SIR DINKAR

See also:

• SIR DINKAR RAO (1819–1896)
• RAO, SIR T

RAO (1819–1896)  , Indian statesman, was born in Ratnagiri district, Bombay, on the loth of December 1819, being a Chitpavan Brahmin . At fifteen he entered the service of the Gwalior state, in which his ancestors had served . Rapidly promoted to the responsible charge of a division, he displayed unusual talents in reorganizing the police and revenue departments, and in reducing chaos to order . In 1851 Dinkar Rao became dewan . The events which led to the British victories of Maharajpur and Panniar in 1844 had filled the state with mutinous soldiery, ruined the finances, and weakened authority . With a strong hand the dewan suppressed disorder, abolished ruinous imposts, executed public works, and by a reduction of salaries, including his own, turned a deficit into a surplus . When the contingent mutinied in 1857, he never wavered in loyalty; and although the state troops also mutinied in June 1858 on the approach of Tantia Topi, he adhered to the British cause, retiring with Maharaja Sindhia to the Agra fort . After the restoration of order he remained minister until December 1859 . In 1873 he was appointed guardian to the minor Rana of Dholpur, but soon afterwards he resigned, owing to ill-health . In 1875 the viceroy selected him as a commissioner, with the Maharajas Sindhia and Jaipur, and three British colleagues, to try the Gaekwar of Baroda on a charge of attempting to poison the British resident . He also served in the legislative council of India, and was frequently consulted by viceroys on difficult questions . An estate was conferred upon him, with the hereditary title of Raja, for his eminent services, and the decoration of K.C.S.I .

He died on the 9th of

January 1896 . No Indian statesman of the loth century gained a higher reputation, yet he only commenced the study of English at the age of forty, and was never able to converse fluently in it; his orthodoxy resented social reforms; he kept aloof from the Indian Congress, and he had received no training in British administration .