Dewan Peshkar T. Rama Rao - “The Architect of Modern Kottayam”

No one would disagree with describing Dewan Peshkar T. Rama Rao as the “Architect of Modern Kottayam.” After Kottayam came under Travancore rule, the old town had fallen into decline. Rama Rao shifted the centre of the town eastward, rebuilt it, and provided many of the basic facilities required for a modern urban settlement.

In September 1749, Marthanda Varma conquered the territories of the old Thekkumkoor kingdom, including Kottayam, and incorporated them into Travancore. In 1752, Vadakkumkoor was also annexed. These territories were brought together to form the Northern Division, whose headquarters was initially at Cherthala. People living in the highlands had to travel long distances to Vaikom and then proceed by water to Cherthala to reach government offices. To overcome these practical difficulties, Rama Rao submitted a proposal to establish a separate administrative division with Kottayam as its headquarters and persistently pressed the authorities until it was approved. Thus, in 1878, the new Kottayam Division was created, and Rama Rao was appointed its Dewan Peshkar.

Rama Rao was convinced that the area around Thirunakkara, which was then covered with forests, hills, uneven terrain and wasteland, could be transformed into a good town through planned development. The old centres of the town, Thali Fort and Thazhathangady, had by then lost much of their former grandeur and were in serious decline.

Immediately after taking charge as Dewan Peshkar, Rama Rao established the Huzur Cutchery office and the administrative machinery at Kottayam, in the vicinity of what is today Kacherikkadavu. The Thaliyanthanapuram market, established in 1415 during the rule of Thekkumkoor and known today as the Old Market, was still functioning as a local bazaar. When a new market was opened at Thirunakkara near the government offices as part of the new town, traders were reluctant to leave the old market. Eventually, the police had to compel middlemen and farmers arriving from the eastern regions with vegetables and other produce to take their goods to the new Thirunakkara market. Gradually, Thirunakkara became the commercial and urban centre of Kottayam. Many of the urban-development initiatives undertaken by Rama Rao with remarkable foresight continue, in modified forms, to shape the basic character of Kottayam even today.

Before discussing Rama Rao’s administrative reforms, it is worth looking briefly at his life.

Rama Rao belonged to a prominent Maratha Brahmin family whose members had held high positions in various princely states and under the British Government in South India. During the reign of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, many members of this community entered important government service. Rama Rao, the principal figure in our story, was born in June 1831 at Thiruvananthapuram, the son of Sakharama Rao, who had served as a judge in the Alleppey District Court and the Appellate Court at Thiruvananthapuram. Sir T. Madhava Rao, one of the most celebrated Dewans of Travancore, and Dewan Bahadur Raghunatha Rao were his paternal uncles. Dewans Venkitta Rao and Ranga Rao were his maternal uncles.

He was educated at the Government English School in Thiruvananthapuram, the institution that later became the Arts College, and at the London Mission Seminary of the LMS in Nagercoil. In 1851, he entered government service in the Huzur Cutchery on a monthly salary of ten rupees. In 1855, he resigned that post and joined the Malabar Civil Sessions Court in Kozhikode as a translator, drawing a salary of twenty-three rupees.

At the time, Sir T. Madhava Rao was Dewan Peshkar of the Southern Division, or Nanjinad. The region was plagued by internal conflicts and violence, and Madhava Rao was organising a well-equipped administrative machinery to restore peace. As part of this effort, he summoned his nephew Rama Rao from Kozhikode, persuaded him to resign his position there, and appointed him Tahsildar of Kalkulam Taluk.

In that position, Rama Rao earned a reputation by taking measures for the welfare of the people and suppressing injustice and violence. His success in his early administrative career brought him to the attention of the Maharaja. When Sir T. Madhava Rao became Dewan of Travancore in 1859, Rama Rao too received a promotion. He became Huzur Police Shirastadar, equivalent to the Superintendent of Police. It did not take him long to rise further, becoming Head Shirastadar and later Deputy Peshkar.

In 1862, he was appointed Deputy Peshkar of the Kollam Division. Kayamkulam was then part of the Kollam Division. A notorious gang operating in backwater of Kayamkulam had made robbery and plunder its profession. Its leader was the notorious Kayamkulam Kochunni. Despite repeated attempts by large police forces to capture him, Kochunni had managed to evade arrest. Soon after Rama Rao took charge as Dewan Peshkar, he reorganised the police force and personally took charge of the operation. Through a carefully planned strategy, he succeeded in capturing Kayamkulam Kochunni. During his tenure in Kollam, he introduced several reforms and modernised the town. Many of the major roads in the Kollam region, including the Kollam–Shenkottai road, were constructed during his administration. He also built the Chengannur–Mannar road and developed Chengannur into a town.

The Kottayam Division was subsequently carved out of the Northern Division, whose headquarters had been at Cherthala, and Rama Rao was appointed its Dewan Peshkar. The Kottayam Division of that period covered the present-day Kottayam and Idukki districts as well as parts of present-day Ernakulam district, including Kothamangalam, Muvattupuzha and Piravom. The road from Kottayam to Peermade and the north–south road through Kottayam were improved under his administration.

At that time, waterways were the principal means of transport. Travelling from Kottayam to Vaikom or Cherthala required a long journey around Vembanad Lake. To solve this problem, Rama Rao improved the branch of the Meenachil River beginning at Maryathuruthu and connected it with a network of canals and waterways through Kallunkathra, Neendoor, Kallara and Perumthuruthu to Vaikom.

He also created a direct water route from Kottayam to Alappuzha. A canal was cut from the Kodoor River, south of Kacherikkadavu, running westward in a straight line to R-Block, at the beginning of Vembanad Lake. This came to be known as Puthenthodu. A steamboat service soon began operating through this canal, and a jetty was constructed at Kacherikkadavu for boats arriving in Kottayam.

With the establishment of the Thirunakkara market, Kottayam developed into a major commercial centre. It also became an important transit point for transporting hill produce to the port of Alappuzha. As trade expanded, people from different regions migrated to Kottayam. Chettis from Kayamkulam and the Kochi region, and Rowthers from Rajapalayam and the Madurai region, settled here for commercial purposes. The Gauda Saraswat Brahmins, who had been involved in trade at Thazhathangady for centuries, retained their influence in the Thirunakkara market. As Thirunakkara Temple gained prominence, Tamil Brahmins and members of the Nair community settled around it. Tamil Brahmins found employment in government service, accounting and other office-related occupations.

Government-owned waste and unoccupied lands were allotted to local residents, with revenue officials appointed specifically for this purpose in different areas. The undeveloped town was full of bushes, hills and uneven terrain. People going to the market often used narrow lanes to avoid being noticed by revenue officials sitting on benches along the roads! If they happened to come under the officials’ notice, acres of unoccupied land in the middle of town could be allotted to them. They would then have to pay land revenue. It is amusing to hear that people deliberately avoided the officials because they feared the burden of paying taxes!

To encourage reading and make the people more knowledgeable, a library was established at Thirunakkara with money collected from the public. This later became the Kottayam Public Library. Monthly seminars and lectures were also conducted there. There is little doubt that the literacy-oriented activities initiated during Rama Rao’s administration contributed to the intellectual culture that eventually helped Kottayam earn its reputation as a highly literate city. He also undertook several initiatives in healthcare and public health and established a district hospital at Kottayam.

In agriculture, he sought to promote improved cultivation practices. Farmers’ groups were convened, modern agricultural methods were tested in selected fields, and farmers were encouraged to adopt them. It is said that the paddy fields in the western parts of Kottayam produced excellent yields during this period.

The administration of the annual festivals at Thirunakkara Mahadeva Temple was then a government responsibility. Rama Rao ensured that funds were allocated from the treasury for the temple rituals and actively participated in their organisation. During the festival season, a cattle market was established on the western side of the Thirunakkara grounds. It disappeared after his tenure. He also decided to organise a permanent agricultural exhibition at Thirunakkara on the day of the temple’s Arattu. Such an agricultural exhibition was unusual at the time and attracted large numbers of visitors from distant places. However, this initiative too did not continue for very long.

Rama Rao extended full government support to the educational and social-reform activities undertaken by the Anglican missionaries in Kottayam. He took a particular interest in the educational affairs of students at CMS College. Since he himself had been educated at an Anglican missionary school, he had a personal affinity towards missionary activities in Kottayam.

He also made arrangements to give greater prominence to the boat races held in Kottayam. The boat races at Chungom and Kumarakom were improved, while the traditional boat race at Thazhathangady on the Meenachil River was developed into a more organised competitive event. The Kottayam Boat Race acquired wider recognition as a result of his efforts, and in 1885 it was elevated into a formal competitive boat race.

In recognition of the development activities he had undertaken, particularly in Kottayam Division and the town of Kottayam, Maharaja Visakham Thirunal created a new official position in 1885—Head Dewan Peshkar, a title that had not existed before—and appointed Rama Rao to it. Soon afterwards, he was also elected a member of the Senate of the University of Madras.

In 1887, Rama Rao became the Dewan of Travancore. It was during his tenure that Travancore established its first legislative council. This opened the way for the revision of several regulations that had imposed heavy burdens on ordinary people. Long-standing arrears of rent and revenue were remitted in many cases. At the same time, improved administrative practices strengthened the financial position of the state, enabling greater allocations for agriculture and public works, particularly in the northern divisions and Kottayam.

As Dewan of Travancore from 1887 to 1892, T. Rama Rao played a significant role in modernising and systematising the administration. His most important institutional contribution was the establishment of the Travancore Legislative Council in 1888, which laid an important foundation for the subsequent development of representative institutions in the state. He also introduced the Select Committee system in legislative proceedings and sought to incorporate the views of officials into administrative decision-making. He promoted reforms in education, public works, finance and the judicial administration. The lasting importance of his tenure as Dewan therefore lies particularly in the institutional foundations he laid for modern administration and legislation in Travancore.

In 1891, Queen Victoria conferred upon Dewan Rama Rao the distinction of Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (C.I.E.). After serving as Dewan for five and a half years, he resigned in 1892 owing to ill health.

He spent his later years at his residence at Nedungolam near Paravur. As his illness worsened, he was brought to a mansion at Shankhumukham in Thiruvananthapuram for better medical care. He was later moved to a more comfortable residence at Vellayambalam, where he received intensive care. His condition deteriorated on June 4, 1895, and he died the following evening.

For nearly a decade as Dewan Peshkar of the Kottayam Division, and subsequently as Dewan of Travancore, T. Rama Rao introduced an extraordinary range of administrative reforms, development projects and welfare measures in Kottayam. It is difficult to find later elected representatives or administrators whose achievements in transforming the city matched the scale of his vision. Those who came after him largely modified, improved or continued the foundations he had laid. From determining the location of modern Kottayam to shaping its urban form, he succeeded in turning his vision of a new city into reality.

We who enjoy the benefits of a democratic system naturally recognise the universal superiority of democratic governance. Yet in our times, when corruption and nepotism have increased, we can also see bureaucratic misrule being used to shield many of these evils.

Nevertheless, the life of T. Rama Rao stands as an example of the rare individuals who, even under the old monarchical system—an age marked by violence, inequality and social injustices—devoted themselves to justice, fairness and the welfare of the people. No monument may have been erected in Kottayam in his memory, but the city of Kottayam itself will forever remain his living monument.

Author: Pallikkonam Rajeev .