Vijaya Raghunatha Pallavarayar Dorai Raja (1872–1930) was an

Indian civil servant Indian civil servants includes five principal sub-categories of officials: *Administrators of the native states of India *Administrators of British India who came as servants of the East India Company before the formation of the ICS in 1853 *Membe ...

and

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

and a member of the royal house of Pudukkottai. He served as the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terr ...

Pudukkottai state Pudukkottai was a kingdom and later a princely state in British India, which existed from 1680 until 1948. The Kingdom of Pudukkottai was founded in about 1680 as a feudatory of Ramnad and grew with subsequent additions from Tanjore, Sivagan ...

from 1909 to 1922 and

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

from 1922 to 1929.

Early life and education

Raghunatha Pallavarayar was born in 1872 in

Pudukkottai Pudukkottai is the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a large city located on the banks of the Vellar River. It has been ruled, at different times, by the mutharaiyar dynasty , Cholas ...

, the eldest son of Princess Brihadambal, the elder princess of Pudukkottai and her husband M.R.Ry. Kolandaswami Pallavarayar Sahib. He was the grandson of

Ramachandra Tondaiman Raja Sri Brahdamba Dasa Raja Ramachandra Tondaiman Bahadur (20 October 1829 – 15 April 1886) was the ruler of princely state of Pudukkottai from 13 July 1839 to 15 April 1886. Early life Ramachandra Tondaiman was born in Pudukkottai on 20 ...

the then

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

of Pudukkottai and elder brother of Martanda Bhairava Tondaiman. Pallavarayar graduated in arts from the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

and joined the Madras Civil Service, serving as a Deputy Collector for a short period.

Administration of Pudukkottai state

Raghunatha Pallavarayar served as a member of the Pudukkottai State Council from 1898 to 1909. In 1909, he was appointed Chief Minister or Diwan of Pudukkottai and served till 1922, under his younger brother, the Raja of Pudukkottai. In 1922, when Martanda Bhairava Tondaiman formally gave up the administration of the state and agree to remain as "Raja" in title only, he appointed Raghunatha Pallavarayar to rule the state. When six-year-old

Rajagopala Tondaiman Raja Sri Brahdamba Dasa Raja Sri Rajagopala Tondaiman Bahadur (23 June 1922 – 16 January 1997) was the ninth and last ruler of the princely state of Pudukkottai. Early life Rajagopala Tondaiman was born to Prince Ramachandra Tondaiman and ...

succeeded to the throne on the death of Martanda Bhairava Tondaiman on 28 May 1928, Raghunatha Pallavarayar continued as regent formally relinquishing his office in February 1929, with the appointment of a regency council by the Government of India.

Death

Raghunatha Pallavarayar died in 1930 at the age of fifty-seven or fifty-eight.

References

{{Reflist 1872 births 1930 deaths Pudukkottai state Administrators in the princely states of India People from British India