Diwan Bahadur Dewan Bahadur or Diwan Bahadur was a title of honour awarded during British rule in India. It was awarded to individuals who had performed faithful service or acts of public welfare to the nation. From 1911 the title was accompanied by a special ...

O. Thanikachalam Chettiar (December 1874 – 21 July 1929) was an Indian lawyer and politician who is considered to be one of the pioneers of the

Dravidian Movement Dravidian politics is the main political ideology in Tamil Nadu that seeks to safeguard the rights of the Dravidian peoples. Dravidian politics started in British India with the formation of the Justice Party on 20 November 1916 in Victoria ...

Early life

Thanikachalam Chetti was born in December 1874 and educated at the

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institut ...

and

Madras Law College Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), ...

. He worked as a lawyer with the Short, Bewes & Co Short, Bewes and Co later became Bewes and Thanikachalam, one of the first Indo-British collaborations. Thanikachalam Chetti participated in the early sessions of the Justice Party and was responsible for drafting the resolutions in the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

which eventually became the Communal G. O. of 1928.

B & C Mills Strike of 1921

In 1921, there was a major strike by the factory workers at the Buckingham and Carnatic (B & C) Mills in Madras. When

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

workers in the factory called off the strike and tried to negotiate with the police, the strike took a communal turn. Thanikachalam Chetti and the

Raja of Panagal Raja Sir Panaganti Ramarayaningar KCIE (9 July 1866 – 16 December 1928), also known as the Raja of Panagal, was a ''zamindar'' of Kalahasti, a Justice Party leader and the First Minister of Madras Presidency from 11 July 1921 to 3 Dece ...

took the side of caste Hindu workers and strongly criticized the actions of the Dalit workers and police.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chetti, O. Thanikachalam 1874 births 1929 deaths Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Lawyers from British India Madras Christian College alumni 20th-century Indian lawyers