Sir Gangadhar Rao Chitnavis (1862 – ?) was an Indian landholder and politician in the Central Provinces, British India.

Background and family

Chitnavis belonged to the prominent Chitnavis family of Nagpur, a

Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) or historically and commonly known as Chandraseniya Prabhu or just Prabhu is a caste mainly found in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. Th ...

family that had followed the Bhonsla rulers from

Berar Berar may refer to: *Vidarbha, the eastern region of Maharashtra, India, historically known as Berar * Berar Sultanate (1490–1596), one of the Deccan sultanates *Berar Subah (1596–1724), a subah (province) of the Mughal Empire *Berar Province ( ...

to Nagpur in the middle of the eighteenth century. At Bhonsla court of Nagpur, Chitnavis had served as secretaries and ministers until the middle of the nineteenth century. He was son of Madhav Rao Chitnavis. His brother Shankar Madhav Chitnavis was a Statutory officer and worked a deputy commissioner of Central Province. His son Madhav Gangadhar Chitnavis established five charitable and religious trusts namely Sir Gangadharrao Chitnavis Memorial Medical Research Trust, Smt. Dadimay Memorial Medical Research Research, Balkrishna Deosthan Trust, Sant Sonaji Maharaj Trust and the Gopalkrishna Deosthan Trust. His residence Chitnavis wada, a listed heritage building, is now owned by the Gopalkrishna Deosthan Trust.

Career

Chitnavis was president of the Nagpur Municipality. He was appointed as a member of the

Imperial Legislative Council The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of British Raj, British India from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Government of India Act 1858 by providing for the addition of six additional members to the Governor General ...

in 1893 and represented the Landholders Constituency from the

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the ...

for several years. In 1902, he was chosen to represent the

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Nagpur was the primary ...

at the coronation in London of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

and Queen

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

. He was Governor-appointed President of First and Second Legislative Council of

from 1921 to 1923 and from 1923 to 1926. He was a member of the Indian National Congress.

Honours

Gangadhar Rao was awarded CIE by the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

on 25 May 1895 and later knighted as a KCIE in a special honours list on 12 December 1911.London Gazette, 12 December 1911
/ref>

References

{{reflist Politicians from Nagpur Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian knights 1862 births Members of the Council of India Year of death missing Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India History of Madhya Pradesh People from the Central Provinces 19th-century Indian politicians