Dinkar Rao

Sir Dinkar Rao, K.C.S.I. (December 20, 1820 – January 9, 1896) was an Indian Statesman, born in Ratnagiri District, Bombay. He was a Chipavan Brahmin.

At fifteen he entered the service of the Gwalior State, in which his ancestors had served. Rapidly promoted to the responsible charge of a division, he displayed unusual talents in reorganizing the police and revenue departments, and in reducing chaos to order. In 1851 Dinkar Rao became Dewan. The events of which led to the British victories of Mahaarajpur and Panniar in 1844 had filled the state with mutinous soldier, ruined the finances and weaken authority. With a strong hand the dean suppressed disorder, abolished ruinous imports executed public works, and by reduction of salaries, including his own, turned a deficit into a surplus. During the period of the Indian rebellion of 1857 Rao never wavered in loyalty to the British; and although the state troops also mutinied in June 1858 on the approach of Tantia Topi, he adhered to the British cause, retiring with Maharaja Sindhia to the Agra fort. After the restoration of order he remained Minister until December 1859. In 1873 he was appointed guardian to the minor rana to Dholpur, but soon afterward he resigned, owing to ill health. In 1875, the Viceroy of India selected him as a Commissioner, along with the Maharajas of Sindhia and Jaipur and three British colleagues, to try the Gaekwar of Baroda on a charge of attempting to poison the British Resident. He was amongst the first non-British members of the Legislative Council of India appointed in 1861 vide the Indian Councils Act. An estate was conferred upon him, with the hereditary title of Raja, for his eminent services, and the decoration of K.C.S.I.

He died on January 9, 1896. No Indian statesmen of the 19th century gained a higher reputation, yet he only commenced the study of English at the age of forty, and was never able to converse fluently in it. His orthodoxy resented social reforms, and he kept aloof form the Indian Congress.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

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Name	Rao, Dinkar
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Date of birth	December 10, 1819
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Date of death	January 9, 1896
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