Diwan Bahadur Dewan Bahadur or Diwan Bahadur was a title of honour awarded during British rule in India. It was awarded to individuals who had performed faithful service or acts of public welfare to the nation. From 1911 the title was accompanied by a special T ...

Thaticonda Namberumal Chetty (c. 1856 – 3 December 1925) was an Indian contractor, engineer, builder and businessman who constructed a number of public buildings in the city of

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 ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Career

Namberumal Chetty was born in Madras (now Chennai) in 1856. He belonged to a Komati Chetty family. Namberumal Chetty started his business as a builder in 1880. During his career, Chetty constructed the buildings of the

Government Museum, Chennai The Government Museum, Chennai, or the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India af ...

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Connemara Library * The Connemara Public Library at Egmore in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, is one of the four National Depository Libraries which receive a copy of all books, newspapers and periodicals published in India. Established in 1896, the library is a re ...

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and the

Victoria Memorial Hall The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is a performing arts centre in the Central Area of Singapore, situated along Empress Place. It is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor; the oldest part of the ...

. The National Bank of India building that he constructed in 1914 was demolished in the late 20th century. Many of the buildings constructed by Chetty use red brick manufactured in kilns that Chetty owned. Apart from building activities, Chetty was also a popular merchant and imported timber from

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

and

Moulmein Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...

. He served as the

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Trichur Timber and Saw Mills Ltd. which exported timber to

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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 ...

, London,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, Germany, New York and South Africa. He also owned the ''Trivellore Light Railway'', a small

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way line which functioned as a feeder to the

Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway was a railway company that operated in southern India. It was founded on 1 January 1908 by merging the Madras Railway and the Southern Mahratta Railway. Initially, its headquarters was at Royapuram in Ma ...

. In 1936, the railway owned one

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

, three

railcars A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

, 14 coaches and one goods wagon.

Legacy and honours

In November 1901, Namberumal Chetty was awarded the title of "

Rao Sahib Rai Sahib / Rao Saheb / Roy Sahib / Rao Sahib abbreviated R.S., was a title of honour issued during the era of British rule in India to individuals who performed faithful service or acts of public welfare to the nation. From 1911 the title was ac ...

". Later he was awarded a "Rao Bahadur" title and in 1923, a "Diwan Bahadur" title was bestowed upon him. At the opening of the Victoria Students Hostel on 29 January 1900, Sir Arthur Havelock,

governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized be ...

said: Namberumal Chetty was also the first native Indian in Madras city to own an automobile.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chetty, T. Namberumal Businesspeople from Chennai 1856 births 1925 deaths Dewan Bahadurs 20th-century Indian architects 19th-century Indian architects Artists from Chennai Engineers from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian engineers