C. Vijayaraghavachariar
Encyclopedia
Chakravarti Vijayaraghavachariar (18 June 1852 - 19 April 1944) was an Indian politician
. He rose to prominence following his appeal against the charges alleging him to have instigated a Hindu - Muslim riot
in Salem (now in Tamil Nadu
). The legal battle and eventual victory in proving his innocence earned him the title The Lion of South India.
He entered politics as a member of the Salem Municipal Council in 1882. His prominence in the national media and friendship with Allan Octavian Hume
, a civil servant and reformer, led him to be invited to the first sessions of the Indian National Congress
. Once within the Congress, he rose to serve as its president in 1920.
He played a key role in framing the Swaraj Constitution. He also was part of the Propaganda Committee of the Congress and thus served in spreading the ideologies of the party to the masses. Apart from his role in the Congress, he also served as the president of Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindu nationalist
party, in 1931.
family in the village of Pon Vilaindha Kalathur, in the district of Chengalpattu in the state of Madras Presidency
, in what was then the British Raj
. His father, Sadagoparchariar, was a priest and raised his son as an orthodox religious believer. At a very early age, Vijayaraghavachariar was sent to a school in his village where he learned Sanskrit
and the Vedas
, the holy language and the scriptures of Hinduism
respectively. His English education began when he was twelve. He joined the Pachaiyappa High School
and passed out in 1870, ranking second in the Madras Presidency, the province that included most of South India
. He joined Presidency College in Madras (now Chennai
) the following year, graduated in 1875, and the same year was appointed a lecturer there. He was transferred to the Government College, Mangalore
, and after three years resigned his post. Subsequently he joined the Salem Municipal College as a lecturer in English and mathematics.
broke out in the city. Vijayaraghavachariar was charged for instigating the violence that led to demolition of a Mosque
and was sentenced to prison for ten years. Nevertheless, he fought the charges in the Court of Law and finally proved his innocence. Fighting the case for those implicated in the Salem riots of 1882 made Vijayaraghavachariar famous overnight. Subsequently through his efficiency in advocacy he successfully pleaded to Lord Ripon for others who were sentenced for the riots to be released from Andaman Cellular Prison
. Besides, he took objection to his being disqualified from the membership of the Municipal Council, Salem, of which he a member during the period of the riot. As a result of his appeal, he was not only reinstated in the Municipal Council, but was able to obtain from the Secretary of State for India
a sum of Rs 100 as a nominal damage for removing him from the Municipal Council during the period. He also proceeded against the witnesses who falsely deposed against him and got them convicted. The Salem riots of 1882 made Vijayaraghavachariar famous overnight. The riot case was highly publicised in the Indian national media and newspapers hailed him as a great champion of civil liberties. Thus came to be called The Lion of South India and "The Hero of Salem".
which body he served for 6 years, till 1901.
was started in 1885 Vijayaraghavachari attended the first convention as one of the special invitees. He was a close associate of A. O. Hume
, the founder of the Congress. Even prior to December 1885, Vijayaraghavachariar had suggested to Hume that a national organization like the Indian National Congress which he was proposing to create should be political in outlook and at the same time should look into the economic and social needs of the masses. He felt that only then the influence of such a body could spread wide all over the country. He attended the Bombay session of the Congress and in 1887 he was one of the members of the committee which drafted the constitution of the Indian National Congress. He held high influence in the Congress that most of the early names in Congress history were either his friends or co-worker. His counsels and leadership were much sought after by the Congressmen of the early days. In 1899 (fifteenth session of the Congress, Lucknow) he was made a member of the Indian Congress Propaganda Committee. Through the Propaganda Committee he commanded a wide national influence and played a very key role in spreading the message of the Congress throughout the length and breadth of the country. It was as a result of the committee's work that multitudes were brought within the fold of the Congress.
, Bal Gangadhar Tilak
, Gopal Krishna Gokhale
, Dr. Ansari, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan
, Lala Lajpat Rai
, C. Rajagopalachari and Motilal Nehru
. With the advent of Mahatma Gandhi
's non-violent ideologies in the party, there was a rift in the Congress ranks between the old moderates and the new radicals. Vijiaraghavachariar was a Nationalist and the Moderate Congress policy did not appeal to his judgement. He, therefore, stood aloof from the Congress after the organisation split following Surat session. Nevertheless, he later joined to carry the message of Gandhi. The climax of his political career came when in 1920 he was elected to preside over the Indian National Congress Session at Nagpur
, where Gandhi's advocacy of Poorna Swaraj through non-violent non-cooperation was debated and accepted. He, with his powerful oratory, gave many a wordy battle to C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru
on the question of the Council Entry Programme drawn up by them. He was also in the vanguard of the opposition to the Simon Commission
that toured the country in 1929. He took an active part in the Committee that met under Motilal Nehru to frame the Constitution for Congress. He appealed to the League of Nations
to intervene and arbitrate in the Indian deadlock that proceeded after the Simon Commission. He considered that the League of Nations as the hope of humanity.
with which he was associated till 1916. At Delhi he worked in close co-operation with great leaders like Madan Mohan Malaviya
, Surendranath Banerjea
and Gopala Krishna Gokhale. In the third session of the Congress was held at Madras in December 1887 which was presided over by Badruddin Tyabji a historic decision was taken to draw up the Constitution of the Indian National Congress. Vijayaraghavachariar was the leading member of this Committee. It was he who drafted the Constitution of the Congress which became the Swaraj Constitution for India. He performed this task with great care and ability and won the appreciation of all his colleagues.
and economic and social distress. Though an anti-imperialist, he had life-long friendship with some of the representatives of Imperialism in India, viz., Governors and Viceroys. Lord Ripon, Lord Curzon, Lord Pentland
, Lord and Lady Hardinge
, Sir Conran Smith and Sir William Meyer were his friends from the Imperialistic Bloc, while Eardley Norton
, the great Advocate, who argued his Salem Riots Case and saved him from transportation to the Andamans, was his intimate friend. Edwin Montague
, the then Secretary of State for India, commented that Vijayaraghavachariar was a vigorous thinker but with impractical ideas.
.
Politics of India
The politics of India takes place within the framework of a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of India is head of state and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President and is independent of the legislature...
. He rose to prominence following his appeal against the charges alleging him to have instigated a Hindu - Muslim riot
Religious violence in India
Religious violence in India includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group, often in the form of rioting...
in Salem (now in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
). The legal battle and eventual victory in proving his innocence earned him the title The Lion of South India.
He entered politics as a member of the Salem Municipal Council in 1882. His prominence in the national media and friendship with Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume was a civil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead the Indian independence movement...
, a civil servant and reformer, led him to be invited to the first sessions of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
. Once within the Congress, he rose to serve as its president in 1920.
He played a key role in framing the Swaraj Constitution. He also was part of the Propaganda Committee of the Congress and thus served in spreading the ideologies of the party to the masses. Apart from his role in the Congress, he also served as the president of Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindu nationalist
Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expressions of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of historical India...
party, in 1931.
Early years
Vijayaraghavachariar was born on June 18, 1852 into a Vaishnavite BrahminBrahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
family in the village of Pon Vilaindha Kalathur, in the district of Chengalpattu in the state of Madras Presidency
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
, in what was then the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. His father, Sadagoparchariar, was a priest and raised his son as an orthodox religious believer. At a very early age, Vijayaraghavachariar was sent to a school in his village where he learned Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
, the holy language and the scriptures of Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
respectively. His English education began when he was twelve. He joined the Pachaiyappa High School
Pachaiyappa's College
Pachaiyappa's College is one of the oldest educational institutions in Chennai, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The college was established as Pachaiyappa's Central Institution at Popham's Broadway on January 1, 1842, from money given in Pachaiyappa Mudaliar's will. It was the first Hindu...
and passed out in 1870, ranking second in the Madras Presidency, the province that included most of South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
. He joined Presidency College in Madras (now Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
) the following year, graduated in 1875, and the same year was appointed a lecturer there. He was transferred to the Government College, Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
, and after three years resigned his post. Subsequently he joined the Salem Municipal College as a lecturer in English and mathematics.
Career as lawyer
During his time in Salem Municipal College Vijayaraghavachariar took Law examinations privately without attending formal classes and qualified as a pleader in 1881.Salem riot
In 1882, a short time after Vijayaraghavachariar had set up practice in Salem an riotSalem Riots of 1882
The Salem Riots of 1882 is a term used to refer to serious Hindu-Muslim disturbances which took place in the city of Salem, Tamil Nadu in the then Madras Presidency in August 1882.- Causes :...
broke out in the city. Vijayaraghavachariar was charged for instigating the violence that led to demolition of a Mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
and was sentenced to prison for ten years. Nevertheless, he fought the charges in the Court of Law and finally proved his innocence. Fighting the case for those implicated in the Salem riots of 1882 made Vijayaraghavachariar famous overnight. Subsequently through his efficiency in advocacy he successfully pleaded to Lord Ripon for others who were sentenced for the riots to be released from Andaman Cellular Prison
Cellular Jail
The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī , was a colonial prison situated in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. The prison was used by the British especially to exile political prisoners to the remote archipelago...
. Besides, he took objection to his being disqualified from the membership of the Municipal Council, Salem, of which he a member during the period of the riot. As a result of his appeal, he was not only reinstated in the Municipal Council, but was able to obtain from the Secretary of State for India
Secretary of State for India
The Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister responsible for the government of India and the political head of the India Office...
a sum of Rs 100 as a nominal damage for removing him from the Municipal Council during the period. He also proceeded against the witnesses who falsely deposed against him and got them convicted. The Salem riots of 1882 made Vijayaraghavachariar famous overnight. The riot case was highly publicised in the Indian national media and newspapers hailed him as a great champion of civil liberties. Thus came to be called The Lion of South India and "The Hero of Salem".
Entry into politics
Vijayaraghavachariar's entry into the public life began with his membership of the Salem Municipal Council in 1882. In 1895 he was elected to the Madras Legislative CouncilMadras Legislative Council
Tamil Nadu Legislative Council is the upper house of the 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 initially created as an advisory body in 1861, by the British...
which body he served for 6 years, till 1901.
Indian National Congress
When the Indian National CongressIndian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
was started in 1885 Vijayaraghavachari attended the first convention as one of the special invitees. He was a close associate of A. O. Hume
Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume was a civil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead the Indian independence movement...
, the founder of the Congress. Even prior to December 1885, Vijayaraghavachariar had suggested to Hume that a national organization like the Indian National Congress which he was proposing to create should be political in outlook and at the same time should look into the economic and social needs of the masses. He felt that only then the influence of such a body could spread wide all over the country. He attended the Bombay session of the Congress and in 1887 he was one of the members of the committee which drafted the constitution of the Indian National Congress. He held high influence in the Congress that most of the early names in Congress history were either his friends or co-worker. His counsels and leadership were much sought after by the Congressmen of the early days. In 1899 (fifteenth session of the Congress, Lucknow) he was made a member of the Indian Congress Propaganda Committee. Through the Propaganda Committee he commanded a wide national influence and played a very key role in spreading the message of the Congress throughout the length and breadth of the country. It was as a result of the committee's work that multitudes were brought within the fold of the Congress.
Relationship with other Congress leaders
Vijayaraghavachariar’s close associates in the Congress included Dadabhai NaorojiDadabhai Naoroji
Dadabhai Naoroji , known as the Grand Old Man of India, was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political leader. His book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India brought attention to the draining of India's wealth into Britain...
, Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Lokmanya Tilak –, was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer and independence fighter who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities derogatorily called the great leader "Father of the Indian unrest"...
, Gopal Krishna Gokhale
Gopal Krishna Gokhale
Gopal Krishna Gokhale, CIE was one of the founding social and political leaders during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Servants of India Society...
, Dr. Ansari, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan
Hakim Ajmal Khan
Ajmal Khan was an Indian physician specialising in the field of South Asian traditional Unani medicine as well as a Muslim nationalist politician and freedom fighter. Through his founding of the Tibbia College in Delhi, he is credited with the revival of Unani medicine in early 20th century...
, Lala Lajpat Rai
Lala Lajpat Rai
Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian author, freedom fighter and politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian fight for freedom from the British Raj. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari or Sher-e-Punjab meaning the samem and was part of the Lal Bal Pal trio...
, C. Rajagopalachari and Motilal Nehru
Motilal Nehru
Motilal Nehru was an early Indian independence activist and leader of the Indian National Congress, who remained Congress President twice, and...
. With the advent of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
's non-violent ideologies in the party, there was a rift in the Congress ranks between the old moderates and the new radicals. Vijiaraghavachariar was a Nationalist and the Moderate Congress policy did not appeal to his judgement. He, therefore, stood aloof from the Congress after the organisation split following Surat session. Nevertheless, he later joined to carry the message of Gandhi. The climax of his political career came when in 1920 he was elected to preside over the Indian National Congress Session at Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
, where Gandhi's advocacy of Poorna Swaraj through non-violent non-cooperation was debated and accepted. He, with his powerful oratory, gave many a wordy battle to C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru
Motilal Nehru
Motilal Nehru was an early Indian independence activist and leader of the Indian National Congress, who remained Congress President twice, and...
on the question of the Council Entry Programme drawn up by them. He was also in the vanguard of the opposition to the Simon Commission
Simon Commission
The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British Members of Parliament that had been dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reform in Britain's most important colonial dependency. It was commonly referred to as the Simon Commission after its chairman, Sir John Simon...
that toured the country in 1929. He took an active part in the Committee that met under Motilal Nehru to frame the Constitution for Congress. He appealed to the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
to intervene and arbitrate in the Indian deadlock that proceeded after the Simon Commission. He considered that the League of Nations as the hope of humanity.
Constitution for Indian National Congress
Earlier in 1913 he was elected to the Imperial Legislative CouncilImperial Legislative Council
The Imperial Legislative Council was a legislature for India during the middle years of the British Raj.The Indian Councils Act 1909 increased the number of members of the Legislative Council to sixty, of which twenty-seven were to be elected...
with which he was associated till 1916. At Delhi he worked in close co-operation with great leaders like Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya was an Indian educationist, and freedom fighter notable for his role in the Indian independence movement and his espousal of Hindu nationalism...
, Surendranath Banerjea
Surendranath Banerjea
Sir Surendranath Banerjee was one of the earliest Indian political leaders during the British Raj. He founded the Indian National Association, one of the earliest Indian political organizations, and later became a senior leader of the Indian National Congress...
and Gopala Krishna Gokhale. In the third session of the Congress was held at Madras in December 1887 which was presided over by Badruddin Tyabji a historic decision was taken to draw up the Constitution of the Indian National Congress. Vijayaraghavachariar was the leading member of this Committee. It was he who drafted the Constitution of the Congress which became the Swaraj Constitution for India. He performed this task with great care and ability and won the appreciation of all his colleagues.
Achievements and social outlook
Vijayaraghavachariar advocated post-puberty marriage for women and also the right of a daughter to have a share in her father's property. He advoDalit|Classes]]. He rendered great assistance to Swami Sharathananda in his work connected with the Anti-Untouchability League. His multi-sided personality also found expression in his participation in the organization of the Hindu Mahasabha. He presided over the All India Hindu Mahasabha Sessions at Akola in 1931. He was one of the two Vice Presidents of the Madras' Branch of the Passive Resistance Movement. Mahatma Gandhi was its President; the other Vice-President was G. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, Editor of the Hindu. His powerful advocacy of the cause of labour and the non Brahmins bear ample testimony to the largeness of his heart. He was also munificent in his donations to causes dear to him. The Anti-Untouchability League and the Congress Propaganda Organization in England in its early days received liberal financial support from him. His life was filled with relentless struggle against ImperialismImperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
and economic and social distress. Though an anti-imperialist, he had life-long friendship with some of the representatives of Imperialism in India, viz., Governors and Viceroys. Lord Ripon, Lord Curzon, Lord Pentland
John Sinclair, 1st Baron Pentland
John Sinclair, 1st Baron Pentland, GCSI, GCIE was a Scottish Liberal Party politician, soldier, peer, administrator and Privy Councillor who served as the Secretary of Scotland from 1905 to 1912 and the Governor of Madras from 1912 to 1919.Baron Pentland was born John Sinclair to Sir John...
, Lord and Lady Hardinge
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, was a British diplomat and statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916.-Background and education:...
, Sir Conran Smith and Sir William Meyer were his friends from the Imperialistic Bloc, while Eardley Norton
Eardley Norton
John Eardley Norton was a Madras barrister, judge and politician of British origin. He was also one of the founders of the Indian National Congress and a participant in the Indian independence movement.- Early life :...
, the great Advocate, who argued his Salem Riots Case and saved him from transportation to the Andamans, was his intimate friend. Edwin Montague
Edwin Montague
Edwin Herbert Montague was a British athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.Montague won his preliminary heat in the 400 metres with a time of 50.2 seconds. He dropped his time to 49.8 seconds in the semifinals, but lost to Wyndam Halswelle who set a new Olympic record at...
, the then Secretary of State for India, commented that Vijayaraghavachariar was a vigorous thinker but with impractical ideas.
Last years
Though the leadership of the Congress in South India, passed on from his hands to C. Rajagopalachari, he contented himself with giving periodic advice on matters of public importance through his regular contributions to the Madras journals. He died on April 19, 1944. After his death, his valuable collections were treasured in the Memorial Library and Lecture Halls in Salem specially constructed and named after him. His portrait hangs on the walls of Parliament of IndiaParliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament of India comprises the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha...
.