore, synonymously the prime minister of Mysore, was the ''de-facto'' chief executive officer of the government of the Kingdom of Mysore and the prime minister and royal adviser to the Maharaja of My ...

Diwan of Mysore

Madhava Rao succeeded

Sir Mirza Ismail Sir Mirza Muhammad Ismail Amin-ul-Mulq (24 October 1883 – 5 January 1959) was an Indian statesman and police officer who served as the Diwan of Mysore, Jaipur, and Hyderabad.P. 254-258, ''Business Legends'' by Gita Piramal (1998) – Published ...

on his retirement as the diwan, a post he held between 1941 and 1946. During his premiership, the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

was gripped by severe food shortages during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Madhava Rau is credited with having managed the situation quite well and organised a successful recovery. He also successfully dealt with the damage caused to the

Sivasamudram Shivanasamudra Falls is a waterfall on the border of Malavalli taluk, Mandya district and Kollegala taluk, Chamarajanagara district of the state of Karnataka, India. It is situated along the river Kaveri, which forms here the boundary to the Ch ...

Electric Power Station by a lightning strike in 1944. During his tenure as Diwan, the

Mysore Legislative Council The Karnataka Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Karnataka state in South Western India. Karnataka is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, comprising two houses: the Leg ...

and the Mysore Representative Assembly were combined to form a new legislative council. The first elections to the newly reorganised council were held in February 1941.

Later life

After his retirement, Madhava Rau was a member of the Drafting Committee of the

headed by

B.R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

and of the first

Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

. Madhava Rau died on 28 August 1972 at the age of 85.

Opposition to Hindi

Madhava Rao was strongly opposed to the of

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

language as the

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

for India and favoured the continuation of English as the official language of the Indian Union.

Family

Madhava Rau married Narasamma at the age of seventeen. The couple had three daughters and three sons. His sons were N. Lakshman Rau, Nyapathi. Narasimha Rau and N. Nagaraja Rau. His daughters were Rukmini, Sarojini and Sethu. N. Lakshman Rau served in the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

and was the

mayor of Bangalore The Mayor of Bengaluru is the first citizen of the Indian city of Bengaluru. The Mayor is the Chief of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. The role of Mayor is largely ceremonial. The Mayor also plays a functional role in deliberating over th ...

. N. Narasimha Rau also served in the

and was the Chief Secretary of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. N. Nagaraja Rau served in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

and retired as a

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Honours

Madhava Rau was made a

Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

in 1943, a title that he relinquished in 1947. He was also awarded the titles of ''Rajamantra Pravina'' and ''Pradhana Shiromani'' by Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar.

Places in Honour

* N. Madhava Rao Circle, popularly known as Agrahara Circle in

city

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madhava Rau, N. 1887 births 1972 deaths Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Diwans of Mysore