Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar

Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar

Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar (also S. Ramaswami Mudaliar; Tamil : சேலம் இராமசாமி முதலியார் CELAM Irāmacāmi Mutaliyār [ seːlʌm raːməsaːmi mud̪əlijaːr ]; born 6. September 1853 in Salem ., D 2. March 1892 in Madras ) was an Indian jurist and independence activist.

Origin, education and career as a lawyer

Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar was born on September 6, 1853 in the city of Salem in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. He came from an influential family from the Vellala caste . His father, Salem Gopalaswami Mudaliar, was a landowner and administrator ( Tehsildar ). When he was six years old, Ramaswami Mudaliar was sent to Madras (Chennai) by his parents . There he received both a traditional education in Tamil and a Western education at Presidency College and Pachaiyappa's College . In 1871 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Presidency College, followed by a Master of Arts in history and moral studies in 1873. He then qualified in law and graduated in 1875 with a Bachelor of Laws .

In 1876 Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar returned to his hometown of Salem to practice as a lawyer. In the same year he was appointed judge ( Munsif ) in the district of Trichinopoly (Tiruchirappalli). In 1880 he was transferred to Kumbakonam . In 1882 Ramaswami Mudaliar gave up the judge's career and moved to Madras, where he practiced as a lawyer again. In addition to his work, he founded a legal journal, the Law Journal, whose editor he remained until 1891, and worked at the University of Madras as an examiner for the final exams in law and Tamil. In 1887 he was made a Fellow of the University of Madras.

Independence activist

Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar belonged to the first generation of well-educated Indians who revolted against British colonial rule. In 1884 he was one of the founding members of the Madras Mahajana Sabha , which advocated better representation of Indians in administration and politics. The Madras Mahajana Sabha was closely connected to the Indian National Congress , founded in 1885 , which was to become the most important force of the independence movement.

In the run-up to the British general election in 1885 , Ramaswami Mudaliar was part of a three-person Indian delegation (consisting of him as representative of the Madras presidency and one delegate each from Bombay and Bengal ) that was sent to Great Britain to represent India's interests before the British electorate . The delegation visited London , Swansea , Newcastle upon Tyne , Birmingham and Aberdeen and performed at Liberal Party events .

After his return from England Ramaswami Mudaliar was in 1886 a member of the Public Service Commission in Calcutta who made sure that the first time, Indian officials in the civil service ( Indian Civil Service were recorded). He took part in two conferences of the Indian National Congress, 1887 in Madras and 1888 in Allahabad . However, his untimely death denied him a further political career. Ramaswami Mudaliar died on March 2, 1892 at the age of 38.

Contribution to Tamil culture

Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar had received a traditional education in addition to his Western training and showed a keen interest in Tamil literature throughout his life. In 1880 he met UV Swaminatha Iyer in Kumbakonam , who was then teaching at the college there, and gave him a manuscript copy of Sivagasindamani , a classic epic. For Swaminatha Iyer this was a key experience because it gave him access to classical Tamil literature. Swaminatha Iyer's encounter with the Sivagasindamani later led to the fact that he published the largely forgotten works of Sangam literature and thus contributed significantly to the Tamil renaissance . As a result, Ramaswami Mudaliar Swaminatha Iyer's editorial work also financially supported.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The nickname is Ramaswami , the part of the name Mudaliar indicates the caste affiliation. Salem is the name of the hometown, which, as is customary in South India, is either written out or put in front of the name in abbreviated form.
2. ↑ Govinda Parameswaran Pillai: Salem Ramasawmi Mudaliar. In: Representative Indians. Routledge, Manchester / New York 1897, pp. 208-217. (Digitized version ) , here pp. 209–210.
3. ↑ Parameswaran Pillai 1897, pp. 210-212.
4. ^ David A. Washbrook: The Emergence of Provincial Politics. The Madras Presidency 1870-1920. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1976, pp. 222-224.
5. ↑ Parameswaran Pillai 1897, pp. 213-214.
6. ↑ Parameswaran Pillai 1897, pp. 215-216.
7. ^ UV Swaminatha Iyer: The Story of My Life. translated by Kamil V. Zvelebil. Volume 2, Institute of Asian Studies, Madras 1994, pp. 367-371.
8. ^ V. Rajesh: Manuscripts, Memory and History. Classical Tamil Literature in Colonial India. Cambridge University Press India, New Delhi 2014, pp. 232-233.

literature

• Govinda Parameswaran Pillai: Salem Ramasawmi Mudaliar. In: Representative Indians. Routledge, Manchester / New York 1897, pp. 208-217. ( Digitized version )