Dewan Bahadur Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer (12 November 1879 – 26 September 1966), popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law member of the Executive council of the Governor of Madras from 1923 to 1928, Law member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India from 1931 to 1936 and the Diwan of Travancore from 1936 to 1947. Ramaswami Iyer was born in 1879 in Madras city and studied at Wesley College High School and Presidency College, Madras before qualifying as a lawyer from the Madras Law College. He practised as a lawyer in Madras and succeeded S. Srinivasa Iyengar as the Advocate-General of the Madras Presidency. He subsequently served as the Law member of the Governor of Madras and of the Viceroy of India before being appointed Diwan of Travancore in 1936.
Ramaswami Iyer served as Diwan from 1936 to 1947; during his tenure, many social and administrative reforms were made. However, at the same time, he is also remembered for the ruthless suppression of the communist-organized Punnapra-Vayalar revolt, and his controversial stand in favor of an independent Travancore. He resigned in 1947 following a failed assassination attempt. He served as a leader of the Indian National Congress in his early days. He was made a Knight Commander of the Indian Empire in 1926 and a Knight Commander of the Star of India in 1941. He returned these titles when India attained independence in 1947. He was also a member of the 1926 and 1927 delegations to the League of Nations. In his later life he served in numerous international organisations and on the board of several Indian universities. Ramaswami Iyer died in 1966 at the age of 86 while on a visit to the United Kingdom.
Ancestry and origins C. P. Ramaswami Iyer belonged to a Tamil Brahmin Iyer family whose ancestral place was the town of Chetput in the North Arcot of Tamil Nadu. p. 7Sir C. P. Remembered, p. 7
Ramaswami Iyer's family originated from the group which inherited the village of Chetput.
Iyer was also related to Achan Dikshitar, brother of the famous Advaitist savant Appayya Dikshitar.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 8 Iyer's grandfather, Chetput Ramaswami Iyer served the British East India Company as Tehsildar of Kumbakonam.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 9 His family was deeply attached to the Sringeri mutt.
Early life and education Ramaswami Iyer was born in a Tamil-speaking Iyer Brahmin family on Deepavali day (13 November) 1879, to C. R. Pattabhirama Iyer(1857–1902), a prominent judge, and his wife, Seethalakshmi Ammal (also called Rangammal) in the town of Wandiwash, North Arcot.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 6 Ramaswami had his schooling at the Wesley College High School in Madras.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 26 He had an extremely strict upbringing as a result of a prediction that the child would not pass a single exam in his life. On completion of his schooling, Ramaswami enrolled at the Presidency College, Madras.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 28
In college, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer won prizes in English, Sanskrit and Mathematics and the Elphinstone Prize for his paper on the Nebular theory.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 29 Ramaswami passed his degree with a gold medal and graduated with distinction from the Madras Law College.
Ramaswami had always desired to become an English professor. However, his father, Pattabhirama Iyer wished that his son become a lawyer and accordingly, Ramaswami chose a career in law. He spent his college vacations in the Mysore kingdom with the Diwan, Sir K. Seshadri Iyer whom he reportedly always claimed as his inspiration.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 35
As a lawyer In 1903, Iyer joined V. Krishnaswamy Iyer as an apprentice.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 37Some Madras Leaders Just before the death of Pattabhirama Iyer the same year, he arranged for Iyer's admission as a junior to Sir V. Bhashyam AiyangarSir C.P. Remembered, p. 38 but the latter was not able to accommodate him.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 39
As a result, Iyer practised on his own and was known as a lawyer, inheriting the case-books of his father-in-law, C.V. Sundara Sastri, and his brothers-in-law, Sir C.V. Kumaraswami Sastri, and C.V. Viswanatha Sastri, who were recently elevated to justices of the High Court. He fought and won over 300 cases, building a reputation for himself as India's foremost and highest-remunerated litigator. By 1910 he was acknowledged as the undisputed leader of the original bar at the Madras High Court, shortly after which he was selected as the President of the First All Indian Lawyers Conference held at Allahabad.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 40 Forty-two minutes, my Lord, he once announced to a judge who asked him how much time he would need to finish a case; the next several years saw him win in some of the highest-profile cases of the time, including the Ashe murder trial and the Besant Narayaniah case.,Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 48 as well as representing the Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar and the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, earning a private fortune, and rising to become the most powerful man in the Madras presidency for decades., having cultured close, even inappropriate friendships with Lord and Lady Willingdon.
In 1920, then-Governor Lord Willingdon appointed him he the youngest-ever Advocate-General of Madras, during which tenure his income rose to an unprecedented 4,000 rupees, and in which capacity he would serve as premier state prosecutor for four years, until his subsequent promotion to the Governor's Executive Law Council, and, subsequently, the Viceregal Imperial War Council.
Sir C. P. stint on the Executive Law Council was marked by an intense commitment to industrialization and lowering the levelized post of power, with Iyer championing initiatives ranging from the introduction of hydroelectricity to the Mettur, Pykara and Bhavani projects and for the development of the Cochin, Tuticorin and Vishakhapatanam ports. His superintending the completion of the hydreoelectric project at the high-altitude Pykara in until three years to completion, at an expenditure of less than 6.75 crores was particularly heralded. The more-expensive Mettur initiative, inccuring capital outlays of 385 lakh rupees, nonetheless rendered over 328,396 acres in Tanjore District fully irrigated, with excess electric power being made available downstream.
In 1920, Iyer was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly from the Tanjore-Trichinopoly constituency in the vacancy caused by the resignation of A. Rangaswamy Iyenga. On 10 July 1930, which was the first meeting of the Assembly that Iyer attended, the House was debating the Simon Commission Report on a cut motion. In 1928, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly and later to the Council of Imperial State State; further immediate distinctions followed in the form of further appointments of honour during this period included as the Indian envoy to the first and second League of Nations, and to the Third Round Table Conference.
Formal decorations rapidly followed: Sir C. P. was made a Knight Commander of the Indian Empire in 1926, and a Knight Commander of the Star of India in 1941, continually buoyed by powerful support from the likes of the Willingdons and the Junior Maharani of Travancore. Sir C. P., at the request of his old friend the Junior Maharani of Travancore, also acceded to take on a further portfolio as the underage Maharaja's constitutional and legal adviser - a sum for which he was now earning 72,000 rupees a year.
Indian Independence Movement In his early days, Iyer was an admirer of Gopal Krishna Gokhale and desired to join the Servants of India society in Poona. 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.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 49 Besant, however, later got the verdict annulled by appealing to the Privy Council in England. Iyer developed an admiration for Annie Besant and collaborated with her in organising the Home Rule League and served as its vice-president.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 51 In 1917, he became the Secretary of the Indian National Congress. He edited Besant's newspaper, New India, during her incarceration. at the same time, campaigning vigorously for her release. Iyer later distanced himself from the Indian Independence after disagreeing with Mahatma Gandhi over the Swadeshi and Non-Cooperation movements.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 54
As a member of the Executive Council of the Governor of Madras In 1920, Iyer 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.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 60
As a member of the executive council, Iyer laid the foundation of the Pykara Dam which was constructed between 1929 and 1932 at a cost of Rs. 67.5 million.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 63 He also started the construction of Mettur Dam over the Cauvery river. While the Pykara Hydro-electric project triggered the rapid industrialization of Coimbatore,Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 65 the Mettur project was used to irrigate vast areas of Tanjore and Trichy districts.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 64 As the member in charge of ports, Iyer was also responsible for the improvement of Cochin, Visakhapatnam and Tuticorin ports.
As law member, Iyer was instrumental in passing the Devadasi Abolition Bill proposed by Muthulakshmi Reddy. However, owing to strong protests from devadasis across Madras Presidency, Iyer suggested that the bill be introduced only as a private bill and not a government measure.
Between 1926 and 1927, he was the Indian Delegate at the League of Nations in Geneva.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 66 By 1931, he was a Law Member of the Government of IndiaSir C.P. Remembered, p. 69 and, in 1932, attended the Third Round Table Conference at London.
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.
Diwan of Travancore
In 1931, when Chithira Thirunal was barred from succeeding his deceased uncle as the Maharaja of Travancore, Iyer spoke on his behalf to the Viceroy of India.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 83 The Viceroy agreed to crown Chithira Thirunal but only on the condition that Iyer should function as adviser to the young monarch.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 84 Iyer agreed and served as Legal and Constitutional adviser and Regent to the prince from 1931 to 1936, drawing comensation of 72,000 rupees a year for his direct services. In 1936, Maharajah Chithira Thirunal personally requested Iyer to be the Diwan of Travancore. Iyer accepted the offer and served as Diwan for a period of ten years.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 85
Travancore-Quilon Bank Collapse
Temple Entry Proclamation
On 12 November 1936, Maharajah Chithira Thirunal issued the revolutionary Temple Entry Proclamation which gave Hindus of all castes and classes, including Dalits or untouchables, the right to enter Hindu temples in the state.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 77 This was bitterly opposed by conservative, yet influential upper-caste Hindus who posed a grave-threat to the life of the Diwan.Sir C.P. Remembered, p. 80 This proclamation earned for the Maharajah and his Diwan the praise of Mahatma Gandhi and other reformers.
Economic and industrial reforms