''Rai Bahadur'' Sir Panapakkam Anandacharlu CIE (5 August 1843 – 4 January 1908) was an Indian lawyer and freedom fighter who was a founding delegate and later president of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, founder and president of the Triplicane Literary Society, and founder of the Madras Mahajana Sabha. He additionally aided the Triplicane Six in founding

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

, to which he was a frequent contributor.

Early life

Anandacharlu was born in the village of Kattamanchi in Chittoor district,

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

in a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family, and at a young age was adopted by C. V. Runganada Sastri who brought him to Madras city. He later became an apprentice to a leading Madras advocate called Kayali Venkatapathi. His practice as a full lawyer began in 1869 when he became a member of the Chamber of the Madras High Court.

Legal career

Anandacharlu became a member of the Chamber of the High Court of Madras in the year 1869. Soon he emerged as a prominent advocate and was appointed Leader of the Bar. It was in his Chambers that the Madras Advocates' Association was born in 1899. He practiced in partnership with his adoptive brother, C. V. Sundara Sastri.

Political career

From the very beginning, Anandacharlu was interested in politics and journalism. He contributed regularly to magazines as ''Native Public Opinion'' and the ''Madrasi''. In 1878, he helped G. Subrahmania Iyer and M. Veeraraghavachariar in starting ''

'' and became a frequent contributor to it. He founded the Triplicane Literary Society (of which he was elected president) and the Madras Mahajana Sabha in 1884. He was one of the 72 delegates at the first session of the Indian National Congress held at Bombay in 1885. He also participated in the

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

session of the

in 1891 of which he was elected president. When the Congress split in 1906, he was on the side of the moderates. However, he died soon after the split.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anandacharlu Telugu people 1843 births 1908 deaths Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Place of death missing Presidents of the Indian National Congress