P. Theagaraya Chetty

Dewan Bahadur Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty KCSI (27 April 1852 – 28 April 1925) was an Indian lawyer, industrialist, and prominent political leader from the Madras Presidency. A pioneer of the Non-Brahmin movement in Tamil Nadu, he co-founded the Justice Party in 1916 along with C. Natesa Mudaliar and Dr. T. M. Nair, and served as its president from 1917 until his death. Theagaraya Nagar in Chennai is named in his honor. He was awarded the title Dewan Bahadur on 1 January 1919.

Dewan Bahadur Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty KCSI
Born	(1852-04-27)27 April 1852 Egathur, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	28 April 1925(1925-04-28) (aged 73) Madras, British India
Occupation(s)	Politician, Lawyer, Businessman, Industrialist, Municipal Leader, Legislator, Community Leader
Notable work	Co-founder of the Justice Party, Chairman of Madras Corporation (1909-1919), Served in the Madras Legislative Council, Promoted education for non-Brahmin communities

Born in the Madras Presidency, Theagaraya Chetty graduated from Presidency College, Madras, and went on to serve as a corporator and legislator. Initially a member of the Indian National Congress, he later founded the South Indian Liberal Federation (Justice Party) in 1917, becoming its first president and a leading voice for communal representation and social reform.

Early life

Pitti Theagaraya Chetty was born on 27 April 1852 in Egathur, a village in the Madras Presidency (now Tamil Nadu), into a Telugu-speaking Devanga family known for its engagement in trade and weaving. His family background provided him with exposure to commerce and community leadership from a young age.

He completed his early education in Chennai and went on to study at Presidency College, Madras, where he graduated with a degree in law. Despite belonging to a prosperous merchant family, he was known in his youth for maintaining humility and focusing on academics rather than showcasing his wealth.

His education and family connections equipped him with both legal expertise and business acumen, setting the foundation for his later roles in public service, politics, and commerce.

The Dravidian Movement

In 1909, the Madras Non-Brahmin Association was formed by two lawyers, P. Subramanyam and M. Purushotham Naidu, and although Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty did not initially participate, he became involved in 1912 with the founding of the Madras United League—later renamed the Madras Dravidian Association—and in November 1916, at a meeting in Madras attended by about thirty people including Theagaraya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair, it was resolved to launch a newspaper advocating the non-Brahmin cause, which led to the creation of the South Indian People’s Association as the media arm of the movement and the publication of the English-language daily Justice on 26 February 1917 with Dr. T. M. Nair as its first editor, and subsequently, in October 1917, the South Indian Liberal Federation—popularly known as the Justice Party after its newspaper—was organized under the leadership of Theagaraya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair with the stated objectives of promoting the educational, social, economic, political, material, and moral progress of all communities in Southern India other than Brahmins, representing their views to the government, and spreading liberal public opinion through lectures, literature, and other means.

Early Years of the Justice Party

Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty, elected as the first president of the Justice Party in October 1917 when its constitution was drawn up and district and city boards were established across the Presidency, led the party focused initially on social reform—organizing all-India non-Brahmin conferences, advocating separate electorates and reservations for non-Brahmins in government and civil services in the British Parliament, and ascending to the presidency in 1919 following Dr. T. M. Nair’s death in London—serving continuously as its leader until his passing in 1925.

1920 Madras Presidency Elections and Theagaraya Chetty’s Refusal to Form Government

Theagaraya at the center holding a girl child

In the December 1920 Madras Presidency elections held under the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms, the Justice Party won 63 of 98 seats, and although Governor of Madras invited Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty to form the government, he declined on the principle that a party leader should not hold a cabinet post, leading to the appointment of A. Subbarayalu Reddiar as Chief Minister, who resigned after a few months due to ill health and was succeeded by the Raja of Panagal.

Attitude towards Brahmins

In his speech as the president of the Reception Committee of the First Non-Brahmin Confederation, Theagaraya Chetty said:

Towards the Brahmins, we cherish no feelings of bitterness. If we have to fight them we do so in the interests of truth and justice, and we shall be prepared to extend to them too the right hand of fellowship, when they shall see the wrongs inflicted upon us and repent. Ours is essentially a movement of love and not of hate, or love based upon a sense of what is due to the various classes which constitute the population of this vast and ancient land^[1]

Death and legacy

Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty died on April 28, 1925, a day after his 73rd birthday. He was succeeded as president of the Justice Party by the Raja of Panagal. Widely credited with leading the party to victory in the 1920 and 1923 elections, he played a key role in establishing it as a dominant political force in the Madras Presidency for decades. The Chennai locality of Thyagaraya Nagar (T. Nagar), now a major commercial hub, is named in his honor.

See also

• List of presidents of the Justice Party

References

• Ralhan, O. P. (2002). Encyclopaedia of Political Parties. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. ISBN 978-81-7488-865-5.
• Some Madras Leaders. 1922., Pg 38 - 42