The Diwan who redefined governance

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DIWAN SIR THANJAVUR MADHAVA ROW
Life and Times of Statesman, Administrator Extraordinaire
Urmila Rau Lal
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
190 pages; Rs 365

As an avid reader of books on Indian history - especially of the 18th and 19th centuries - I am always surprised by the stories I read about the many towering personalities of that period.

Thanjavur Madhava Row was one such man, and in reading this book about him, there is much that one comes away with. For example, I was not aware that Thanjavur, as classically Tamilian a city as one could imagine, was ruled by successive Maratha rulers for many decades, and that indeed there is such a thing as a "Maratha Tamilian"!

The story of Row, one of the youngest Diwans of Kerala (then Travancore State) from 1858 to 1872, is yet more testimony to India's unique form of diversity and cultural assimilation of various communities through the shifting sands of time. This story is similar to the modern context that many of our leaders find themselves facing. Inheriting a broken administration, bankrupt finances and rampant corruption, Row transformed and rebuilt Travancore state into an ably-run, well-administered government and economy. The challenges he faced in eradicating decades of inbuilt nepotism, ineptitude, corruption and financial mismanagement were neither trivial nor easy, and it took a certain purpose and character to tackle them, despite his relatively young age.

Funnily enough, reading the book today puts the challenges faced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a not dissimilar context of having to transform and rebuild institutions of government, and in a sense, redefine the purpose of government after several years of negligence, corruption, sycophancy and ineptitude. Here, is an example: "Before Raja Thanjavur Madhava Row took up the reins of government, the administration of Travancore was in the hands of a Diwan who was unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation. The then Maharaja seemed unable to control the continued reliance of the Diwans on the then Resident than his own kind. His officers with few exceptions were corrupt. Their salaries were low and in arrears for over a year. The subsidy due to the British government remained unpaid. The Treasury was empty. All commerce was suspended owing to the difficulty of transit, and the heavy import and excise duties, while impoverishing the people; it did not enrich the State."

Kerala has always been known for the many upstanding bureaucrats it has sent to serve in the early days of our democracy, pre- and post-Independence - and although he was not a Keralite, Row is and will always be known for his time in Kerala as a Diwan, and perhaps even being the inspiration for several generations of bureaucrats and administrators that emerge from that state. It is, of course, another story - and a tragic one at that - that the legacy or administration that he perhaps started and represented is no longer visible anywhere in Kerala, except most recently in the form of the exceptional Vinod Rai (former Comptroller and Auditor General), also a Kerala cadre Indian Administrative Service officer.

Literacy and the development of education in Kerala has been the envy of all other states in India. The author notes that a large number of prestigious institutions that dot the map of Thiruvananthapuram today had their origins in Row's rule. There were many small schools and these were modernised (a princely sum of Rs 20,000 was allotted for this purpose). A central Malayalam school was started where Sanskrit was also taught. Every district had a school, 30 in all. The system of teaching was similar to that followed by English schools - and a training college for teachers was started. Because there were no books in the local language, Row ordered that the English books that were being used be translated into Malayalam.

Higher education was given special attention. The Trivandrum Sirkars schools were gradually upgraded to a first class college - the present University College and the Government Arts College are living examples of this. Two English professors - Ross and Hardy - were brought from England. A new law school was started. Those who passed were given jobs as lawyers and munsifs. Those who had studied in Malayalam were given jobs in the police department. This explains in part, the start of a tradition of Malayali domination of the lower bureaucracy!

Girls' education was given special attention. A certain Augusta M Blandford came to Trivandrum having been sent by the English Zenana Missionaries - a group set up after two British women, who saw the practice of sati in Calcutta in 1819, decided that the only way to sensitise women to this terrible ritual was to educate them. Girls were taught reading, writing, mathematics and other disciplines - which they could not learn at home.

The book is a good read for those who are interested in Kerala's history, or indeed the evolution of tall figures in Indian governance and administration. I have always been fascinated by the interplay and dynamics of Travancore state (and indeed other kingdoms) and the British, and this book sheds light on that aspect as much as on the life, times and achievements of the earliest and youngest leaders of our then nascent nation.

The reviewer is a Member of Parliament rajeev.c@nic.in