S. Ramaswami Mudaliar
| Raja Sir Savalai Ramaswami Mudaliar | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
13 October 1840 Pondicherry |
Raja Sir Savalai Ramaswami Mudaliar CIE (1840–1911) was an Indian merchant, dubash, politician and philanthropist who was known for his wealth. He was also one of the early leaders of the Indian National Congress.
Ramaswami Mudaliar was born in 1840 to a building contractor from Pondicherry. His father had been declared insolvent and moved to Madras in order to escape creditors. Ramaswami Mudaliar joined Dymes and Co. and soon rose to become its dubashand As dubash, Ramaswami Mudaliar amassed a huge fortune.
Mudaliar was known for his philanthropic activities in Madras Presidency. He established choultries at Park Town near Central railway station and one at Thirukazugukundram in memory of his first wife Ranee Thyal Nayagi Ammal hospitals in Madras Royapuram,Thirukazhgukundram, Cuddalore and Kanchipuram apart from a library in Madras He built a child-care hospital in Cuddalore which is presently being maintained by the Cuddalore municipality. In 1884, Mudaliar started a choultry near Chennai Central railway station. This Choultry survived till the 1969s latter taken over by AG &OT of Madras High Court and the charities are continuing till today.
In 1902, Mudaliar was chosen to represent the city of Madras at the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra scheduled for June that year. The coronation was postponed when the king fell ill, and Mudaliar returned to India in July, missing the re-scheduled coronation the following month.
Mudaliar was associated with the Indian National Union and was a part of its 1885 three-member delegation to England. He was also associated with the Indian National Congress in its early stages.
Mudaliar also participated in the third session of the Indian National COngress held at Madras in 1887. He was a part of the welcoming committee. A resolution was moved demanding more representation for Indians in the administration. Ramaswami Mudaliar endorsed the resolution and spoke:
Gentleman, while we are humbly praying out Government to grant us some small representative element in the Government, we have actually got full-blown representative institutions flourishing in this country under our very noses. I do not know whether you are aware how they are flourishing in Pondicherry and other places which are subject to the French government. England will not as yet allow us the smallest modicum of representative institutions, but in Pondicherry every man has a right to elect his representative. He enjoys manhood suffrage!
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