Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar (2 April 1881 – 3 June 1925), also known as V. V. S. Aiyar, was an Indian revolutionary from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

who fought against British colonial rule in India. His contemporaries include

Subramanya Bharathi Subramania Bharati (Born Chinnaswami Subramaniyan; 11 December 1882 – 11 September 1921) was an Indian writer, poet, journalist, teacher, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot. He was bestowed the title ''Bharati'' for hi ...

and V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, who subscribed to militant forms of resistance against the British colonial government. He also exchanged ideas with

V. D. Savarkar Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966 ), was an Indian politician, activist and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationalist political ideology of Hindutva while confined at Ratnagiri in 1922. The prefix "Veer" (mean ...

during his stay at

India House India House was a student residence that existed between 1905 and 1910 at Cromwell Avenue in Highgate, North London. With the patronage of lawyer Shyamji Krishna Varma, it was opened to promote nationalist views among Indian students in Brita ...

in London. He went into exile in

Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

, then under French rule, when his militant activities attracted a warrant for his arrest from the British colonial government. Aiyar was also a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

writer and is considered as the father of modern Tamil short story. He also translated the ''Ramavatharam'' of Kambar and

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books wit ...

into English. V.V.S Aiyar is mentor of

Vanchinathan Vanchinathan (1886 – 17 June 1911), popularly known as Vanchi, was an Indian independence activist. He assassinated Robert Ashe, then district collector of Tirunelveli district on 17 June 1911 at Maniyachchi railway station. Ashe was consid ...

Early life

Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar was born on 2 April 1881 in the suburb of Varahaneri in

Tiruchi Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of Ta ...

. After his early education, he studied in St. Joseph's College and took his B.A in History, Politics, and Latin; he studied for the Law profession and passed the Pleader (junior lawyer) examination from the Madras University in 1902. He then practised as the pleader in the District courts of Tiruchi. Aiyar then moved to

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

in 1906 and started practising as a junior in the Chambers of an English Barrister. From Rangoon, he left for London in 1907 and enrolled in

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

aiming to becoming a Barrister at Law. While in London, Aiyar became member of

. Aiyar then began to take an active role in the militant struggle for Indian independence. Aiyar had a son and two daughters.

Friends

Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar was a close friend of

Shuddhananda Bharati Kavi Yogi Maharishi Dr. Shuddhananda Bharati (11 May 1897 – 7 March 1990) was an Indian philosopher and poet. His teachings are focused mainly on the search for God in Self, through the Sama Yoga practice he created. Biography Bha ...

; he started with him the Bharadwaja Ashram at Cheranmadevi.

Political activities

Aiyar's militant attitude prompted the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

in 1910 to issue a warrant for his arrest for his alleged involvement in an anarchist conspiracy in London and Paris. Aiyar resigned from the Lincoln's Inn and escaped to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Although he wished to remain in Paris as a political exile, he had to return to India. Aiyar landed in

on 4 December 1910 disguised as a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

to escape arrest and remained there as exile. Aiyar remained in Pondicherry for over ten years. While in Pondicherry, Aiyar met with fellow revolutionaries

and

Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian yogi, maharishi, and Indian nationalist. He also edited the newspaper ''Bande Mataram''. Aurobindo studied for the Indian Civil Service at King's ...

. In Pondicherry, Aiyar was involved in the plot to assassinate Ashe, the Collector of

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (), also known as Nellai and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirunelveli District. It is the fourth-largest munici ...

. One of his students,

assassinated Ashe. Thus more trouble arose for Aiyar and his companion Subramanya Bharathi. On 22 September 1914 the German cruiser entered the

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 ...

harbour and bombarded the city. The British colonial government blamed this on the activities of the exiles in Pondicherry, and urged the French Governor to deport Aiyar and his companions to Africa. The French police brought several charges against the revolutionaries, but failed to convict them. During this period Aiyar translated the

into English. He later revealed that he wanted to leave a legacy behind if he were forced to leave the country. Aiyar returned to Madras after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and worked as the editor of the newspaper ''Desabhaktan'' (''Patriot''). He was arrested in 1921 on

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

charges and spent nine months in prison. While in prison Aiyar wrote the book ''A Study of Kamba Ramayana''. As a writer, Aiyar has often been referred to as the "founder" of the short story genre in Tamil.

Literary works

Aiyar translated the entire work of the Kural text in English prose, which became the first complete English translation by a native scholar. Aiyar's work is considered by various scholars, including

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

scholar

Kamil Zvelebil Kamil Václav Zvelebil (November 17, 1927 – January 17, 2009) was a Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, notably Tamil, Sanskrit, Dravidian linguistics and literature and philology. Life and career Zvelebil studied at the C ...

, to be the most scholarly of all the English translations made until then, including those by native English scholars. He also translated the ''Ramavatharam'' written by Kambar in the 12th century CE.

Personal life

V.V.S. Aiyar married Bhagyalakshmi Ammal and had a daughter named Subhadra and a son named Krishnamurthy. In the later years his son became a practicing medical doctor at

Trichirapalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of Ta ...

Death

Aiyar drowned in the Papanasam falls, when trying to save his drowning daughter Subhadra, on 3 June 1925.

References

Citations Bibliography *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aiyar, V. V. S Tamil language activists Tamil-language writers India House 1881 births 1925 deaths Writers from Tiruchirappalli Indian independence activists from Tamil Nadu Deaths by drowning in India Tamil–English translators 20th-century Indian translators Translators of the Tirukkural into English St Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli alumni Writers from British India