T. M. Nair

T. M. Nair Biography

Taravath Madhavan Nair, better known as T. M. Nair was a prominent politician from south India in Madras presidency, who lived during the period, 15 January 1868 – 17 July 1919. He was a founding member of Justice Party, officially the South Indian Liberal Federation, best known for the ideologies of Socialism and Anti-Brahminism. He advocated for the ideologies of Anti-Brahminism, and the other founding members of Justice Party are P. Theagaraya Chetty and C. Natesa Mudaliar. The trio founded Justice Party in 1916, which had a long run in the pre-independent era of South India, before it was changed to Dravidar Kazhagam. The formation of the party is seen as the start of the Dravidian Movement.

Taravath Madhavan Nair hailed from Tirur of Palakkad, present-day Kerala. He was born on 15 January 1868 in Tirur, then a part of Madras Presidency during British Raj. His father was a District Munsiff in the judicial service at Tirur, while his elder brother was a deputy collector. His sister was scholar who has authored a few books. Nair’s early education was done in Palakkad, before he moved to Chennai for higher studies. After graduation he joined Madras Medical College, but didn’t complete his medical studies. He later studied at University of Edinburgh, worked in Paris for a while before he returned to India in 1897.

He was a member of students’ organizations while at Edinburgh, and his active career in politics began after he moved back to south India. He represented Triplicane in the Madras Corporation from 1904 to 1916. Madras United League was formed in 1912 with some government servants with C. Natesa Mudaliar being one of its founding members. Later he became instrumental to bring political opponents Sir Theagaroya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair together and they formed an organization representing the non-Brahmins of the Madras Presidency. It was later known as Justice Party.

Published: November 29, 2018

Updated: November 29, 2018