Nyapathi Subba Rao Pantulu (14 January 1856 – 15 January 1941) was an Indian politician and social activist who served as a member of the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was init ...

between 1893 and 1909. He was also one of the founders of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

''.

Early life

Pantulu was born in a

Deshastha Madhva Brahmin Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and northern area of the state of Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha B ...

family in

Nellore Nellore is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of the district, as well as Nellore mandal and Nellore revenue division. It is the fourth most p ...

on 14 January 1856, but later moved to

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry, officially known as Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and District headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the sixth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the District of Rajah ...

. His father Veera Raghava Rao worked in the Customs Department (Salt Branch) in the Madras Government. His mother was Rangamma. As a student, Subba Rao was known for his intelligence and industry. After passing the Matriculation examination, he joined the Christian College at Madras and obtained his B.A degree in 1876. Three years later, he obtained his law degree. After qualifying for the Bar, he set up his practice at Rajahmundry in 1880. At Rajahmundry, he came into contact with Kandukuri Veeresalingam

Kandukuri Veeresalingam Kandukuri Veeresalingam (16 April 1848 27 May 1919) was a social reformer and writer from the Madras Presidency, British India. He is considered as the father of the Telugu Renaissance movement. He was one of the early social reformers who en ...

, the well known Andhra social reformer. Subba Rao was attracted by the literary and social reform activities of Veeresalingam. Within a few years Subba Rao became a leading lawyer in

Literary Interests

Subba Rao was interested in journalism and Telugu literature. While studying in Madras, he founded ''The Hindu'' in 1878 along with his friends G. Subramania Iyer and

M. Veeraraghavachariar Mudumbai Veeraraghavachariar (1857-1906) was an Indian journalist, freedom-fighter and teacher from the erstwhile Madras Presidency. He was one of the founders of ''The Hindu'' newspaper and served as its Managing Director from 1878 to 1905. Ear ...

. He also founded two other journals : ''Chintamani'' in Telugu and ''Indian Progress'' in English. ''Chintamani'' encouraged the writing of Telugu novels by instituting annual awards.

Political Activities

Pantulu was involved in politics from his early life. He served as the first Chairman of the Rajahmundry municipality. He attended the first session of the Indian National Congress held at Bombay in 1885. In 1892, he was elected as a member of the Madras Legislative Council. In 1894, he presided over the annual session of the Krishna District Association. In the following year he established the Godavari District Association. He presided over the annual session of the Madras Provincial Conference held at Visakhapatnam on 5 June 1907.

Indian Independence Movement

Subbarao was a moderate by conviction. He did not support the activists of the extremists. At the same time, he supported the Swadeshi Movement as it fostered the growth of indigenous industries. Along with C.Y. Chintamani he toured the coastal Andhra districts to propagate Swadeshi. Pantulu was elected as the General Secretary of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

in 1914 and remained in that position till 1917. When the

Andhra Mahasabha Andhra Mahasabha (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర మహాసభ, IAST: ''Āndhra mahāsabha'') was a people's organisation in the erstwhile Hyderabad state of India. The organization spearheaded people's awareness and people's movements among the Telu ...

held its second session at

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

on 11 April 1914, Pantulu presided over the meeting in which he demanded a separate Andhra state for Telugu-speaking people of Madras Presidency. This resulted in the formation of the Andhra Congress Council on 22 January 1918 with Pantulu as its first President and Konda Venkatappaiah as its Secretary.

Death

Pantulu died in late 1940 at the age of 84. In a tribute which appeared in ''The Hindu'' in January 1941, Pantulu was hailed as "a man of magnificent vitality" and "a promoter of 'liberal Hinduism'".

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pantulu, N. Subba Rao 1856 births 1940 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh People from Nellore Indian independence activists from Andhra Pradesh Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India