C. P. Ramaswami Iyer

The ancestors of C. P. Ramaswami Iyer were Vadadesa Vadama Brahmins whose seat was the town of Chetput in the North Arcot of Tamil Nadu.[1][2] The family traces their lineage to Dikshit brahmins whom they believed, were Deshastha Brahmins who migrated from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to the town of Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh from where they migrated to the northern part of Tamil Nadu in the 16th century AD.[2] As a reward for their piety and scholarship, the migrants were granted the villages of Chetput, Adayapalayam and Morakkaniyur by a local chieftain.[2] Ramaswami Iyer's family originated from the group which inherited the village of Chetput.[2] C. P. was also related to Achan Dikshitar, brother of the famous Advaitist savant Appayya Dikshitar.[3] C. P.'s grandfather, Chetput Ramaswami Iyer served the British East India Company as Tehsildar of Kumbakonam.[4] His family was deeply attached to the Sringeri mutt.

Chetpet Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer was born on Deepavali day, 13 November 1879 to C. R. Pattabhirama Iyer, a prominent judge, (1857–1903) and his wife Seethalakshmi Ammal, also called Rangammal in the town of Wandiwash, North Arcot.[5] C. P. had his schooling at the Wesley College High School in Madras.[6] He had an extremely strict upbringing as a result of a prediction that the child would not pass a single exam in his life.[6] On completion of his schooling, C. P. enrolled at the Presidency College, Madras.[7] In college, C. P. won prizes in English, Sanskrit and Mathematics and the Elphinstone Prize for his paper on the Nebular theory.[8] C. P. passed his degree with a gold medal and graduated with distinction from the Madras Law College.[8]

C. P. had always desired to become an English professor. However, his father, Pattabhirama Iyer wished that his son become a lawyer and accordingly, C. P. chose a career in law.[9] C. P. spent his college vacations in the Mysore kingdom with the Diwan, Sir K. Seshadri Iyer whom he always claimed as his inspiration.[8][9]

In 1903, C. P. joined V. Krishnaswamy Iyer as an apprentice.[10][11] Just before the death of Pattabhirama Iyer the same year, he arranged for C. P.'s admission as a junior to Sir V. Bhashyam Aiyangar[12] but the latter was not able to accommodate him.[13] As a result, C. P. practised on his own and made a reputation as a lawyer.[13] He fought and won over 300 cases[13] and was offered a judgeship of the Madras High Court which he, however, turned down.[14] In 1920, he was appointed Advocate-General of Madras by the then Governor, Lord Willingdon.[11][14] During his tenure as a lawyer, C.P. handled a number of prominent cases as the Ashe murder trial[13] and the Besant Narayaniah case.[15]

In his early days, C. P. was an admirer of Gopal Krishna Gokhale and desired to join the Servants of India society in Poona.[9] In 1912, he fought on behalf of Jiddu Narayaniah against Annie Besant for the custody of his sons J. Krishnamurti and Nityananda in the famous Besant Narayaniah trial and won.[11][15][16] Besant, however, later got the verdict annulled by appealing to the Privy Council in England.[16] However, as a result of this case, C. P. developed an admiration for Annie Besant[16] and collaborated with her in organising the Home Rule League and served as its vice-president.[11][17] In 1917, he became the Secretary of the Indian National Congress.[11][17] C. P. also edited Annie Besant's newspaper New India during her incarceration.[11][17] at the same time, campaigning vigorously for her release.[11] C. P., later, distanced himself from the Indian Independence after disagreeing with Mahatma Gandhi over the Swadeshi and Non-Cooperation movements.[18]

A sketch of Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer in a London newspaper during the Third Round Table Conference

In 1920, C. P. was nominated as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency. He was responsible for the introduction of the City Municipalities Act and the Madras Local Boards Act. In 1923, he was nominated to the executive council of the Governor of Madras and was charged with the portfolios of law and order, police, Public Works Department, irrigation, ports and electricity.[19]

As a member of the executive council, C. P. laid the foundation of the Pykara Dam which was constructed between 1929 and 1932 at a cost of Rs. 67.5 million.[20] He also started the construction of Mettur Dam over the Cauvery river.[20] While the Pykara Hydro-electric project triggered the rapid industrialization of Coimbatore,[21] the Mettur project was used to irrigate vast areas of Tanjore and Trichy districts.[22] As the member in charge of ports, C. P. was also responsible for the improvement of Cochin, Visakhapatnam and Tuticorin ports.[21]

As law member, C. P. was also instrumental in passing the Devadasi Abolition Bill proposed by Muthulakshmi Reddy.[23] However, owing to strong protests from devadasis across Madras Presidency, C. P. suggested that the bill be introduced only as a private bill and not a government measure.[23]

Between 1926 and 1927 he was the Indian Delegate at the League of Nations in Geneva.[24] By 1931 he was a Law Member of the Government of India[25] and in 1932 attended the Third Round Table Conference at London.[24] In 1933 he was the sole Indian delegate to the World Economic Conference and the next year he drafted a constitution for the state of Kashmir.

Bhaktivilas, the residence of Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer while serving as the Diwan of Travancore

In 1931, when Chithira Thirunal was barred from succeeding his deceased uncle as the Maharaja of Travancore, C. P. spoke on his behalf to the Viceroy of India.[26] The Viceroy agreed to crown Chithira Thirunal but only on the condition that C. P. should function as adviser to the young monarch.[27] C. P. agreed and served as Legal and Constitutional adviser to the prince from 1931 to 1936.[27] In 1936, Maharajah Chithira Thirunal personally requested C. P. to be the Diwan of Travancore. C. P. accepted the offer and served as Diwan for a period of ten years.[28]

After he resigned his Dewanship of Travancore, C. P. left for London. In the same year, he visited Brazil on the invitation of the Government of Brazil and Argentina, Peru and Mexico as a tourist.[43] He also visited the United States of America where he gave talks at the University of California, Berkeley, and had discussions with important bank executives, journalists and US President Harry S. Truman.[43] In 1949–50, he visited the United States again as a Visiting Professor of the American Academy of Asian Studies at California.[43] In 1952, he toured Australia and New Zealand as a guest of the respective governments and visited the United States again in 1953 on a lecture tour.[44] From 1 July 1954 to 2 July 1956, he served as the Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University. From 26 January 1955, C. P. also served as a Vice Chancellor of Annamalai University, thereby becoming the first Indian to function as Vice Chancellor of two universities at the same time.[45] In 1953, C.P. was appointed member of the Press Commission of India.[46] Two years later, C. P. toured China as the leader of an Indian universities delegation.[46] C. P. served as a member of the University Grants Commission (1955),[47] the Punjab Commission (1961),[48] the National Integration Committee on Regionalism,[47] the Chairman of the Hindu Religious Endowments Commission from 1960 to 1962[48] and President of the Inter-University board of India and Ceylon (1965).[47]

In September 1966, C. P. left for England to conduct research on a planned book titled "A History of My Times" at the India Office library.[49] At about 11:30 am, on 26 September 1966, he was in the National Liberal Club (where he had been a member for over 50 years), when he suddenly slumped on his armchair while speaking to a reporter and died instantly.[50][51] The following day, The Times carried the news of his death:

Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, jurist, scholar, statesman and wit, who died suddenly in London yesterday, was one of the outstanding Indians of his day[52]

Condolences were also offered by C. Rajagopalachari,[52] Zakir Hussain, the then President of India,[52] The Hindu,[52] The Times of India,[52] Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi[53] and K. Kamaraj.[54]

C. P. was acknowledged for his talent as a lawyer, administrator and visionary.[11] Edwin Samuel Montagu, who served as the Secretary of State for India from 1917 to 1922, described him as "one of the cleverest men in India". He is credited with having transformed Kanyakumari district into the rice-bowl of Travancore and is acclaimed for being the first person to envisage the industrialization of Madras Presidency. He is also regarded as an egalitarian[11] and the first caste Hindu lawyer to admit a Dalit, N. Sivaraj as his junior.[55] Under his leadership, Travancore became the first princely state to abolish capital punishment, first to introduce free and compulsory education and the first princely state to be connected to the rest of India by air.[56] M. G. Ramachandran, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu recollected at C. P.'s birth centenary celebrations in 1979 that C. P. was the first to introduce the midday meal scheme in the form of the Vanchi Poor Fund in Travancore.[56][57] C. N. Annadurai remarked at a speech in 1967 that C. P. was the first person in India to suggest a plan for interlinking the nation's rivers.[58][59] However, his greatest achievement is believed to be the Temple Entry Proclamation which for the first time, permitted Dalits to enter Hindu temples which he introduced despite a severe threat to his life.

C. P. was also well known for his philanthropic activities and the institutions he helped establish.[11] After his death, The C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation was established in his memory in order to promote traditional arts and crafts.[60] While serving as a law member of the executive council of the Governor of Madras, Ramaswami Iyer's agenda for social reform and opening the doors of Hindu temples for Dalits and low-caste Hindus were praised by C. Natesa Mudaliar, one of the founders of the South Indian Liberation Federation.[61] C. P. was a patron of arts and music and was member of experts committee consisting of some of the leading musicians and scholars to advise the Madras Music Academy.

C. P. was a friend of the English writer Somerset Maugham who had a prolonged discussion with while on a visit to Trivandrum.[62] Later, Maugham supplied a eulogy for the book "C. P. by his contemporaries".

He had the geniality of the politician who for years has gone out of his way to be cordial with everyone he meets. He talked very good English, fluently, with a copious choice of words, and he put what he had to say plainly, and with logical sequence. He had a resonant voice and an easy manner. He did not agree with a good deal that I said and corrected me with decision, but with courtesy that took it for granted I was too intelligent to be affronted by contradiction[62]

Indian civil servant C. S. Venkatachar wrote that the Kashmir issue might have been resolved in favour of India had Jawaharlal Nehru chosen C. P. instead of Gopalaswami Ayyangar to present India's case at the United Nations.[42] The same view was also shared by Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar.[63] While chairing the Indian Committee on National Integration, C. P. introduced the clause making it mandatory that newly elected member of Parliament and state assemblies should take an allegiance to the Indian Union.[64] It is believed that the introduction of this clause compelled the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to give up its goal of secession from the Indian Union.[64]

C. P. was an active freemason and served as a member of the Carnatic Lodge.[65]

Sir CP Ramaswami Iyer with Directors of Travancore National and quilon bank which includes C.P. Matthen (MD), K. C. Mammen Mappillai, M. O. Thomas Vakkel Modisseril(Director)

While being hailed as a modernising reformer by many, C. P. is also criticised as a capitalist, authoritarian, imperialist, anti-Christian and anti-Communist by some.[41][42] C. P. has been sharply criticized for failing to rescue the deteriorating Travancore National and Quilon Bank[41] and for cracking down on the bank and its managing director, C. P. Mathen. It is believed that C.P., allegedly an anti-Christian framed the downfall of Quilon Bank, using his influence.[66] In 1946, Communist dissent over C. P.'s policies erupted in the form of the Punnapra-Vayalar revolt which was crushed with a brutal hand by Travancore army and navy.[41][67] Communist hatred over C. P.'s policies finally culminated in an assassination attempt upon the Diwan.[37][41] However, despite deep antagonism between C. P. and Communists, he opposed the dismissal of the Communist government of Kerala headed by E. M. S. Namboodiripad in 1959 by the Jawaharlal Nehru government as "unconstitutional".[68] C. P. was also labelled as a "secessionist" due to his initial reluctance in merging Travancore with the Indian Union.[37][42] Jawaharlal Nehru said of his attitude towards imperialism:

There is little now in common between us except our nationality. He is today a full-blooded apologist of British rule in India, especially during the last few years; an admirer of dictatorship in India and elsewhere, and himself a shining ornament of autocracy in an Indian state.[41]

His attempt to negotiate a trade agreement with Pakistan on behalf of Travancore was viewed as a betrayal by most Indians.[42]

In 1895, at the age of 16, C. P. was married to nine-year-old Seethamma (1886–1930), granddaughter of Indian polyglot and judge C. V. Runganada Sastri.[69] She died in March 1930[70][71] leaving behind three sons, C. R. Pattabhiraman, C. R. Venkata Subban and C. R. Sundaram.[72] Pattabhiraman participated in the Indian Independence Movement and was active in the Indian National Congress even after C. P.'s resignation from the party.[72] He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kumbakonam in 1957 and 1962[72] and served as Deputy Minister and later, Minister of Industries from 1966 to 1967.[73] Pattabhiraman was also one of the founders of the Madras Cricket Club along with P. Subbarayan.[73]

• Somerset Maugham named a character in his 1932 novel The Narrow Corner "Ramaswami Iyer" after C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, whom he had met on a visit to India.
• Vaikom Muhammad Basheer wrote a collection of essays titled Dharmarajyam against the policies of C. P. Ramaswami Iyer. The book was banned and it is said that Basheer himself got these essays printed and sold them at local shops and households, going on foot. Basheer was arrested and jailed for two years later.
• Veteran Tamil film actor Nassar played the role of C. P. Ramasami Iyer in the 1998 Malayalam movie Rakthasakshikal Sindabad.[74]

• C. P. Ramaswami Iyer (1966). Gokhale: the man and his mission: Gopal Krishna Gokhale birth centenary lectures. Servants of India Society.
• C. P. Ramaswami Iyer (1968). Biographical vistas: sketches of some eminent Indians. Asia Publishing House.

• Shakunthala Jagannathan (1999). Sir C. P. Remembered. Vakils, Feffer and Simmons Ltd. ISBN 81-87111-27-5.
• "C. P. Ramaswami Aiyer". Some Madras Leaders. 1922. pp. 76–81.
• Lapierre, Dominique; Larry Collins (1997). Freedom at midnight. Vikas Publishing House. ISBN 81-259-0480-8.
• Balasubramaniam, K. M. (1934). South Indian Celebrities Vol 1. Madras: Solden & Co. pp. 36–54.
• "Biography and timeline at the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation website". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
• Sreedhara Menon. Sir C.P. Thiruvithamcore Charithrathil (in Malayalam).

• Saroja Sundarrajan (2002). Sir C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar, a biography. Allied Publishers. ISBN 978-81-7764-326-8.
• K. Swaminathan (1959). "C. P.," by his contemporaries: being a commemoration volume issued on the occasion of the eighty-first birthday of Sir C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar. C.P.'s Eighty-First Birthday Celebration Committee.
• K. C. George (1975). Immortal Punnapra-Vayalar. Communist Party of India.
• P. G. Sahasranama Iyer (1945). Selections from the writings and speeches of Sachivottama Sir C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar, Dewan of Travancore. Government Press.
• K. R. Venkataraman (1927). A glimpse of Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer Kt. at Trichinopoly. St. Joseph's Industrial School Press.
• Speeches of Sachivottama Sir C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar ... Dewan of Travancore. Government Press. 1942.