S. A. Saminatha Iyer

S. A. Saminatha Iyer
300px A portrait of S. A. Saminatha Iyer
Born	Serugudi Anantharama Saminatha Iyer
Died	1899 Kumbakonam
Nationality	British Indian
Occupation	lawyer
Title	Rao Bahadur
Political party	Indian National Congress

Rao Bahadur S. A. Saminatha Iyer (died 1899), also known as Thanjavur Swaminatha Iyer or simply S. A. S, was an Indian lawyer, theosophist, administrator and Indian independence activist. He was a member of the Madras Mahajana Sabha and founder of the Tanjore Peoples' Association.

Early life

S. A. Swaminatha Iyer was born in the Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu. He was the eldest of four sons of Sankaranarayana Dikshitar, the others being S. A. Subramania Iyer, S. A. Ayyaswami Iyer and S. A. Ananthanarayana Iyer. Swaminatha Iyer had his schooling at Anglo-Vernacular School, Kabisthalam and completed his F. A. from Government Art's College, Kumbakonam. After his initial schooling, Swaminatha Iyer joined the Madras University in 1874. After graduating in law, Swaminatha Iyer rose rapidly in the ranks to become Government Pleader at Negapatam. Swaminatha Iyer served as a member of the Municipal Board of Negapatam and unsuccessfully stood for election to the Madras Legislative Council for the Municipalities seat losing to K. Kalyanasundaramier of Trichinopoly Between 1883 and 1885, he became the public prosecutor of Tanjore.

Politics

In 1892, when the mirasidars of Thanjavur district agitated against the rise of the land revenue from rupees 3.9 million to 5.6 million as per the newly introduced scientific settlement, Swaminatha Iyer led the movement.

Theosophical Society

Swaminatha Iyer was drawn towards theosophy and religion from the 1880s onwards and he joined the Theosophical Society started by Madame Blavatsky and Col. H. S. Olcott and rose to become Secretary of the Negapatam branch in 1883. In 1892, he became the President of the Tanjore branch of the Theosophical Society.

Indian National Congress

Delegates at the first session of the Indian National Congress, 1885

Swaminatha Iyer was involved in the Indian independence movement right from his early days. He was a corresponding member of the Madras Mahajana Sabha. He also served as the President of Tanjore People's Association.

In December 1885, Swaminatha Iyer participated as the delegate from Tanjore in the first session of the Indian National Congress. He was one of 72 delegates (22 from Madras Presidency) who attended the meeting at Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay where he made a memorable speech against the Salt Tax.

It would be unjust and unrighteous if the tax on salt should be increased. It is a necessary article both for human as well as animal well-being... it would be bad policy and a retrograde movement to raise the tax, especially at a time when the poor millions of India are anxiously looking forward for a further reduction of the tax.... As any increase, therefore, of this tax will fall heavily upon the masses of the people of the land, I would strongly urge upon the attention of this Congress the necessity of its entering its strong protest against any attempt on the part of Government to raise the tax on salt

Apart from expressing outrage at the Salt Tax, Swaminatha Iyer also opposed the stringent customs duties and the British annexation of Burma.

During the third session of the Indian National Congress held at Madras in 1887, S. A. Swaminatha Iyer was appointed member of the 35-member committee which framed the constitution of the Indian National Congress.

The evangelism controversies

Henry Simpson Lunn

Missionary colleges had been set up all over India with the prospect of introducing Christ to upper-caste Hindus. However, with the passage of time, this move became detrimental as western educated students began to oppose evangelism and missionary colleges for deriding their religious beliefs.

In April 1888, serious disturbances broke out in the Madras Presidency when there were rumours that a Brahmin student in the Madras Christian College had expressed willingness to embrace Christianity In June 1888, Brahmin students in the town of Nannilam in Tanjore district began to agitate for the missionary school in the town to be shut down. A meeting was held in the district and presided over by Swaminatha Iyer in which he gave a brief description of the Indian National Congress and exhorted the people to boycott the Christian school and instead start a national school for the education of children. Swaminatha Iyer criticised the liberal spendings of the faculty of the missionary colleges while the people of the Presidency suffered from poverty. The Christian school, eventually, became empty of students, a month before the inspection by the Madras government, thereby depriving it of a government grant of Rs. 200.

Swaminatha Iyer prepared a list of prices of food items to illustrate the comparative poverty of the masses with regard to the affluent lifestyle of the missionaries. This was later supplied as evidence by Rev. Henry Simpson Lunn during the hearing of the Madras Christian College controversies.

Temple Board

Swaminatha Iyer showed an active interest in the administrative affairs of Hindu temples right from the time of his election to the Kumbakonam Temple Committee, which administered Hindu temples in the Kumbakonam division of Tanjore district comprising the taluks of Kumbakonam, Mayavaram and Shiyali. Iyer was a member of the committee from 1885 till his death in 1899.

Throughout the 1880s, there was intense rivalry between Swaminatha Iyer and a wealthy landowner called Veerayyah Vandayar in the elections to the Kumbakonam devasthanam board. Both these individuals desired to be elected as President of the board and they adopted highly desperate measures to succeed in the elections. During 1888–89, both these factions were equally divided with three members on each side in the devasthanams board.

Veerayyah Vandayar nominated a toddy contractor named Ponnusami Nadar who won the elections in August 1888 and April 1889. However, on both these occasions, Swaminatha Iyer's faction motioned to declare the elections null and void. During the second impasse, however,the District Judge intervened to appoint Ponnusami Nadar to the board giving Veerayyah Vandayar a narrow majority.

Death

Swaminatha Iyer died on 12 August 1899.

Family

Saminatha Iyer did not have natural offsprings of his own. He adopted S. A. Venkatarama Iyer (1894–1961). His granddaughter is the noted ethnomusicologist, S. A. K. Durga.

Legacy

Swaminatha Iyer was a noted patron of carnatic music and funded music concerts. Rev. Henry Simpson Lunn, who gave a lecture in Tanjore at a meeting chaired by Swaminatha Iyer, describes him as "the most prominent brahmin in South India".