Sir Tanjore Ananda Rao (alternatively known as Ananda Rao Thanjavarkar) (15 May 1852 – 19 July 1919) was an Indian administrator and statesman who served as the 18th

Dewan of Mysore The dewan of Mysore (sometimes spelled diwan) was the ''de facto'' chief executive officer of the Government of Mysore (now Government of Karnataka), ''ex officio'' chairman of the Dewan's Council (now Cabinet), and the prime minister and roya ...

from 1909 to 1912. He was the eldest son of Sir T. Madhava Rao, and a member of the

Rao family Rao is a title and a surname native to India. It is used mostly in states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Telangana. As a surname Notable people with this surname or title include the following: Pre- ...

Early life and education

Ananda Rao was born on 15 May 1852 at Padma Vilas,

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

Fort, to Sir T. Madhava Rao, a prominent Indian statesman who was known for his work as the

Diwan of Travancore The Diwan or Dewan of Travancore was the head of government of Travancore in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, serving at the pleasure of the Maharaja, corresponding to a prime minister, and consisting in the formal titles Valiya Sarvadhik ...

and of

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

and as one of the early pioneers 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 ...

. The

belonged to the

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

-speaking

Deshastha Brahmin Deshastha Brahmin is a Hinduism, Hindu Brahmin caste, subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Brahmins a ...

community of

Thanjavur district Thanjavur District is one of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 38 districts of the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur (Tanjore) . The district is located in the delta of the Cauv ...

. Rao had his schooling in

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 ...

and completed his matriculation in first class in 1867 and his F. A. in first class in 1869. He earned Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in history in first class from the

Presidency College, Madras Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

and in logic and psychology from the Maharaja's College, Thiruvananthapuram. He married his cousin Soundara Bai, daughter of

T. Rama Rao Tatineni Rama Rao (1938 – 20 April 2022) was an Indian filmmaker. He directed 75 Hindi and Telugu feature films between 1966 and 2000. Career Rao started his work in the film industry in the late 1950s as the assistant director of his cousi ...

Career

Rao was initially employed as a tutor to Maharaja Tukajirao Holkar III before joining as an attache to the Mysore Commission on 14 November 1873. Rao was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Bangalore on 7 July 1876 and was in charge of

Mysore Palace Mysore Palace, also known as Amba Vilas Palace, is a historical palace and a royal residence. It is located in Mysore, Karnataka, India. It used to be the official residence of the Wadiyar dynasty and the seat of the Kingdom of Mysore. The pala ...

accounts from 1 December 1879 to January 1883. Rao served as the Assistant Commissioner for

Hassan Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

and Kaduru from 1883 to 1886 and Acting Deputy Commissioner of Hassan and

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

from 1886 to 1889. He served as the Chief Secretary to Dewan Sir K. Seshadri Iyer from 1889 to 1897 and Director of Agricultural and Other Statistics from 1897 to 1904. Rao was appointed Revenue Commissioner on 14 March 1904 and served in the Mysore Legislative Council from 14 March 1906 until taking over as Dewan on 1 April 1909.

Dewan of Mysore

Rao served as the Dewan of Mysore from 1 April 1909 till 10 November 1912. During his tenure, a lot of measures were taken for the economic development of

. A reservoir was constructed in 1910 for the power station at

Shivanasamudra Shivanasamudra Falls is a cluster of waterfalls on the borders of Malavalli, Mandya and Kollegala, Chamarajanagara, in Karnataka, India, situated along the river Kaveri. The falls form the contour between the districts of Chamarajanagara and Ma ...

. In the same year, the Mysore-Hassan railway line of Mysore Railways was extended, linking

Saligrama A shaligram, or shaligrama shila ( deva, शालिग्राम शिला; IAST: ''Śāligrāma-śilā''), is a fossilized stone or ammonite collected from the riverbed or banks of the Kali Gandaki, a tributary of the Gandaki River in ...

and Yedatur with the line at

Arsikere Arasikere is a city and taluka in the Hassan district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the second largest city in Hassan district, demographically. Arsikere city municipal council consists of 35 wards. This region is known for its coco ...

. The first Mysore Economic Conference was inaugurated on 10 June 1910 and met once every year. In 1911/1912, construction of the Krishnaraja Sagara Dam across the

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

at Kannambadi village was commenced. It was Rao who invited Sir

M. Visvesvaraya Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (Moːkśguṇam Viśveśvarayya; 15 September 1861 – 12/14 April 1962), also referred to by his initials, MV, was an Indian civil engineer, administrator, and statesman, who served as the 19th Dewan of Mysore ...

to be the chief engineer and secretary to the government of Mysore in 1909.

Honours

Rao was made a

Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander ( GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) Appoint ...

in 1910. A major road junction along the Race Course Road in central Bangalore, is named after him as Dewan T. Ananda Rao Circle.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Ananda 1852 births 1919 deaths Marathi people Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Presidency College, Chennai alumni Diwans of Mysore