Thaikkattusery Sankara Warrier (c. 1797 - 23 October 1856) was an Indian civil servant and administrator who served as the Diwan of the

Kingdom of Cochin The Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until 1949, when monarchy wa ...

from 1840 to 1856. His sons T. Sankunni Menon and T. Govindan Menon have also served as Diwans of Cochin.

Early life

Sankara Warrier was born in a poor

Ambalavasi Ambalavasi, more properly Ampalavasi, ( ml, അമ്പലവാസി; IAST: Ampalavāsi; ) is the generic name for a group of castes among Hindus in Kerala, India, who have traditionally rendered temple services. Castes The Ambalavasis are ...

family of

Ollur Ollur is a major suburban area and an old commercial town in the city of Thrissur of Kerala state, South India. It is about away from Swaraj Round on old National Highway 47 (India) towards Kochi. From ancient time onwards, Ollur was a major bu ...

village near Trichur in January 1797. After his early schooling in

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 ...

, Warrier migrated to Ernakulam at the age of 17 and took employment as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

in the Appeal Court. Transferred to the Diwan's office, a year later, Warrier steadily rose to become Head Rayasam (head of the correspondence department) at the age of 24. Warrier served as Head Rayasam from 1821 to 1832 and Huzur Sheristadar from 1832 to 1835. In 1835, he was appointed Diwan Peishkar or Assistant Diwan and served in the post til 1840, when he succeeded Venkitasubbaya as Diwan upon his resignation. the

. He joined the

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

state service as a clerk and rose to become Diwan in 1840. As Diwan he was noted for his administrative abilities, which enabled

to rise to the forefront among princely states. Sankara Warrier is, especially, remembered for prevailing upon the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

to issue a proclamation abolishing slavery on 16 February 1854.

Death

Sankara Warrier died in 1856 and was succeeded as Diwan by

Venkata Rayar Venkata Rayar was an Indian administrator who served as the Diwan of Cochin kingdom from 1856 to 1860. He became Diwan in 1856 on the sudden death of the then Diwan, T. Sankara Warrier. He was highly unpopular for his repressive policies. Eventual ...

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warrier, T. Sankara 1856 deaths Diwans of Cochin People from Thrissur district 1797 births