Dinkar Rao

Sir Dinkar Rao

Born	December 10, 1819
	Bombay, India
Died	January 9, 1896 (age 76)
	India
Awards	KCSI

Photograph by Felice Beato, circa 1857

Raja Sir Dinkar Rao Rajwade KCSI (December 20, 1819 – January 9, 1896) was an Indian Statesman, born in Ratnagiri District, Bombay. He was the son of Ragoba Dadu by his first wife. He was a Chitpavan Brahmin.

Little or nothing is known of the boyhood of Dinkar Rao, except that his education in his mother tongue was commenced about his fifth year under the supervision of his father. He was also instructed in Sanskrit and Persian. Particular attention appears to have been bestowed on his religious education. He grew up an orthodox Hindu, pious and punctual in the performance of his religious duties. He loved Hindu music, and acquired a fair knowledge of Hindu medicine.^[1]

At fifteen he entered the service of the Gwalior State, in which his ancestors had served. Rapidly promoted to the responsible charge of a division, he showed such signs of marked ability that his services were specially recognised by his appointment as the Subadar of Taranagar Division, in succession to his father. He displayed unusual talents in reorganizing the police and revenue departments, and in reducing chaos to order.^[2]

In 1851 Dinkar Rao became Dewan. The events which led to the British victories of Maharajpur and Panniar in 1844 had filled the state with mutinous soldiery, ruined the finances and weakened authority. With a strong hand the dewan suppressed disorder, abolished ruinous imports, executed public works, and by reduction of salaries, including his own, turned a deficit into a surplus. During the period of the Indian rebellion of 1857 Rao never wavered in loyalty to the British; and although the state troops also mutinied in June 1858 on the approach of Tantia Topi, he adhered to the British cause, retiring with Maharaja Sindhia to the Agra fort. After the restoration of order he remained Minister until December 1859. In 1873 he was appointed guardian to the minor rana to Dholpur, but soon afterward he resigned, owing to ill health.^[2]

Service as Commissioner

In 1875, the Viceroy of India, Lord Northbrook, selected him as a Commissioner, along with the Maharajas of Sindhia and Jaipur and three British colleagues, to try the Gaekwar of Baroda on a charge of attempting to poison Colonel Robert Phayre, the British Resident.^[2]

Knighthood

He was amongst the first non-British members of the Legislative Council of India appointed in 1861 vide the Indian Councils Act 1861 and an estate was conferred upon him.

In May 1866, Dinkar Rao was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI), entitling him to be styled "Sir Dinkar Rao."^[3] At the Imperial assemblage at Delhi that year, the title of " Raja" was bestowed on him. In 1884, Lord Dufferin made the title hereditary. Lord Dufferin, who took a peculiar interest in Gwalior, was particularly solicitous that Dinkar Rao should be held in due regard by the British Government, and recommended him personally to the good offices of the British officials everywhere, and to those of the Native States in which his property lay.^[4]

He died on January 9, 1896. No Indian statesmen of the 19th century gained a higher reputation, yet he only commenced the study of English at the age of forty, and was never able to converse fluently in it.^[2]

His orthodoxy resented social reforms, and he kept aloof from the Indian Congress.

References

1. Representative Indians by Govinda Paramaswaran Pillai
2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rao, Sir Dinkar". Encyclopædia Britannica 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 897.
3. "London Gazette, 25 May 1866". London-gazette.co.uk. 1866-05-25. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
4. Representative Indians by Govinda Paramaswaran Pillai