Draft:Rajasabhabhushana K. Chandy

Rajasabhabhushana K. Chandy - Mysore’s first Malayalee/ Syrian Christian

In the 19th century the Indian Subcontinent was comprised of several Royal Principalities/ Kingdoms and the three British Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras.

Kunnenkeril Chandy was born in 1873 into a Syrian Christian family in the Kingdom of Travancore (Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor 1729-1947) on the Indian Subcontinent.

His father was the Rev. K. Koratha (1842-1914). His early education was at Kottayam for Matriculation and F.A. where he was awarded scholarships. He then studied at Madras Christian College which at that time was located opposite The Madras High Court in Georgetown - the College moved to the Sylvan Selaiyur neighborhood of Tambaram in 1937. At MCC he obtained the B.A. Degree, his subjects being Politics and Economics. He was awarded the prestigious Ripon Gold Medal in 1891 and performed brilliantly in scholastics and was selected by the then Principal, Rev. (Dr) William Miller to be his secretary.

The first ever ‘CET’ exam was held 132 years ago and two meritorious candidates were K.R. Srinivas Iyengar and K. Chandy, after which he entered the Mysore Civil Service in 1894 .

K. Chandy was the first Syrian Christian to enter Mysore Civil Service and because of his outstanding abilities, integrity and fairness his ascent was rapid in Mysore State Service.

Starting as Assistant Commissioner he moved rapidly up the ranks to Deputy Commissioner, Excise Commissioner, Commissioner of Income Tax and retired as First Member of Mysore Council.

In Travancore, being a native son, he was referred to as ‘Mysore Chandy’.

Given his intellectual gifts, he tackled public administration with insight and vision. The Mysore Reforms Committee, chaired by Dr. Brijendranath Seal, felt the force of his contribution.

He was one of the founders of the Social Service League and a founding member of the Boy Scout Movement started by Baden Powel.

The Maharajah of Mysore, Krisnarajah Wadiyar IV conferred on Mr. Chandy the Honorific/Title ‘Rajasabhabhushana’, at which function the Nizam of Hyderabad was in attendance.

His career in the Mysore Civil Service spanned the Dewanships of both Sir M. Visveswariah, the 19th Devan of Mysore (1912-1918), and that of Sir Mirza Mohamed Ismail, the 22nd Dewan (1926-1941). It was thought that, had he not retired from service, he would have at one time been considered for the position of Dewan of Mysore. Following his retirement from Mysore Service as First Member of Council, he was freely mentioned in the press, as the probable successor to Mr. T. Ragaviah as Dewan of Travancore, but instead the Britisher Mr. M.E. Watts got the call.

In 1897 he persuaded Mr. K. Matthan also from Travancore, to enter Mysore Civil Service .

K. Chandy was in correspondence with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (The ‘Mahatma’) during the days of the Freedom Struggle and in fact there is an extant letter from ‘The Mahatma’ to K. Chandy, which is in the possession of his oldest grandson’s (Elanjikal Sonny Kuruvilla) family.

K. Chandy is on the Honor Roll of the Mysore Gazeteer which reads like a fascinating book on South Indian History ! (Read Page 3129 of Chapter XII available here ).

Details collected and compiled on 19 March 2024 by his grandson Dr. Mammen George Chandy, Park’s Hill, Bangor, California, USA.