S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar (15 December 1859 – 12 December 1923) was an Indian lawyer,

Indian independence activist The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of many methods. This is a li ...

, politician and journalist who served as the managing director of ''

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 ...

'' from 1 April 1905 until his death. He opposed the

Mylapore clique The Mylapore Clique (also termed an oligarchy, faction, group, set, and cabal), was a small group of politically moderate and elite Brahmin, Brahmins (primarily Tamil Brahmins), — many of whom were noted lawyers, administrators, academics or ...

as the leader of the Egmore clique.

Ancestry and family

His eldest brother, Diwan Bahadur S. Srinivasa Raghavaiyangar, served as the Inspector General of Registration in the

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 ...

. Some Madras Leaders, Pg 43 Srinivasa Raghavaiyangar, in 1893, wrote ''Memorandum of Progress of the Madras Presidency during the last forty years of British administration'' to refute the charges of economic exploitation made by nationalists. Yet another elder brother, Soundararaja Iyengar, was the father of

Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sangita Kalanidhi () is the title awarded annually to a Carnatic musician by the Madras Music Academy. From 1929 to 1941, the award did not exist. The award was conceived in 1942 by Academy President K. V. Krishnaswami Iyer and on 1 January 1 ...

awardee T. Brinda, and he was Deputy Collector in Madras and Kumbhakonam, and was associated with

Madras Music Academy Madras Music Academy is one of the earliest established music academies in South India. Before the concept of infrastructure was introduced to India in the early 1920s, it was a gathering for elite musicians simply called (and is still more ...

. The Music Academy confers an award in the memory of Kasturi Ranga Iyengar.

Early life

Kasturi Ranga Iyengar was born on 15 December 1859 in the village Innambur in Kumbakonam. On completion of his education, he moved to

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

to commence practice as a lawyer. He set up a prosperous vocation and moved to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

to try his luck there. He was not as successful in Madras as he had been in Coimbatore. Eventually, in 1895, he became a legal correspondent with ''The Hindu'' which was run by G. Subramania Iyer. He wrote a well-known column in the newspaper ''The Coimbatore Letters''. During this period, he also got ample encouragement from C. Karunakara Menon. The rich and prosperous Kasturi Ranga Iyengar purchased the newspaper for a price of INR 75,000 on 1 April 1905. He became the editor of ''The Hindu'' and became the powerful voice of people's aspiration.

As managing director

In July 1905, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar appointed his nephew A. Rangaswami Iyengar as assistant editor. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar worked to rescue ''The Hindu'' by increasing advertisements and terminating subscriptions to customers who did not pay in advance. The tactic proved successful and Kasturi Ranga Iyengar was able to clear his debts by 1910. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar subscribed to the

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

news service and allotted space for weather reports, court cases,

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

and

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

as well as sports. In 1905, ''The Hindu'', in its editorial, demanded partial autonomy but not independence for India. It also strongly criticised

Annie Besant Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...

and her

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...

, including her lavish promotional campaign of

J. Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti ( ; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was an Indian philosopher, speaker, writer, and spiritual figure. Adopted by members of the Theosophical tradition as a child, he was raised to fill the advanced role of World Teacher ...

as the

Maitreya Buddha Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal ...

. However, ''The Hindu'' offered its enthusiastic support to her

Home Rule Movement Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governanc ...

and protested her internment at the orders of Lord Pentland. It also strongly condemned the protests and the resultant killings of

Jallianwala Bagh massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (), also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, during the annual Vaisakhi, Baisakhi fair to protest aga ...

Death

Kasturi Ranga Iyengar died on 12 December 1923, three days before his 64th birthday. He was succeeded as editor by his nephew, S. Rangaswami Iyengar. and as managing director of ''The Hindu'' by his eldest son, K. Srinivasan.

Legacy

Prior to Kasturi Ranga Iyengar's purchase of ''The Hindu'', he was not much interested in entering public life. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar had the courage to buy a struggling newspaper and embark upon a new enterprise he had no experience in. He was also comparatively new to politics when he made a plunge into the political scenario; yet he was extremely successful for a newcomer. There was always the concern that at some point or the other, he might abandon his anti-British and Indian nationalist attitude. However, this estimation proved to be false. Contemporaries assert that he was just as intelligent and talented as his illustrious brother. Some Madras Leaders, Pg 44 During his tenure as managing-director, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar locked horns with V. Krishnaswami Iyer,

and Sir Valentine Chirol, to whom he gave the rejoinder: "I am not here to learn journalistic etiquette from you," when the former made rude comments on the latter. Some Madras Leaders, Pg 45 Some Madras Leaders, Pg 46 Kasturi Ranga Iyengar also fought with governors Sir

Arthur Lawley Arthur Lawley, 6th Baron Wenlock, (12 November 1860 – 14 June 1932) was a British colonial administrator who served variously as Administrator of Matabeleland, Governor of Western Australia, Lieutenant-Governor of the Transvaal Colony, Trans ...

and Lord Pentland. Iyengar exerted as much influence by his fabulous wealth as he did with his writing. Instead of being chastised and compelled to undergo ritual cleansing on his arrival from England, he was instead given a grand welcome with all honours by the Vaishnavite orthodoxy. Some Madras Leaders, Pg 47 Iyengar's descendants now own

The Hindu Group The Hindu Group is an Indian publishing company based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Its first publication was ''The Hindu'', a daily newspaper which began its publication in the year 1878. Hindu Group Publications The Hindu Group publishes a number ...

through their family's company, Kasturi & Sons. Ltd.

Ancestry and family

Early life

As managing director

Death

Legacy

Notes

References

Further reading