DOYENS OF THE MADRAS BAR-PART II

The concluding part of the article:

Sir S. Subramania Iyer, an eminent freedom fighter, who along with Annie Besant formed the Home Rule Movement, was another top lawyer and jurist. After a successful practice as a vakil at Madurai, he came to Madras in 1884 and after a successful stint as a lawyer here, he was appointed an Acting Judge in 1891, before being appointed as a Judge in 1895. He also acted as the Chief Justice in 1899, 1903 and 1906, being the first Indian to do so. He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress. His residence, Beach House, on the Marina at Mylapore later became part of the Queen Mary’s College. It was here that the idea of starting a journal to report cases on the lines of already established law journals arose, thus leading to the formation of the Madras Law Journal, India’s oldest law publication, currently owned by the Wadhwa group, the Nagpur based leading law books publishers.

The name of Sir C. Sankaran Nair will forever be remembered in legal circles for being part of the bench that tried the famous Ashe Murder Case, which he as a Judge heard along with Mr. Ayling, the Chief Justice in 1911 and Mr. C.A. White, against Nilakantha Brahmachari and others. Sankaran Nair had risen to the post of Judge after a successful law practice which he setup in 1880. Besides his profession, he was involved in a number of political and administrative activities. He was appointed Secretary to the Raleigh University Commission in 1902 and made a member of the Viceroy’s Council in 1915 with the charge of Education Portfolio. As a member of the body, he made two dissentings in the Despatches on Indian Constitutional Reforms, pointing out various defects of the British Rule in India and offering suggestions, most of which were accepted. Besides these, he was an active Congressman, being appointed the President of its Amraoti Session. In recognition of his various services, he was decorated with a CIE in 1904 and was knighted in 1912. He passed away in 1934.

The multi faceted Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer was another doyen of the Madras Bar. Starting off as a lawyer, he rose to the position of Advocate General of the Madras Presidency in 1920. He was involved in a number of prominent cases such as the Ashe Murder Case and the Annie Besant Vs. Alcyone case, where he appeared against Annie Besant in the case involving custodianship of Jiddu Krishnamurthy, the famous philosopher. He was offered Judgeship of the High Court which he refused. He was also actively involved in the Home Rule League, serving as its Vice President and also editing New India, the newspaper brought out by Annie Besant, during her incarceration. He was nominated to the Executive Council of the Madras Government in 1923 with portfolios of Law and Order, Police, PWD, Irrigation, Ports and Electricity. In 1936, he was made Dewan of Travancore, a position he held for a decade. He was instrumental in the introduction of The Temple Entry Proclamation Bill which abolished the ban on low caste people entering into temples. Besides these, he served in a number of commissions and delegations such as the Press Commission of India, the UGC, the HR & CE of which he was appointed chairman between 1960 and 1962 etc. He was also the Vice Chancellor of the Annamalai and Benaras Universities at the same time. Parts of his sprawling residence, the Grove, today host the C.P.Arts Foundation, the Vennirul Art Gallery and The Grove School. He passed away in London in 1966.

Other famous Indians to have been involved with the Madras Bar include P.R. Sundara Iyer, Sir Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Justice Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao, Justice P.V. Rajamannar, Sriman Srinivasa Iyengar, Sir C.V. Ananthakrishna Iyer and Justice Sir T. Sadasiva Iyer.

DOYENS OF THE MADRAS BAR-PART I

Hi Friends,

This post is Part 1 of an article I wrote for Namma Chennai on the above subject.

Many doyens of the legal profession have walked the corridors of the Madras High Court. This article profiles a few prominent lawyers and judges who have left a mark on the city thanks not only to their success in the field of law but also to the various social causes they were involved in.

Mention Englishmen in the Madras Bar and the first names that come readily to one’s mind are that of the Nortons. Eardley Norton was one of the best known lawyers in Madras in his time and was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress. His son John Norton was also a distinguished lawyer, while their kinsman George Norton, again a lawyer, led a public petition that led to the formation of the Madras University. He was also instrumental in his capacity as the Advocate General of Madras in providing a direction for Pachaiyappa Mudaliar’s will that formed the nucleus for the Pachaiyappa’s group of institutions. Norton Street in Mandaveli today commemorates the family of Nortons.

Justice H.T.Boddam was another prominent Englishman to be involved in the Madras Bar. Appointed judge in 1896, he gained notoriety for being partial to some of his favourites and for allegedly deciding cases without an impartial hearing. This obviously benefited sections of the public more than it did others. On his death in 1910, many of his beneficiaries jointly funded the construction of a statue in his honour that was installed at the junction of Pallavan Salai and Mount Road. It was one of the first statues to be removed after Independence and today, it stands at the May Day park in Chintadripet. It is to him however that credit should go for being instrumental in the setting up in 1906 of the Madras Pinjrapole in Aynavaram, an old age home for cattle that functions even today. He served as its first president.

The credit for bringing out the finest treatise on Hindu Law should go to J.D. Maynes, who came to Madras in 1857 from England to practice as a barrister. He later became the Advocate General of Madras. In 1914, he authored a book titled A Treatise on Hindu Law and Usages, a book that is considered the last word on the subject.

Other venerable English names include that of Nugent Grant, Sir Victor Murray Coutts Trotter, Sir Lionel Reach etc., all of whom dealt with several landmark cases as lawyers and judges and were associated with the higher echelons of the society.

Sir T. Muthuswami Iyer was the first Indian to be appointed a judge of the Madras High Court. He was appointed to this exalted position in 1878, having made his way to the top from District Munsiff to District and Sessions Judge. His appointment naturally caused a lot of resentment amongst the Englishmen. He however distinguished himself in a great manner. A statue of his, adorns the Madras High Court even today.

V. Krishnaswamy Iyer was probably one of the biggest names amongst the Indians in the Madras High Court. He apprenticed under R. Balaji Roa, one of the leaders of the Madras Bar and enrolled as a vakil in 1885. He was involved in a number of important cases, most notable amongst them being the Arbuthnot Bank crash case in 1906. He was appointed judge in 1909, a tenure that lasted for hardly a year. He was invited to join the Governor’s Executive Council in 1911, where again he was to be for less than a year, for he passed away in December that year at the age of 48 in rather unfortunate circumstances. He had been called upon to attend the Grand Coronation Durbar in New Delhi, where he was to be decorated with the CIE medal. The belt buckle he was to wear for the occasion pierced him, causing him to bleed. Being diabetic, the wound turned septic and he did not recover from the incident, passing away at his palatial residence Ashrama in Mylapore. He is remembered today for the various institutions he founded such as the Mylapore Club, the Sanskrit College and the Venkatramana Ayurveda Dispensary (all in Mylapore) and last but not the least, the Indian Bank, which he helped form with many more prominent Madras citizens following the collapse of the Arbuthnot Bank. It was also he who funded the first ever publication of Subramania Bharati’s songs.

Sir V. Bhashyam Iyengar was another legendary name amongst the Indians in the legal fraternity. He was the first Indian to be appointed Acting Advocate General of Madras and was later appointed a judge of the Madras High Court. He was knighted in 1900. His statue stands even today outside the Madras Bar Association entrance in the High Court. The Thaneer Thurai market, which stood until recently on Royapettah High Road, was his creation. Vidya Mandir, the reputed school later came up on his residence, Vembakkam Gardens. He passed away in 1908.

M.C.ALASINGA PERUMAL

Hi Friends,

This post is about M.C.Alasinga Perumal, the man who played a huge role in Swami Vivekananda's visit to the West.

M.C.Alasinga Perumal was born in Chickmagalur in 1865 in an orthodox Vaishnavite family as the eldest of two brothers and a sister. His father, Chakravarthy Narasimhacharya, was employed with the local municipality. Alasinga Perumal had his elementary education at a local school. With his job being unable to sustain the family, Narasimhacharya left Chickmagalur in the 1870s and came to Madras, where he managed to get a job with the Customs Department with the help of a few contacts.

The family settled down in Triplicane near the residence of Yogi Parthasarathy, Alasinga’s maternal uncle. Alasinga continued his education at the Hindu High School and after completion, joined the Presidency College for his pre university course. It was around this time that his marriage was performed to Rangamma, a girl from an Iyengar family from Karnataka. Alasinga then entered the Madras Christian College for his graduation, where he caught the eye of William Miller, who was then the Principal of the college. Thanks to Miller, Alasinga got a scholarship, which helped him financially. He graduated with a B.A degree in Science in 1884. He then started pursuing the law course which he however discontinued due to family circumstances.

In 1885, leaving his family behind in Madras, Alasinga moved to Kumbakonam where he took up a job as a temporary science teacher at a school. He left Kumbakonam for Chidambaram in 1887, where he joined the Pachaiyappa’s High School as an assistant Master of Science. However, this stint too lasted only for a couple of years as he had to return to Madras in 1889 due to the death of his father, which left the family in need of support. On his return to Madras, he took up an opportunity to teach at the Pachaiyappa’s School in George Town. He was soon promoted to the post of Headmaster, a position he held almost till the end of his life. Just a year before his death, he was appointed as Professor of Physics at the Pachaiyappa’s College.

Alasinga Perumal was a patriot at heart. He was concerned by the many problems that were plaguing the motherland. The hoary past and heritage of the country was being forgotten with modern education taking shape. He started frequenting places like the Triplicane Literary Society and the Theosophical Society, where he and a group of friends discussed the various problems of the country and steps to stem the rot.

It was around this time that the news of the upcoming Parliament of World Religions reached Madras. Alasinga learnt of it through his uncle, Yogi Parthasarathy Iyengar who by virtue of his connections with the Hindu League of America and scholarly reputation had been invited to participate. Representatives from various communities except the Hindu community had been named. Alasinga and his friends saw the Parliament to be a good opportunity for the Hindus to represent their faith but the question of who would to travel to Chicago and represent Hinduism remained unanswered even after days of discussion. The answer came with the arrival of Swami Vivekananda in Madras in early 1893.

Alasinga Perumal and his friends went to meet Swami Vivekananda, who was then a guest of Manmathanath Bhattacharya, the First Indian Accountant General of Madras, at his residence at Santhome. They were deeply impressed with the Swamiji’s persona and were soon regular visitors to meet him. Swamiji’s introduction to the Madras public was at the Triplicane Literary Society, a place he was to later frequent and deliver many lectures. The Madras public were fascinated by this monk, who with his oratorical skills and command over various subjects drew huge crowds. Swamiji too was impressed by Alasinga Perumal, who shared his ideas and concerns about the motherland and was raring to doing something towards the rejuvenation of the country. Thus, Alasinga became a close confidant and disciple of Swami Vivekananda.

A thought then struck Alasinga that Swami Vivekananda could be sent to Chicago as the Hindu representative. On this idea being put forth before him, Swami Vivekananda readily agreed, having earlier been requested by various dignitaries such as the Maharaja of Mysore and the Raja of Ramnad to travel to the West and propagate the ideals of Hinduism. Soon, preparations started in full earnest for the travel of Swami Vivekananda to the West. A subscription committee was formed under the leadership of Alasinga to raise funds, which did not always come easily. Alasinga even had to resort to door to door begging at times to raise the money. Soon, a princely sum of Rs.500 was collected. However, this sum was redistributed as Swami Vivekananda had second thoughts about his participation in the Parliament, as he took as a bad omen the fact that the Raja of Ramnad had failed to pay up the money promised by him for the purpose. Alasinga was disheartened that his efforts had gone waste.

However, much to Alasinga’s joy, the whole idea was revived, as Swami Vivekananda, encouraged by the reception received from the people of Hyderabad during his visit there, showed interest in going ahead with the trip. The Nawab too offered a sum of Rs.1000 towards meeting the costs. Swamiji also had a vision of his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna, which he took as a divine command to make the journey. Alasinga then renewed his efforts to collect subscriptions and soon, nearly Rs.4000 was collected. He spared no efforts for the cause, even going as far as Mysore to meet with the Maharaja and getting contributions from him. Swami Vivekananda set sail to Boston from Bombay, where he arrived after a stay with the Raja of Khetri. Alasinga went to Bombay to send him off.

Throughout his stay in America, Swami Vivekananda wrote letters to Alasinga and his other close disciples, keeping them in touch with his activities. When he once wrote about running short of funds, Alasinga immediately borrowed Rs.1000 from a merchant, which along with his monthly salary and money raised from selling his wife’s gold ornaments, he sent by cable immediately.

What happened at the Parliament of World Religions is now a part of history. Swami Vivekananda became a hero and started drawing large crowds wherever he spoke. Many newspapers wrote about him and he was starting to become known to a larger audience. In the midst of all the good publicity was also some adverse publicity, mostly by the missionaries, who were taken aback by the tremendous response to Swamiji. The papers in India also seemed to give a lukewarm coverage to the whole event, thus sending Swami Vivekananda into despair. He wrote to Alasinga, exhorting him to convene a public meeting in Madras and pass a resolution expressing utmost satisfaction at his representation at the Parliament, and send the resolutions for publication to various newspapers in the USA. Alasinga convened the meeting on 28th April 1894 at the Pachaiyappa’s Hall. Present in the meeting were many dignitaries of Madras such as Rajah Sir Savalai Ramaswamy Mudaliar, Sir S.Subramania Iyer and Dewan Bahadur Raghunatha Rao. A resolution was passed, thanking Swami Vivekananda for the work he was doing. This event was widely covered in the press, with both The Hindu and The Mail publishing full page reports. Similar meetings were organised by Alasinga at various other places like Kumbakonam, Bangalore and Mysore. Swami Vivekananda expressed his utmost satisfaction at the work done by Alasinga and his friends and mentioned in a letter that he was only a figurehead and that all the work was done by the young men at Madras.

In 1894, Alasinga started the Young Men’s Hindu Association. His literary contribution started in 1895, when at the behest of Swami Vivekananda, he started the Brahmavadin, a journal dedicated to the Hindu religion. Assisting him in his efforts were fellow disciples of Swami Vivekananda such as Dr.M.C.Nanjunda Row and Venkataranga Rao. The first issue came out in September 1895 from the Brahmavadin Press, which had been setup at Broadway. Swami Vivekananda himself contributed articles regularly to the journal and also helped get overseas subscribers. The Brahmavadin Publishing Company was also established by Alasinga, through which he edited and published titles under the “Brahmavadin Series”. In July 1896, Alasinga was also instrumental in starting the “Prabuddha Bharata” or Awakened India, a journal that has been in uninterrupted publication ever since, making it the oldest magazine of its kind in the country.

Alasinga was actively involved in the various celebrations and meetings that were held across the city during the nine day stay of Swami Vivekananda on his return from the West. He kept in touch with the Swami even after his return to Calcutta, meeting him at various places and discussing plans for the two journals that were being published and also on the way forward. He also played an active role in the early years of the Madras Math that was established by Swami Ramakrishnananda in 1897.

The death of Swami Vivekananda, who passed away on the 4th of July 1902, left Alasinga in despair, who felt handicapped by the loss of his Guru. A condolence meeting was convened by him at the Hindu Theological High School. The next setback for Alasinga was the death of his wife in 1905, the lady who had been his pillar of strength through all the difficulties he had faced due to his public spiritedness. His family, which now consisted of 4 children and an aged mother, came to depend on him fully. Alasinga however carried on gamely, managing both his personal life and his association with the Ramakrishna Math.

But the years of selfless public work and service had taken a toll on his health. He was diagnosed with the cancer of the jaw, to which he succumbed to it on the 11th of May 1909. His death was mourned by thousands in Madras and elsewhere.

However, Brahmavadin continued to be published until 1914, when it was finally wound up. It was succeeded by the Vedanta Kesari, a magazine that has been in uninterrupted publication ever since. In a remarkable act of conservation, the Ramakrishna Math has digitised all the issues of Brahmavadin and the Vedanta Kesari (Up to 2009) and made them available for sale. In a way, it is an act perpetuating the memory of Alasinga, the man who played a vital part in Swami Vivekananda’s mission. A biography of Alasinga Perumal has also been recently released.

A slightly abridged version of this article was published in the latest issue of Madras Musings.

The man who made it possible: Vivekananda's Chicago visit


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
1.ALASINGA PERUMAL: AN ILLUSTRIOUS DISCIPLE OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA, Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, 2012.

THE MADRAS HIGH COURT-PART 2

The Mayor’s Court did not function satisfactorily. Its decisions were on an ad hoc basis and lacked uniformity. It was also found to be easily corruptible, where decisions could be bought. It was reconstituted in 1753, after Madras was restored to the East India Company by the French, under whose occupation it was from 1746 to 1749. This reconstituted court continued to function till 1797, when a Recorder’s Court was established, to bring the administration of Madras in line with that of Calcutta.

This resulted in reduction of powers of the Mayor’s Court. The civil and criminal judicial powers of the Governor and Council were also taken away. The Mayor Court had no jurisdiction over the natives, who were bound by decisions of the Recorder’s Court. In 1801, the Recorder’s Court was merged into the Supreme Court of Judicature. The first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Madras Judicature, as it came to be known, was Sir Thomas Strange. In 1817, this court shifted next to the Customs House on First Line Beach.

The establishment of the Supreme Court of Madras Judicature and the regulation of 1802 brought in the following courts:

1.Zilla Courts or district courts for trial of civil suits in districts

2.Provincial Courts of Appeal to hear appeals from District Courts (abolished in 1843)

3.Sudder Adawlats or the Chief Court of Civil Judicature to hear appeals from the Provincial Courts of Appeal and

4.Foujdary Adawlat or Chief Criminal Court.

The Sudder courts functioned from Sudder Gardens, Luz, a property in Alwarpet at the end of Luz Church Road. A tree on Mowbray’s Road near the Luz Church Road junction in Alwarpet gained notoriety as being used to hang prisoners to death!!

The British Parliament passed the Indian High Courts Act in 1861, which empowered the Crown to establish High Courts at Madras, Bombay and Calcutta by issuing Letters Patent. Section 8 of the said act abolished the Supreme Court of Madras Judicature and the Sudder and Foujdary Adawlats. The Letters Patent of Queen Victoria was issued on 26/06/1862 and the Madras High Court formally came into existence the same year on a date that would later be the most significant in the history of modern India, 15th of August.

The High Court moved into its current buildings in 1892, work having commenced in 1888. The buildings were declared open by H.E The Right Honourable Baron Wenlock, Governor of Madras in the presence of a distinguished audience that comprised of many judges, advocates, vakils and attorneys of the High Court. The key was handed over by Colonel J.Pennycuick, the Secretary to Government in the Public Works Department (a man who had distinguished himself with the construction of the Mullaiperiyar dam) to the Governor, who then handed it over to the Chief Justice. The plans for the building had been prepared by J.W.Brassington and had been carried out by his successor to the post of Consulting Architect to the Government, Henry Irwin.

The link to the article:

THE HISTORY OF MADRAS HIGH COURT-PART 2

THE MADRAS HIGH COURT

Hi Friends,

This post is Part 1 of an article on the history of the Madras High Court compiled for Namma Chennai, the bilingual fortnightly.

The year 2012 is a landmark year in the annals of the city’s most venerated institution, The Madras High Court, which turns 150 years of age. This article is a tribute to this institution of justice.

The earliest form of administration of justice in Madras was the Choultry Court (akin to today’s Magistrate Courts), which existed probably since the time of its first settlement. This court administered justice to the Indian habitants. It was presided over by an “Adigar” and tried petty cases, both civil and criminal. One of the earliest cases after the formation of Fort St.George in 1639 was that of a murder, where a native man was accused of murdering a woman of the same caste. A trial of some sort took place and was reported to the local Naik, who commanded that justice had to be done as per the English Law. The accused was then hanged. Offences by British subjects in which Indians were not concerned were dealt with by the Agent in Council of Fort St.George. Records show that the post of Adigar was held by a Brahmin called Kannappa between 1644 and 1648, who had taken over from his father. However, he was ousted by President Baker, the first President of Fort St.George, who appointed Captain Martin and John Leigh to sit as magistrates during alternate weeks.

Then came the Charter of Charles II in 1661, which gave the East India Company authority over all forts and factories in the East Indies and empowered it to appoint Governors and other officers and authorized the Governor and the Council of a place to judge all persons living under them in all causes, civil or criminal, according to the laws of England and execute judgement. It was this Charter that Sir Edward Winter, Agent of Madras between 1661 and 1665 came armed with and appointed two prominent merchant natives, Timmanna and Verona (Kasi Veeranna) to rule the town. His successor, Sir George Foxcroft, the first to be nominated as the Governor of Madras, however dismissed them and gave judicial control to William Dawes.

The first trial by jury in Madras happened during this time, when one Mrs.Ascentia Dawes was accused of murdering her maidservant, a native girl. A total of 36 persons were summoned for jury duty, out of which only 3 were challenged. A jury of 12, consisting of 6 Englishmen and 6 Portuguese were empanelled and they found Mrs.Dawes guilty of murder, but not in the manner in which she was alleged to have committed the offence. They sought the direction of the court as to the manner in which to proceed further, to which the Court directed that they were to bring upon a verdict of either guilty or not guilty. To everyone’s surprise, the foreman of the jury, Mr.Reade, a son in law of Sir Edward Winter, pronounced a verdict of not guilty and thus, Mrs.Dawes were acquitted. The outcome of the case left no one in doubt that the Court needed the assistance of a person qualified in law.

The next phase in the early judicial history of Madras took place with the appointment of Streynsham Master as the Governor of Madras in 1678. During his tenure, the whole judicial system was reorganised. The Court of Governor and Council, created by the Charter of 1661 were designated as the High Court of Judicature and were empowered to sit every Wednesday and Saturday to hear and judge cases. The old Choultry court was also reorganised and the number of judges increased to three from two and it was made compulsory that not less than two of the judges should sit for trial of cases and registration of bills of land and other property. The court was empowered to try civil cases up to 50 pagodas and petty criminal cases. Appeals against orders of the Choultry court lay with the High Court of Judicature.

The next courts to be established were the Admiralty court and the Mayor’s court. The Admiralty court was setup in 1686 order to deal effectively with interlopers, who were traders who had no authority to trade with India. This court seems to have functioned regularly upto 1704, after which it ceased to have regular sittings, thanks to the Company paying more attention to the Mayor’s Court, which had been setup in 1688 when a Charter was granted to the East India Company to establish a Corporation with a Mayor and twelve Aldermen. The jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court, including the hearings of appeals from the Mayor’s Court was transferred to the Governor and Council and the court gradually disappeared from the scene. The Mayor’s Court was transformed into a Court of Record by the Charter of George I in 1726, having jurisdiction not only over the Presidency town of Madras but also over all factories subordinate to the Governor of Fort St.George.

This Charter also brought into existence the office of a Sherriff, who was invested with full powers to execute the processes of the Mayor’s Court. An appeal against an order of the Mayor’s Court lay with the Governor in Council and the decision of the Governor in Council was final in suits of value of less than 1000 pagodas and where the value was more than 1000 pagodas, a further appeal lay with the King in Council. An expert in law was appointed as Recorder to assist the Mayor’s Court in judging the cases. The Mayor’s Court exercised its jurisdiction in civil cases where the value of the case exceeded 3 pagodas and in the criminal cases with assistance from the juries. Two of the Aldermen sat at the Choultry Court to try petty offences and petty claims not exceeding 3 pagodas. The Choultry Court continued to function till 1726.

The link to the article:

HISTORY OF MADRAS HIGH COURT

MIGRANT COMMUNITIES IN CHENNAI-PART 2

The link to the second part of my article for Namma Chennai on Migrant Communities in Chennai and their contribution:

THE OUTSIDERS WHO MADE OUR CITY PROUD

MIGRANT COMMUNITIES IN CHENNAI AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION-1

Chennai is a city that comprises many migrant communities who have contributed a lot to its development. This article takes a look at a few of them and their impact on the city’s landscape.

A community that is specifically excluded from the ambit of the article is the Telugu community. Chennai was originally a city where they were considered the native population, and hence they cannot be categorised as migrants. Their contribution to the city in various fields is immense and merits a separate article by itself.

The Gujaratis were one of the earliest migrants to the Madras Presidency (that extended upto present day Ganjam in Orissa). Mention of Gujarati business families in Tanjore can be found even as early as the mid 1600s. The Gujaratis were into a variety of trades, principal amongst them being traditional trades such as jewellery (mainly diamond trade), cloth, indigenous banking and later on, cycles, hardware and other general merchandise. Amongst the many prominent Gujarati families were the Tawkers(diamond merchants), the Lodd family (variety of businesses), the Gocooladoss Jumnadoss family (many businesses, mainly cloth) and the Khusaldoss family. Brahmasri R.Sivasankara Pandya and Kulapati Balakrishna Joshi were two famous educationists from the community. Besides running successful businesses, the families were also involved in a lot of charitable and social causes, vestiges of which can be seen even today. For example, the Gocooladoss Jumnadoss family is involved in running many educational institutions such as the M.O.P Vaishnav College, the Kola Perumal Chetty Vaishnav school etc. Functioning even today on Mint Street is the Hindu Theological High School, set up in 1889 by Brahmasri R.Sivasankara Pandya, a school that has been visited by luminaries such as Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda. The Madras Pinjrapole on Konnur High Road, an old age home for cattle that functions even today was set up by a group of Gujaratis in the early 1900s. Some of the later day Gujarati businesses, setup in the early 1900s that function successfully even today are Currimbhoys, Poppat Jamals, Joonus Sait and Sons and the business house of Kotharis. The Cutchi Memons and the Saurashtrians are also originally migrants from Gujarat. Haji Sir Ismail Sait, a prominent Cutchi Memon, was the first individual to start retailing of petrol in Madras.

The Jain community, one of the later migrants to the city (migrating from both Gujarat and Rajasthan), has a huge presence today. Mostly into general trades like the stainless steel business, this community is also involved in running various educational institutions like the A.M.Jain, D.B.Jain and the M.N.M Jain colleges, besides many other schools. The Marwari community is another of the later migrants to the city, having moved to various places from Rajasthan around 150 years ago to provide ration supplies to the military. The Rajasthan Youth Association, currently in its 50th year of service, runs a very popular and successful book bank scheme whereby books are lent to college students irrespective of their community background.

The Parsi community presence in the city goes back to more than 200 years, with the earliest Parsis settling down in 1795. The Parsis were into various occupations. They were dealers of motor cars and cycles, perfumes and dyes, Government and Railway officials, managers of banks and shops. Some even established soda water and ice factories. Amongst the famous Parsis were Cowasjee Eduljee Panday, the first Indian member of the Madras Port Trust and first Parsi to be appointed Sheriff of Madras, Mary Clubwala Jadhav, the first woman Sheriff of Madras and the founder of the Madras School of Social Work, and Jehanbux T.Tarapore, the famous building contractor. The Fire Temple of the Parsis, Jal Phiroj Clubwala Dar-e-Meher, completed its centenary in 2010.
It was around the time of Partition that many Punjabi and Sindhi families migrated to the city. Many spare parts shops on General Patters Road are run by them. Another trade in which they have made a mark is that of sports goods. One such famous name that exists even today is Pioneer Sports on Mount Road.

Lt.Col.Gurdial Singh Gill was one of Chennai’s most prominent Punjabis. He served as the Inspector General of Prisons and it was he who used to meet the refugees flocking to Madras at the railway station, welcoming them and making sure that they were clothed, fed and given accommodation. An area in Chennai, Gill Nagar, bears his name today. P.N.Dhawan, another prominent Punjabi, was the driving force behind the setting up of the Punjab Association, which manages institutions such as the Anna Adarsh College for Women, the Gill Adarsh Matriculation School and the Adarsh Vidhyalaya. The Punjabis are also an important part of the Arya Samaj in Chennai, with many of them being associated with the DAV group of schools, set up by the Arya Samaj. Yet another famous Punjabi family that called Madras its home was that of A.G.Ram Singh. Migrating from Amritsar in 1904, Ram Singh represented Tamil Nadu with distinction in cricket. His sons followed suit, with a couple of them, A.G.Milkha Singh and A.G.Kripal Singh even playing for India.

This article, the first of a two part series was published in the latest issue of Namma Chennai, a fortnightly bilingual dedicated to Chennai.