Sir Manubhai Nandshankar Mehta CSI (22 July 1868 – 14 October 1946) was an Indian politician. He was the

dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

Baroda state Baroda State was a kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy and later a princely state in present-day Gujarat. It was ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India. With th ...

from 9 May 1916 to 1927. From 1927 to 1934, he was the prime minister of

Bikaner state Bikaner State was the princely state, Princely State in the north-western most part of the History of Bikaner, Rajputana province of imperial British India from 1818 to 1947. The founder of the state Rao Bika was a younger son of Rao ...

Life

He was born on 22 July 1868 to Nandshankar Mehta. He was educated at Elphinstone College in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. He was Professor of Logic and

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and a lecturer in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at Baroda College in 1891-1899. He was the private secretary to HH Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda state from 1899 to 1906 and revenue minister and first councillor from 1914 to 1916. He was also dewan of Baroda state from 9 May 1916 to 1927. Then Maharaja Ganga Singh of

brought Manu Bhai Mehta from the Baroda state and made him the first prime minister and chief councillor of the Bikaner state in 1927. He worked there until 1934 and, until 1940, continued as councillor of Bikaner. He fixed the retirement age at 58 years for the employees of the Bikaner state from 55 years. He was a delegate on behalf of the Indian States to the three Round Table Conferences in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Mehta acted as a substitute in the absence of the Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner. Similarly, he attended the World Hygiene Conference in 1933 and was in the Indian States' delegation to the Joint Parliamentary Committee in 1933. He was appointed home minister of

Gwalior state The Gwalior State was a List of Maratha dynasties and states, state within the Maratha Confederacy located in Central India. It was ruled by the Scindia, House of Scindia (anglicized from Sendrak), a Hindu Maratha Confederacy, Maratha dynasty. ...

in 1937.

He was considered one of the major architects of Baroda's reforms. He led an effort to proselytize constitutional, democratic reforms throughout princely

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

through the organ of the Chamber of Princes beginning in the 1920s. This was called as "Mehta strategy" by Copland. By the late 1940s, virtually all major states had adopted some measure of reform including Bikaner, Kotah,

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

, Alwar,

Dholpur Dholpur is a city in the Dholpur district in Rajasthan state of India. It is situated on the left bank of the Chambal river. The city is the administrative headquarters of Dholpur district. Dholpur was established by King Dhaval Dev of the ...

and

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

. Mehta died on 14 October 1946. He was the father of Hansa Mehta, Jayshree Raiji and Kantichandra Mehta

References

External links

Princely States of India A-J

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Manubhai People from Gujarat 1868 births 1946 deaths University of Mumbai alumni Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda alumni Academic staff of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda History of Vadodara Diwans of Baroda Indian Knights Bachelor History of Bikaner Companions of the Order of the Star of India Administrators in the princely states of India Gujarati people