Valangaiman Sankaranarayana Srinivasa Sastri (22 September 1869 – 17 April 1946) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, administrator, educator,

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14th ...

and

Indian independence activist The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

. He was acclaimed for his oratory and command over the English language. Srinivasa Sastri was born to a poor temple priest in the village of Valangaiman near Kumbakonam, India. He completed his education at Kumbakonam and worked as a school teacher and later, headmaster in

Triplicane Triplicane, known in the vernacular as Thiruvallikeni, is one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Chennai, India. It is situated on the Bay of Bengal coast and about from Fort St George. The average elevation of the neighbourhood is 14 metres ...

, Madras. He entered politics in 1905 when he joined the Servants of India Society. Sastri served as a member 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 ...

from 1908 to 1922, but later resigned in protest against the

Non-Cooperation movement The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance.

. Sastri was one of the founding members of the Indian Liberal Party. In his later days, he was strongly opposed to the partition of India. Srinivasa Sastri 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 ...

from 1913 to 1916,

Imperial Legislative Council of India The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...

from 1916 to 1919 and the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

from 1920 to 1925. Sastri also functioned as India's delegate to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

, as member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and agent to the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

. Sastri gained worldwide fame for his prowess in the

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 ...

language. He was a close follower of

Gopal Krishna Gokhale Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( �ɡoːpaːl ˈkrɪʂɳə ˈɡoːkʰleː9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was an Indian 'moderate' political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement. Gokhale was a senior leader of the India ...

. He was also a close friend and associate of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, who addressed Sastri as his "elder brother" in writings. Sastri was made a Companion of Honour in 1930. In 1921, the

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom o ...

was conferred on him, and in 1931 he received the Freedom of the City of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. However, some members of the Indian freedom struggle such as

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

felt that Sastri was too sympathetic to the British rulers, and too co-operative with them. This was especially apparent at the

Round table conferences The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in Dec ...

where Sastri and his party member agreed to the unfair proposals of the British.

Early life and educational career

Srinivasa Sastri was born in the town of Valangaiman, Madras Presidency, India on 22 September 1869. His father, Vaidik Sankaranarayana Sastri, was a poor Hindu priest. He was educated at the Native High School in Kumbakonam and in 1887, graduated from Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai with a first class degree in English and

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 ...

. On graduation, he found employment as a teacher at Municipal College, Salem. Srinivasa Sastri married Parvathi in 1885. Jagadisan, p. 220 His granddaughters are, Parvathy, married to Ramamurti (Retd.G.M of NLC) and Kausalya, married to the renowned Indian scientist and nephew of

Sir C. V. Raman Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (; 7 November 188821 November 1970) was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering. Using a spectrograph that he developed, he and his student K. S. Krishnan discovered that when ...

S. Ramaseshan Sivaraj Ramseshan (10 October 1923 – 29 December 2003) was an Indian scientist known for his work in the field of crystallography. Ramaseshan served as director of the Indian Institute of Science and was awarded the Padma Bhushan. Ramasesh ...

. In 1894, Srinivasa Sastri was appointed headmaster of Hindu High School,

and served for a period of eight years, until 1902. During this period, he achieved fame for his proficiency in English and his good administrative skills. In his late years, he also served as Vice-Chancellor of the

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

. During his tenure as Vice-Chancellor, he demonstrated his scholarship in Sanskrit and Oriental Literature. He persuaded Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar, then Head of the Tamil Research Department, to translate Kalidasan's epic poem ''Abhignana Sakuntalam'' in Tamil. The poem was translated in the Sandam Metre and published in 1938. He delivered the Kamala lectures in Calcutta University which are widely cherished and remembered.

Politics

Srinivasa Sastri established the Madras Teachers Guild during his term as headmaster of Triplicane High School. He was one of the pioneers of the

Co-operative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

and started India's first co-operative society, the Triplicane Urban Co-operative Society (TUCS) in 1904. Srinivasa Sastri met

for the first time in 1906. He was drawn towards Gokhale's Servants of India Society and joined the organization becoming its President in 1915. He joined the

in 1908 and became the Secretary of the Madras District Congress Committee in 1911. As a member of the Congress, he was instrumental in bringing about a pact between the Congress and the

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

. Srinivasa Sastri was nominated to the

in 1913 and to the

in 1916. He opposed the

Rowlatt Act The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law that applied in British India. It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919, indefinitel ...

which empowered the Government of India to imprison anyone without trial and delivered a well-appreciated speech in the Imperial Legislative Council denouncing the bill. In 1919, he was appointed a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. In 1922, Sastri resigned his membership of the Indian National Congress after disagreeing with its leadership on the issue of non-cooperation and established the Indian Liberal Party along with

Tej Bahadur Sapru Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru (8 December 1875 20 January 1949) was an Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, and politician. He was a key figure in India's struggle for independence, helping draft the Indian Constitution. He was the leader of the Liberal pa ...

. He consequently served as a President of the Indian Liberal Federation. In 1924, he accompanied Annie Besant on a visit to England demanding

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

for India. He also participated in the first and second round table conferences.

International delegations

Srinivasa Sastri was a part of the delegation of Indian moderates who visited England in 1919. He was also a part of the Indian delegation to the Imperial Conference (1921) and the Second session of the

in 1921. As a member of the Viceregal council, Srinivasa Sastri was also a part of the British delegation which participated in the

Washington Naval Conference The Washington Naval Conference was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, DC from November 12, 1921 to February 6, 1922. It was conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations. It was attended by nine ...

and a signatory to the Five Power Naval Disarmament Treaty. During one of his speeches on "The Political Situation in India", he was accused of being a British agent and attacked by a mob and had to be hastily escorted away by mounted police. In 1922, the Government of India sent Sastri on delegations to Australia, New Zealand and Canada in order to investigate the conditions of Indians living in those countries. Due to his efforts, the Government of Australia passed the Commonwealth Electoral Act enlarging the franchise to include "natives of British India". In 1919, Srinivasa Sastri visited the Union of South Africa along with Sir Benjamin Robertson as a part of the delegation which signed the Cape Town Agreement with the Government of South Africa. As a result of this agreement, South Africa gave up its Class Area Bill intended to segregate Indians in South Africa. Initially,

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...

, the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, refused to treat Srinivasa Sastri on par with the European delegate. However, on Srinivasa Sastri's departure from South Africa as India's

Agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

in 1928, Smuts recognized Sastri as the "most respected man in South Africa". Srinivasa Sastri was sent to the Federated Malay States in 1937, to report on the conditions of the Indian labourers in the country. The delegation submitted a controversial report titled ''Conditions of Indian labour in Malaya'' which was published in Madras and

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, the very same year. Srinivasa Sastri, being the author of the report, was criticized by Indian nationalists for "his reluctance to comment at length on the political and social status of Indians in Malaya".

Agent to South Africa

On 27 May 1927, at the behest of

Lord Irwin Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...

, the

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

, appointed Srinivasa Sastri as India's first

to the

. Srinivasa Sastri arrived in South Africa in June 1927 and served as Agent till January 1929. Soon after taking over, Srinivasa Sastri successfully pressed the South African government to withdraw Section 5 of the Immigration and Indian Relief (Further Provision) Bill which empowered South African immigration officers and boards to cancel registration certificates. Through his efforts, the Natal Commission for Indian Education was appointed on 17 November 1927. With Sastri's support and encouragement, dissidents of the Transvaal British Indian Association (TBIA) founded the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) on 18 December 1927. The TBIA later merged with the South African Indian Congress. Section 104 of the Liquor Bill prohibiting Indians from entering licensed premises was withdrawn. The Thornton Committee was established in 1928 to investigate the sanitary conditions of Indians in and around Durban. During the early part of Sastri's tenure, a number of segregationary laws were passed targeting Indians and Indian immigrants in South Africa. The period also witnessed the establishment of a number of trade unions. Sastri campaigned against racial segregation of Indians and got the Class Area Bill segregating Indians withdrawn. Sastri returned to India in January 1929 and was succeeded by

Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu Rao Bahadur Sir Kurma Venkatareddy Naidu KCSI (1875–1942) was an Indian lawyer, professor, politician and Justice Party leader who served as the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 1 April 1937 to 14 July 1937. He was the last Chief Min ...

Later life and death

In 1930, Sastri was appointed a member of the Royal Commission on Labour in India. During 1930–31, he participated in the Round Table Conferences in London to discuss India's future and was instrumental in bringing about the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. In 1935, Sastri was appointed Vice-Chancellor of

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

, in Tamil Nadu, and served from 1935 to 1940. At the peak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he participated in a 15-member Indian delegation which appealed to the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill to provide dominion status to India. He strongly opposed Muslim League demands for the partition of India. In June 1940, the Government of Madras appointed a committee headed by Srinivasa Sastri to frame a set of general principles for coining words for scientific and technical terms in vernacular languages. The constitution of the committee was strongly condemned by the Madras Presidency Tamil Sangam and its Secretary E. M. Subramania Pillai who felt that Srinivasa Sastri was biased in favour of Sanskrit and hence, Anti-Tamil. The committee submitted its report after three months recommending the retention of the existing Sanskrit loanwords in Tamil and rejecting the need for them to be replaced. The deliberations of the Sastri Committee provoked widespread agitations in Madras Presidency. The committee was eventually reshuffled by Provincial Education Minister

T. S. Avinashilingam Chettiar Tiruppur Subrahmanya Avinashilingam Chettiar (5 May 1903 – 21 November 1991) was an Indian lawyer, politician, freedom-fighter and Gandhian. He served as the Education Minister of Madras Presidency from 1946 to 1949 and was responsible f ...

soon after the demise of Srinivasa Sastri and balanced with the introduction of more members supporting the replacement of Sanskrit loan words. Srinivasa Sastri's health began to deteriorate in early 1946. Kodanda Rao, p. 434 In January, Srinivasa Sastri was admitted to the General Hospital, Madras. He died at 10:30 p.m. on 17 April at the age of 76.

Silver-Tongued Orator of the British Empire

Srinivasa Sastri was known for his mastery over the English language and his oratory. As a student, he once corrected a few passages in J. C. Nesfield's ''English Grammar''. Whenever he was on visit to the United Kingdom, Sastri was often consulted over spellings and pronunciations. His mastery over the English language was recognized by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, Lady Lytton and Lord Balfour who rated him amongst the five best English-language orators of the century. The Master of Balliol, Arthur Lionel Smith swore that he had never realized the beauty of the English language until he heard Sastri. while Lord Balfour remarked that listening to Srinivasa Sastri made him realise the heights to which the English language could rise. Thomas Smart conferred upon Sastri the appellation "Silver Tongued Orator of the British Empire" and he was so called all over the United Kingdom. Srinivasa Sastri's inspirations were

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Harvey,

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

and

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attributio ...

– Indian sage and the author of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

epic ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

''. However, others noticed that Sastri often repeated the rhetoric of the

British empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. In a meeting with students in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

in 1891, he advised students to follow the rules laid out by the British colonial government and not to disobey them. Some time later, when Annie Besant was interned due to her idea regarding

Home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

, Sastry fell silent when followers of Besant and Servants of India needed guidance the most. This led Nehru to later comment in his autobiography that while Sastri was an excellent orator, he appeared to advocate mute submission and was not very effective in times of crisis.

Relation with Mahatma Gandhi

During his tenure in the Servants of India Society, Sastri developed a close attachment with Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi often addressed Srinivasa Sastri as his "elder brother" in all their correspondences. However, despite their friendship, during his tenure as President, Srinivasa Sastri opposed Gandhi's presence in the Servants of India Society. When Gandhi sought Sastri's advice before launching his non-cooperation movement, he counselled him against it. In his later years, Sastri sternly advised Mahatma Gandhi against accepting the Muslim League demand for partition. Srinivasa Sastri corrected mistakes in the manuscript of ''

The Story of My Experiments with Truth ''The Story of My Experiments with Truth'' ( gu, Satya Na Prayogo athva Atmakatha, ) is the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. It was written in weekly installments and published in his jo ...

'', the English translation of Gandhi's autobiography and also successive issues of the magazine ''

Harijan Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

'' that was edited by Mahatma Gandhi. On Sastri's death, Gandhi paid a tribute to Sastri in a condolence message in the ''Harijan''.

Honours

Sastri was made a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1921. On 1 January 1930, he was made a Companion of Honour. The then Viceroy offered to make Sastri

Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

in 1928, but he declined the offer. In 1937, the then Governor of Madras offered to make Sastri the Acting Chief Minister of Madras Presidency but Sastri declined the offer. He also declined an offer of membership in the council of the

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

. In 1921, the Freedom of the City of London was conferred on Srinivasa Sastri. This was followed by the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh on 9 January 1931. Sastri's biography, ''The Right Honourable V.S. Srinivasa Sastri: A Political Biography'' (1963), written by his long-time political secretary P. Kodanda Rao won the Watumull Memorial Prize in 1966.

Early life and educational career

Politics

International delegations

Agent to South Africa

Later life and death

Silver-Tongued Orator of the British Empire

Relation with Mahatma Gandhi

Honours

Works

Notes

Other biographies

Further reading