Arunachalam Mahadeva, KCMG ( ta, அருணாசலம் மகாதேவா, translit=Aruṇācalam Makātēvā; 5 October 1885 – 15 April 1966) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and diplomat. He served as

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

(1942-1946) and High Commissioner to India (1948-1949).

Early life and family

Mahadeva was born on 5 October 1885 in Matara in southern

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He was the son of P. Arunachalam, a leading civil servant, and Sornambal. He was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a Single-sex education, selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academ ...

where he won many prizes including the Turnour Prize. After school he joined

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, graduating with

honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...

in mathematics. Mahadeva married Sivakami, daughter of M. Mootatamby, in 1918. They had a son ( Balakumar) and a daughter (Swarnam).

Career

Mahadeva was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

and on returning to Ceylon qualified as a

barrister-at-law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and g ...

. He joined the Attorney General's Department as a

crown counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Ad ...

. He also practised law as an advocate at the unofficial bar. He later served as principal of

Parameshwara College, Jaffna Parameshwara College ( ta, பரமேஸ்வரா கல்லூரி ''Paramēsvarā Kallūri'') was one of the leading Hindu schools in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). It was founded by Sir P. Ramanathan Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, CMG, KC ...

, a boys school founded by his paternal uncle

P. Ramanathan Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, CMG, KC ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் இராமநாதன், translit=Poṉṉampalam Irāmanātaṉ; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 1930) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and Solicitor-General o ...

. Mahadeva was associated with the

Ceylon National Congress The Ceylon National Congress ( Sinhala: ලංකා ජාතික කොන්ග්‍රසය ''Lanka Jathika Kongrasaya'') (CNC) was a Nationalist political party which was formed in Ceylon on 11 December 1919. It was founded after national ...

(CNC), a political party founded by his father. He served as one of the CNC's secretaries from 1917 to 1924 and remained a member of the CNC even after his father left in 1921. Mahadeva contested the 1924 legislative council election as a candidate for the Western Province Tamil seat and was elected to the Legislative Council. He did not contest the 1931 state council election due to the boycott organised by the

Jaffna Youth Congress The Jaffna Youth Congress, was the first of Sri Lanka's Youth Leagues. It was influenced by the Indian Independence Movement, was secular and committed to Poorana Swaraj (Complete Self-Rule), national unity and the eradication of inequalities ...

. After leaving the Legislative Council Mahadeva worked as a manager in the State Mortgage Bank. The boycott ended in 1934 and Mahadeva contested the ensuing by-elections in Jaffna. He won the election and entered the State Council. He was re-elected at the 1936 state council election and in 1942 he became

. Mahadeva was one of the founding members of the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

(UNP) and served as one of its vice-presidents and secretary. He stood as the UNP candidate for Jaffna at the 1947 parliamentary election but was defeated by the

All Ceylon Tamil Congress All Ceylon Tamil Congress ( ta, அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. History The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam as ...

leader G. G. Ponnambalam. Mahadeva was Ceylonese High Commissioner to India from 1948 to 1949. Mahadeva was knighted in the

1949 New Year Honours The 1949 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''London ...

. He was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in the

1955 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1955 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1955 to celebra ...

. He was a member of the Public Service Commission from 1950 to 1957. Mahadeva devoted his retirement to cultural and religious affairs. He was a senior trustee of the Sri Ponnambala Vaneswara Temple at Sea Street in Kochchikade, built by his paternal grandfather

A. Ponnambalam Gate Mudaliyar Arunachalam Ponnambalam, JP, UM (1814 – 4 September 1887) was a Ceylonese colonial-era government functionary, businessmen and philanthropist. He was the cashier at the Colombo Kachcheri and was appointed to the titular rank o ...

and rebuilt by his uncle P. Ramanathan. He was chief trustee of the Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple at

Mutwal Modara ( si, මෝදර, translit=Mōdara; ta, முகத்துவாரம், translit=Mukattuvāram), also known as Mutwal ''(anglicised version)'', is a municipal ward of Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ� ...

, built by his parents. He was patron of the Colombo Vivekananda Society, the Jaffna Saiva Paripalana Sabai and the Colombo North Hindu Paripalana Sabai. Mahadeva died on 8 June 1969.

Electoral history

Footnotes

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahadeva, Arunachalam 1885 births 1969 deaths Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Ceylonese advocates Ceylonese Knights Bachelor Ceylonese Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Coomaraswamy family High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to India Home affairs ministers of Sri Lanka Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon Members of the 1st State Council of Ceylon Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon People of British Ceylon Sri Lankan barristers Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan independence activists Sri Lankan diplomats Tamil people Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers Sri Lankan Tamil politicians United National Party politicians