GildaNolan0093 at 15:20, 27 March 2026

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{{Short description|Indian banker and politician (1905-1984)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = RAJAH OF CHETTINAD
| name = Rajah Sir M. A. Muthiah Chettiar
| image = Raja Muthiah Chettiar.jpg
| caption = Rajah Sir Muthiah Chettiar
| imagesize =
| honorific-suffix =
| office = Member of [[Constituent Assembly of India]]
| term_start = 9 December 1946
| term_end = 24 January 1950
| order1 = Minister of Education and Excise (Madras Presidency)
| term_start1 = 10 October 1936
| term_end1 = 14 July 1937
| governor1 = [[George Frederick Stanley]]
| premier1 = [[Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili]],<br />[[P. T. Rajan]],<br />[[Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu]]
| predecessor1 = [[S. Kumaraswami Reddiar]]
| successor1 = [[P. Subbarayan]]
| birth_date = 5 August 1905
| birth_place = Chettinad Palace, [[Kanadukathan]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1984|05|12|1905|08|05}}
| death_place = Chettinad House, [[Madras]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]
| party = [[Justice Party (India)|Justice Party]]
| children = [[M. A. M. Muthiah]],<br />[[M. A. M. Ramaswamy]]
| preceding2 = Incumbency
| successor2 = Abdul Hameed Khan
| office2 = Mayor Of [[Madras]]
| termstart2 = 8 March 1933
| termend2 = 1935
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]](1973)
}}

{{Indian name|Muthiah Chettiar|Muttaiya Annamalai}}[[Sir]] '''Muthiah Annamalai Muthiah Chettiar''', [[Raja of Chettinad|Rajah of Chettinad]] [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] (5 August 1905 – 12 May 1984) better known as '''Rajah''' '''Sir Muthiah Chettiar''' was an Indian Industrialist, banker, politician, philanthropist, and cultural activist who served as First [[List of mayors of Chennai|Mayor of Madras city]] (1933) and Minister of Excise and Education (1936–37) in the provincial government of [[Madras Presidency]].<ref name=mayor>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070203104408/http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/06/stories/2005080615440300.htm Tamil scholar honoured]. ''The Hindu''. 6 August 2005.</ref><ref name=mayor2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071127104059/http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/06/stories/2006080610330300.htm Awards presentation ceremony marks 102nd birth anniversary of Muthiah Chettiar]. ''The Hindu''. 6 August 2006.</ref>

Muthiah Chettiar was holder of the hereditary title Kumar-rajah (1929–48) and later, [[Raja of Chettinad|Rajah of Chettinad]] (1948–84).

His father [[Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar]] was also a famous educationist and founder of the [[Annamalai University]] in the town of [[Chidambaram]] in Tamil Nadu.<ref name="stamp">[http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Color/Gray/DR.RAJAH%20SIR%20MUTHIAH%20CHETTIAR Dr. Rajah Sir Muthiah Chettiar – Biography on release of postal stamp on his honour]. Indianpost.com. Retrieved on 10 December 2018.</ref> He was also the third [[Nagarathar|Nattukottai Chettiar]] to be [[knight]]ed; the first two were his nephew and father.<ref name="knight">Muthiah, S. (8 September 2003) {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20031021053117/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/09/08/stories/2003090800060300.htm A generation apart]}}. ''The Hindu''.</ref> The government of Tamil Nadu honoured him with the title ''Tamil Isai Kavalar''.<ref name="stamp" /><ref name="award" />

==Early life==
He was born on 5 August 1905, son of Dr. Rajah [[Sir Annamalai Chettiar]], the [[Raja of Chettinad]] and a distinguished member of the [[Nagarathar|Nattukottai Nagarathar]] community. He studied mostly in [[Madras]], graduating from the [[Presidency College, Chennai]] in 1922. He then went to [[Burma]] on his family's business, acquiring expertise in banking.<ref name=stamp/>

==As a banker==
He became a member of the [[Madras Legislative Council]], representing the [[Southern Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry|South Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry]], with which he was associated for 50 years, and was elected its President in 1941. He was appointed member of the Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee (1931). In 1929, he became a member of the Corporation of Madras and was elected mayor in 1933 and 1934. In 1943, he was elected president of the [[Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry|Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry]]. He was associated with the [[Imperial Bank of India]] (now the [[State Bank of India]]) and the [[Indian Bank]].<ref name=stamp/>

==As an educationist==
Interest in education was part of the family heritage. He was associated with his father in making Sri Meenakshi College, Chidambaram the nucleus of [[Annamalai University]]. While pursuing his political career as Chief Whip and Legislative Assembly Chairman of the [[Justice Party (India)|Justice Party]], he retained his interest in education. In 1936 he was appointed Minister-in-Charge of education, Public Health and Excise, and was also the pro-Chancellor of [[Madras University]] for over a year. He remained on the Board of Management of the Pachaiyappa's Charities for 33 years. He was also on the Syndicate of the Madras University and the Board of Management of the [[Indian Institute of Technology, Madras]]. In 1948 he became Pro-Chancellor of Annamalai University which expanded to include the faculties of Education, Fine Arts, Culture, Law and Medicine. Two UGC centres of advanced study in [[marine biology]] and [[linguistics]] came into being. The Engineering and Technology Department developed into a post-graduate centre. The Muthiah Polytechnic, Annamalainagar, and the Annamalai Polytechnic, Chettinad, were established.<ref name=stamp/>

He was interested in the study of [[Tamil language]], [[Tamil literature|literature]], [[Tamil music|music]] and culture. His services to the Tamil cause earned him the title of ''Tamil Isai Kavalar''.<ref name=stamp/><ref name=award>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040820011445/http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/04/stories/2004080411370300.htm Encomiums on Raja Muthiah Chettiar – The Hindu]. Hindu.com (4 August 2004). Retrieved on 2018-12-10.</ref>

==In politics==
He earned the reputation of being a sensitive [[Member of Parliament|Parliamentarian]], [[impartial]] and balanced, as a leader of the [[opposition (parliamentary)|opposition]] in 1939 and when he held charge of Local Administration and [[Hindu]] Religious Endowments. He was the first Mayor of Chennai (then called Madras) when the mayoralty was reinstated for the [[Corporation of Chennai]] in 1933.<ref>[http://www.tamilnation.org/hundredtamils/annamalai.htm Dr. Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar – 100 Tamils of the 20th Century]. Tamilnation.org. Retrieved on 10 December 2018.</ref> The mayoralty had been earlier removed in 1792, when the act made Madras a municipality.<ref>Muthiah, S. (16 August 2004) [https://web.archive.org/web/20040829234410/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/08/16/stories/2004081600230300.htm The first Mayor]. ''The Hindu''.</ref> In 1946 he was elected member of the Constituent Assembly at New Delhi.<ref name=stamp/>

==Awards and legacy==
He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1941 King's Birthday Honours]], and was invested by the [[Viceroy of India]] on 24 June 1941.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35184 |supp=y|page=3282|date=6 June 1941}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35241 |supp=y|page=4565|date=8 August 1941}}</ref> He also had the rare honour of hosting a lunch in the Chettinad House for [[Queen Elizabeth II]] and the [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]]. The government of India bestowed on him [[Padma Bhushan]] in 1973,<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref> and the Tamil Nadu government honoured him with the "Tamil Isai Kavalar" title in 1979. New York World University awarded an honorary doctorate to him in 1982.<ref name=mayor2/> He died on 12 May 1984 in Madras leaving an impressive record of interests and achievements. The Indian government honoured him with a postal stamp issued on his memory on 21 December 1987.<ref name=stamp/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|title=[[List of mayors of Chennai|Mayor of Madras]]|before=None|after=[[W. W. Ladden]]|years=8 March 1933 – 7 November 1933}}
{{succession box|title=Mayor of Madras|before=W. W. Ladden|after=[[Abdul Hameed Khan]]|years=1934–1935}}
{{s-end}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1970–79}}

{{Chettinad Villages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muthiah Chettiar, M A}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian bankers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:Mayors of Chennai]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry]]
[[Category:Indian Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Annamalai University]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Chennai]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian philanthropists]]

M. A. Muthiah Chettiar - Revision history

GildaNolan0093 at 15:20, 27 March 2026