Sir Vishwanath Patankar Madhava Rao (10 February 1850 – 1934) was an Indian administrator and statesman who served as the 17th

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 M ...

from 1906 to 1909 and that of Baroda from 1910 to 1913.

Early life

Madhava Rao was born in February 1850 in Kumbakonam, Madras Presidency into an ancient family of Thanjavur Marathi

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, long ago settled in

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 ...

, who were supposed to have emigrated from the

Satara district Satara district (Marathi pronunciation: aːt̪aɾaː is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of and a population of 3,003,741 of which 14.17% were urban (). Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns ...

southern India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

in the wake of the Maratha conquest of Tanjore. Indian Statesmen, Dewans and Prime Ministers of Native States By G.A. Natesan , Page 113
/ref> Rao was educated at Kumbakonam College with studies under William Archer Porter. He completed his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in 1869 and was appointed as a

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

of the royal school at

Mysore Palace The Mysore Palace, also known as Amba Vilas Palace, is a historical palace and a royal residence (house). It is located in Mysore, Karnataka. It used to be the official residence of the Wadiyar dynasty and the seat of the Kingdom of Mysore. Th ...

Appointments

Madhava Rao entered the service of the Kingdom of Mysore in 1869 as a headmaster of the royal school. He was later appointed

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

of Mysore and served in the Judicial and Revenue departments. He also served as Inspector General of Police and later Plague Commissioner, Mysore Kingdom, from 1898 to 1901. Later, he served as Revenue Commissioner from 1902 to 1904 before being appointed Diwan in 1906.

Diwan of Mysore

Rao served as the Diwan of Mysore from 30 June 1906 to 31 March 1909. In 1906, a bill was passed empowering members of the Mysore Legislative Assembly to pass laws. The new legislature was constituted on 6 March 1907. The Land Revenue Code was amended to make the Revenue Commissioner the chief revenue authority and was also given charge of the treasury. Department of Public Health was created and competitive exams for the Mysore Civil Services were revived. Taxes on arecanut were revoked. Kindergarten schools were introduced in the kingdom and primary education was made free. A number of irrigation projects were undertaken. The Vani Vilas Dam was completed in 1906/1907 and the Cauvery Power Works at

Belagola __NOTOC__ Belagola , sometimes referred to as Mandya Belagola to distinguish it from Shravana Belagola, is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India.Village code= 2379400 Belagola, Mandya, Karnataka It is located about 15 kilometer ...

in 1907/1908. The government sanctioned a free grant of land to the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

. Electric lighting was introduced in the civil and military station of

city on 1 January 1908 and for all of Mysore city on 26 September 1908.

Honours

Madhava Rao was made a Order of the Indian Empire, Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1899 and was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal in 1900.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madhava Rao, V.P. 1850 births 1934 deaths Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Marathi people Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal People from Thanjavur district Diwans of Mysore Diwans of Baroda