Rao Saheb Gangadhara Ganapati Sastriar (born 1876) was an Indian lawyer, judge and civil servant in Pudukkottai State. His career in the princely state's administration extended from legal practice and the judiciary to membership of the State Council and, eventually, the office of Dewan. He acted as Dewan from 25 October to 15 December 1926 while K. Kunjunni Menon was on leave, and became Dewan again when a Council of Administration was formed in 1929. The official list of administrators dates this latter tenure from 1 March 1929 until his retirement on 4 March 1931.
Early life and education Sastriar was born in 1876 into a family with a long association with law, scholarship and music in southern India. His grandfather, Thiruvalangadu Tyagaraja Sastri, combined a career in law with that of a veena musician and was appointed Chief Vakil of Pudukkottai. His son Gangadhara Sastri, Ganapati Sastriar's father, succeeded him and continued both the family's legal and musical traditions.
Ganapati Sastriar studied at Maharaja's College in Pudukkottai, later H. H. The Rajah's College, before graduating from St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli. He subsequently obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from Madras Law College. The Pudukkottai State Manual likewise names him among the former students of Maharaja's College who went on to occupy the highest offices of the State.
His brother F. G. Natesa Iyer later became prominent in the cultural life of southern India, particularly through his work in Tamil theatre and classical music, alongside a career with the South Indian Railway.
Legal and administrative career Sastriar enrolled at the Pudukkottai Bar in 1900. He went on to serve successively as State Vakil and Public Prosecutor, Puisne Judge and Chief Judge, establishing a career within the same State administration in which his father and grandfather had practised law.
His involvement in the executive administration was already established by 1914. The State Manual records him as acting councillor from 11 May to 8 October 1914 and as a councillor from 10 July 1915. He continued in the State Council under successive superintendents, remaining a councillor in the administration recorded from 12 February 1920 to 23 October 1922.
During the regency that followed, K. Kunjunni Menon served as Dewan. When Menon went on leave between 25 October and 15 December 1926, Sastriar, who was then Chief Judge, was appointed acting Dewan.
Dewan of Pudukkottai A new phase began in 1929 during the minority of Rajagopala Tondaiman. Under orders of the Government of India, the regency continued until 28 February, when a Council of Administration was constituted with Dewan Bahadur T. Raghaviah Pantulu as president, Sastriar as Dewan and P. S. Sivagnana Mudaliar as ex-officio councillor. Although the Council itself was constituted on 28 February, the State Manual's formal list of administrators dates Sastriar's Dewanship from 1 March 1929.
The British Government conferred on him the title Rao Saheb during 1929. His years as Dewan coincided with several changes in the State's educational and social administration. The State Manual records that elementary co-education was encouraged: the number of schools maintained exclusively for girls fell from 18 in 1927–28 to six in 1931–32, while the Rani's Lower Secondary School was raised to high-school status in 1929–30. Separate schools for Adi-Dravida pupils were also gradually discontinued, and from 1929–30 they were admitted to other State schools.
Sastriar had a particular interest in the Scouting movement. The Manual describes him as an enthusiastic scout and records that in 1929–30 he organised a camp for the training of Scoutmasters and arranged for an Organising Secretary to develop the movement in the State.
His views also entered debates over temple administration. In a note on the report of the State's Devastanam Committee, Sastriar recommended ending the services of devadasis and the Chinnamelam establishment in State temples and enfranchising the jivanam grants attached to them. The State government had already prohibited the dedication of minor girls as dasis in 1925.
From 26 September 1930 to 25 February 1931, Raghaviah was in London in connection with the Round Table Conference. During his absence the administration was carried on by a Dewan-in-Council headed by Sastriar, with P. S. Sivagnana Mudaliar and E. K. Govindan as councillors. Sastriar retired from State service on 4 March 1931. Govindan succeeded him as Dewan from 5 March.
Later life and family After leaving Pudukkottai service, Sastriar settled in Madras at Chintamani, a house he had built on Edward Elliot's Road, the present-day Radhakrishnan Salai. He subsequently served on the Senate of the University of Madras.
His son, G. Tyagaraja Sastri, also trained in law and practised for a time before joining All India Radio, where he eventually rose to the post of Director-General.
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