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V. Bhashyam Aiyangar

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Sir
V. B. Aiyengar
CIE
Advocate-General of Madras Presidency (acting)
In office
1897–1898
Preceded byJ. H. Spring-Branson
Succeeded byC. A. White
In office
1899–1900
Preceded byC. A. White
Succeeded byJ. E. P. Wallis
Personal details
Born
Vembakkam Bhashyam Aiyangar

January 1844
Vembakkam, Madras Presidency, India
Died18 November 1908
Madras Presidency, India
Occupationlawyer
ProfessionAdvocate-General, legislator

Diwan Bahadur Sir Vembakkam Bhashyam Aiyangar Kt. CIE (January 1844 – 18 November 1908) was a lawyer and jurist who served as the first Indian Advocate-General of the Madras Presidency and later, as a Justice of the High Court of Madras.

As a Vakil he was easily the undisputed leader of the Madras bar;[1] he was described as in his heyday, the 'greatest jurist in India',[2] 'India's foremost lawyer',[1] 'perhaps the great Indian lawyer of modern times',[3] and 'a gigantic intellect' who was 'ultimately worshipped as a legal genius',[4] credited with establishing the fundamental credibility of the office of Vakil against that of Barrister.

He was a central figure in the first generation of the Mylapore clique, and the patriarch of the Vembaukum family.

Posts held

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Bhashyam Aiyangar served as the Acting Advocate General of Madras from February 1897 to March 1898 and September 1899 to March 1900.[5] He was the first Indian to hold the post. In February 1897, Bhashyam Aiyangar was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council as an official member He was nominated for two more terms in November 1899 and March 1900.[5][6]

In July 1901, Bhashyam Aiyangar was appointed a Judge of the High Court at Madras,[7] in which position he served until 1904.

Honours

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Bhashyam Aiyangar was created a Companion of the Indian Empire in May 1895.[5] He was knighted on 5 February 1900,[8] after a knighthood had been announced in the 1900 New Year Honours list.[9]

Statue of V. Bhashyam Iyengar

A statue of Bhashyam Aiyangar was donated by M. S. Nagappa in 1927 and has been installed in the Madras High Court campus, just outside the Madras Bar Association entrance.[citation needed]

Personal life

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Bhashyam Aiyangar was part of the large and celebrated Vembaukum family. His brother-in-law was C. V. Rungacharlu, Diwan of Mysore. He had a number of daughters. His third daughter was married to eminent lawyer and freedom fighter S. Srinivasa Iyengar,[10] who apprenticed under him, alongside his Vembaukum relatives V. C. Desikachariar and V. C. Seshachariar.[11] The Indian independence activist Ambujammal is his granddaughter. Actor Utkarsh Ambudkar is a descendant of Aiyangar.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b The Madras Law Journal. R. Narayanaswami Aiyar. 1909.
  2. ^ Encyclopaedia of the Madras Presidency and the Adjacent States. Oriental Enclyclopaedic Publishing Company. 1920.
  3. ^ The Madras Weekly Notes. N. R. K. Tatachariar. 1914.
  4. ^ The Hindustan Review. Printed at the Indian Press. 1915.
  5. ^ a b c India Office List 1905, p. 439
  6. ^ India Office List 1905, p. 75
  7. ^ "No. 27338". The London Gazette. 26 July 1901. p. 4950.
  8. ^ "No. 27162". The London Gazette. 6 February 1900. p. 806.
  9. ^ Shaw, William Arthur (1906). The Knights of England. Vol. II. London: Sherratt and Hughes. p. 406.
  10. ^ Some Madras Leaders, Pg 11
  11. ^ Sastry, Kadayam Ramachandra Ramabhadra (1972). S. Srinivasa Iyengar. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to V. Bhashyam Aiyangar.
  • Great Britain India Office (1905). The India List and India Office List. London: Harrison and Sons.
  • Some Madras Leaders. Allahabad: Babu Bishambher Nath Bhargava. 1922.
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