Thottakattu Sankara Warrier (d. October 23, 1856), also known simply as Sankara Warrier, was an Indian civil servant and administrator who served as the Diwan

Dewan

The originally Persian title of dewan has, at various points in Islamic history, designated various differing though similar functions.-Etymology:...

 of the Kingdom of Cochin

Kingdom of Cochin

Kingdom of Cochin was a late medieval Hindu kingdom and later Princely State on the Malabar Coast, South India...

 from 1840 to 1856. His sons T. Sankunni Menon

T. Sankunni Menon

Thottakattu Sankunni Menon CSI, also spelt as Shungoony Menon, was an Indian civil servant and administrator who served as the Diwan of the Cochin kingdom from 1860 to 1879. His administration is recognized as a period of development. Sankunni Menon's brother T...

 and T. Govindan Menon

T. Govindan Menon

Thottakattu Govindan Menon was an Indian civil servant and administrator who served as the Diwan of Cochin kingdom from 1879 to 1890. He was the younger brother of T. Sankunni Menon. It was during his tenure that the border between Cochin and Travancore kingdoms was settled.- References :...

 have also served as diwans of Cochin.

Biography

Sankara Warrier was born in a poor Nair

Nair

Nair , also known as Nayar , refers to "not a unitary group but a named category of castes", which historically embody several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom bore the Nair title. These people historically live in the present-day Indian state of Kerala...

 family of Thrissur

Thrissur

This article is about the city in India. For the district, see Thrissur district. For the urban agglomeration area of Thrissur see Thrissur Metropolitan Area...

 in the Kingdom of Cochin

Kingdom of Cochin

Kingdom of Cochin was a late medieval Hindu kingdom and later Princely State on the Malabar Coast, South India...

. He joined the Cochin state service as a clerk and rose to become Diwan in 1840. As Diwan he was noted for his administrative abilities, which enabled Cochin to rise to the forefront among princely states. Sankara Warrier is, especially, remembered for prevailing upon the maharaja

Maharaja

Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

to issue a proclamation abolishing slavery on February 16, 1854.