Rai Bahadur RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Eco ...

Thandalam Gopala Rao ( mr, तंडलं गोपाळ राव, ta, தண்டலம் கோபால் ராவ்) (c. 1832 – 11 May 1886) was an Indian educator who, along with

William Archer Porter William Archer Porter (c. 1825 - d. 16 July 1890) was a British lawyer and educationist who served as the Principal of Government Arts College, Kumbakonam and tutor and secretary to the Maharaja of Mysore. Early life and education Porter was b ...

, was responsible for the growth of the Government Arts College,

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

in its early stages.

Early life

Gopala Rao was born in a Thanjavur Marathi family in the village of Ganapathi Agraharam near Kumbakonam. His grandfather Thandalam Jeevanna (also known as Ramachandra Pandit) had worked as a ''Tahsildar'' in the service of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, while his father Raghava Punt served as a revenue officer under

Serfoji II Serfoji II Bhonsle ( ta, இரண்டாம் சரபோஜி ராஜா போன்ஸ்லே, mr, शरभोजी राजे भोसले (द्वितीय)) (24 September 1777 – 7 March 1832) also spelt as Sarabho ...

. During Rao's infancy, the family moved to Tiruvadi and from there to

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

where Gopala Rao served in the Travancore service. Gopala Rao had little schooling but achieved proficiency in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. At the age of 17, Gopala Rao was employed as a clerk in the office of the collector of

Tanjore Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

. In 1851, he was promoted Manager of the Department of Public Works.

Educational career

In 1854, Gopala Rao entered the educational department as First Assistant in the newly established provincial school (later Government Arts College) at Kumbakonam. Gopala Rao passed his matriculation in 1857 and graduated in arts from the

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 ...

in first class in 1859. In 1867, the provincial school at Kumbakonam was elevated to a government arts college. Gopala Rao and William Archer Porter were instrumental for its elevation. They were also credited with having built up the reputation of the college. From 1870 to 1872, Gopala Rao acted as the Inspector of Schools, the first Indian to be appointed to the post. In reward for his success, Gopala Rao was made a fellow of the Madras University. In the same year, he succeeded William Archer Porter as the Principal of the Kumbakonam College and served till 1874. In 1878, Gopala Rao was appointed Professor of History and Political Economy at the Presidency College, Madras.

Death

In 1883, Gopala Rao was struck with fever. He hurried to Kumbakonam for rest. Gopala Rao returned to

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 ...

soon afterwards but died on 11 May 1886.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, T. Gopala 1832 births 1886 deaths 19th-century Indian educational theorists People from Thanjavur district University of Madras alumni Founders of Indian schools and colleges Scholars from Chennai Educators from Tamil Nadu