Rao Bahadur

Rai Bahadur (also Rao Bahadur in South India), abbreviated R.B., was a title of honour bestowed during British rule in India to individuals for faithful service or acts of public welfare to the Empire. From 1911, the title was accompanied by a medal called a Title Badge.^[1] Translated, Rao means "prince", and Bahadur means "brave" or "most honourable". Bestowed mainly on Hindus, the equivalent title for Muslim and Parsi subjects was Khan Bahadur. For Sikhs it was Sardar Bahadur.

Those awarded the Rao Bahadur title were usually drawn from the lower rank of Rai Sahib, both of which were below the rank of Dewan Bahadur.^[2] These titles were subordinate to the two orders of knighthood: the Order of the Indian Empire and the higher Order of the Star of India. A holder of a Rai Sahib, Rai Bahadur or Dewan Bahadur title came lower in the order of precedence.^[1]

Selected recipients awarded the Rao/Rai Bahadur title[]

Academics and education[]

Sadashiva Jairam Dehadrai, Professor of Sanskrit, Jabalpur College.^[3]
Priya Nath Dutt, assistant registrar, Punjab University^[4]
S.N (Satya Nand) Mukarji Esq, BA (Cantab) and MA (Cantab), 6th - and longest-serving (1926-1945) - Principal of St. Stephen's College, Delhi (a foundation constituent college of Delhi University), Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos from Queens' College, Cambridge. Member, Lindsay Commission;^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

Activists and politicians[]

S. A. Saminatha Iyer, Indian independence activist.
Manik Lal Joshi, chief minister of Bundi, Rajputana^[9]
Jaswant Raj Mehta^{[citation needed]} Indian politician, elected to the Lok Sabha; elected to Jodhpur State Legislative Assembly in 1947
C. Jambulingam Mudaliar (1857 - 1906), Indian politician and freedom-fighter
T. M. Jambulingam Mudaliar (1890 - 1970), philanthropist and freedom fighter who gave 620 acre land to establish NLC India Limited
Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu, Chief Minister of Madras Presidency.
Seth Vishandas Nihalchand, Sindhi politician, social reformer, philanthropist
Chhotu Ram, Minister for Agriculture and Home Affairs, erstwhile Punjab, 1945. First Indian-origin Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.

Civil servants and government officials[]

Jagan Nath Bhandari Raj Ratan, Dewan of Idar State^[10]
Lada Damodar Das, extrajudicial assistant commissioner in the Punjab^[4]
Dewan Jaggatnath, secretary to the municipal committee and district board, Dera Ismail Khan^[9]
Sahu Parsotam Saran Kothiwala, member of the district board, Moradabad^[4]
Lala Jai Lal, member of the Municipal Committee, Simla^[4]
, Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Madras Presidency; winner of King's Coronation Award for Distinguished Public Service, London^[11]
Akshey Kumar Sarkar, superintendent, Department of Commerce and Industry, Government of India^[9]
Betharam Sarma, sub-deputy collector, Tezpur, Assam^[4]

Commerce and industry[]

Jamnalal Bajaj, industrialist (he later returned the title)^[12]
Dewan Bahadur P. Somasundaram Chettiar, Coimbatore - industrialist and pioneer in textiles.^[13]
Jagmal Raja Chauhan, industrialist and noted railway contractor
Jairam Valji Chauhan, industrialist
Seth Sarupchand Hukamchand,(1874–1959) merchant, Indore, thara of Indian industry and a prominent leader of the Jain community ^[9]
Gujar Mal Modi, founder of the Modi Group
Mohan Singh Oberoi, founder of Oberoi Group

Engineering, science and medicine[]

Kailash Chandra Bose, CIE, OBE, first knighted Indian physician.^[14]
Upendranath Brahmachari, Bengal Presidency, Discovery of urea stibamine for the treatment of Kala Azar
Balkishen Kaul, surgeon, lecturer, and superintendent of Lahore Medical college^[4]
Puttana Venkatramana Raju (1894-1975), civil engineer, industrial advisor to government of India, educationist.
Ram Dhan Singh (Dr.), pioneer agricultural scientist, principal, College of Agriculture, Lyallpur, erstwhile Punjab, 1947.^[15]

Law and justice[]

Babu Ram Sadan Bhattacharji, deputy magistrate, Bengal^[4]
Chaudhary Dewan Chand Saini , (1887-?) of Gurdaspur, Punjab, distinguished lawyer of Punjab High Court, leader of the criminal bar; elected member of Legislative Council of colonial Punjab
Rajendranath Dutt, judge, Bengal^[4]
Soti Raghubans Lal, subordinate judge, Shahjehanpur^[4]
Sadh Achraj Lal, honorary magistrate and member of the municipal board, Mirzapur^[4]
Jwala Prasad, government pleader^[4]
Raghunath Sharan, District Judge in Bihar^[16]
Babu Bahadur Singh, honorary magistrate, Pilibhit^[4]
Babu Shuhrat Singh, Zemindar of Chandpur and honorary magistrate, Basti^[4]

Literature and arts[]

Appu Nedungadi, author of Kundalatha, the first novel published in Malayalam

Philanthropy, religion and charity[]

Ranchhodlal Chhotalal, textile mill pioneer and philanthropist
Dharmarathnakara Arcot Narrainsawmy Mudaliar, philanthropist.
Amba Prasad, philanthropist of Delhi
Salig Rām (Rai Saligram)), (1829-1898) Postmaster-General, North-Western Provinces, disciple of Shiv Dayāl Singh Seth, later succeeding him as guru.
Ranadaprasad Saha, philanthropist
Yele Mallappa Shettaru, philanthropist, 1887, constructed Bangalore's first obstetrics hospital, funded Vani Vilas Hospital construction, restored Kaadu Malleshwara Temple, Bangalore^[9]
Sardar Bahadur Jagat Singh (Sant) (1884-1951), Lyallpur, pre-partition Punjab Surat Shabd Yoga practitioner and guru
Gubbi Thotadappa, businessman, philanthropist, founded Dharmachathra (free lodging places for travellers) and free hostels for students throughout Karnataka.
A. Veeriya Vandayar, philanthropist.

Police and emergency services[]

Tirath Singh Bakshi, Deputy Inspector General of Police, United Province
Purna Chandra Lahiri, Indian Police officer, Calcutta
P. K. Monnappa, South Indian Police Chief of three states, Madras, Hyderabad and Mysore.
Satyen Nath (S.N.) Mukherjee, First Indian-origin Deputy Commissioner of Indian Police, Calcutta.^[17]^[18]^[19]

Other[]

Babu Nalini Kanta Ray, Dastidar^{[clarification needed]} of Assam^[4]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b H. Taprell Dorling. (1956). Ribbons and Medals. A.H.Baldwin & Sons, London. p. 111.
^ Jalan, Aditya (2009). "Dewan Bahadur 1944–1954". Quila House and the Jalan Collection: A Brief Introduction. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
^ Who's Who 1911 Coronation Edition, Lucknow, Newul Kishore Press, 1911 (page 27)
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ The Indian biographical dictionary, by C. Hayavando Rao, 1915 (page 26)
^ Mayhew, Arthur (October 1931). "THE COMMISSION ON CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA". International Review of Mission. 20 (4): 512–524. doi:10.1111/j.1758-6631.1931.tb04099.x.
^ "VISIONARIES – St. Stephen's College, Delhi".
^ "St. Stephen's College, Delhi, India: HISTORY".
^ Bhattacharji, Jaya (April 1995). "Remembering Principal Mukarji". The Stephanian (Volume CIII, Issue 1). pp. 1–5. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e The Indian biographical dictionary, by C. Hayavando Rao, 1915 (page 27)
^ Bhandari Jagan Nath Rai Bhadur, Raj Ratan, Dewan of Idar State, The Times of India directory and year book including who's who, Volume 32, 1945
^ "Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India".
^ "Jamnalal Bajaj". The Print. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
^ Govindarajulu, Rajesh (2015-07-03). "Pioneers in textile". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
^ "Sir Kailas Chandra Bose". The Indian Medical Gazette. 62 (4): 235–237. 1927. PMC 5197519.
^ "Biography of Ch. Ram Dhan Singh".
^ "Former District Judges since the Creation of the Judegship/District Court in India | Official Website of District Court of India".
^ Channa, Subhadra Mitra; Channa, Subhadra (2013-09-05). Gender in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-04361-9.
^ Gupta (IAS.), G. S. (1991). Free Masonry in India. G.S. Gupta.
^ Court, India Supreme (1963). Indian Factories & Labour Reports. Law Publishing House.

[Dorling-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b H. Taprell Dorling. (1956). Ribbons and Medals. A.H.Baldwin & Sons, London. p. 111.

[j-2] Jalan, Aditya (2009). "Dewan Bahadur 1944–1954". Quila House and the Jalan Collection: A Brief Introduction. Retrieved 29 July 2018.

[Who's_Who_in_India,_1911_Coronation_Edition,_p_27-3] Who's Who 1911 Coronation Edition, Lucknow, Newul Kishore Press, 1911 (page 27)

[Hayavando,_p_26-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ The Indian biographical dictionary, by C. Hayavando Rao, 1915 (page 26)

[5] Mayhew, Arthur (October 1931). "THE COMMISSION ON CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA". International Review of Mission. 20 (4): 512–524. doi:10.1111/j.1758-6631.1931.tb04099.x.

[6] "VISIONARIES – St. Stephen's College, Delhi".

[7] "St. Stephen's College, Delhi, India: HISTORY".

[8] Bhattacharji, Jaya (April 1995). "Remembering Principal Mukarji". The Stephanian (Volume CIII, Issue 1). pp. 1–5. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

[Hayavando,_p_27-9] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e The Indian biographical dictionary, by C. Hayavando Rao, 1915 (page 27)

[10] Bhandari Jagan Nath Rai Bhadur, Raj Ratan, Dewan of Idar State, The Times of India directory and year book including who's who, Volume 32, 1945

[11] "Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India".

[12] "Jamnalal Bajaj". The Print. Retrieved 14 June 2020.

[13] Govindarajulu, Rajesh (2015-07-03). "Pioneers in textile". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-01-23.

[14] "Sir Kailas Chandra Bose". The Indian Medical Gazette. 62 (4): 235–237. 1927. PMC 5197519.

[15] "Biography of Ch. Ram Dhan Singh".

[Former_District_Judges_since_the_Creation_of_the_Judegship-16] "Former District Judges since the Creation of the Judegship/District Court in India | Official Website of District Court of India".

[17] Channa, Subhadra Mitra; Channa, Subhadra (2013-09-05). Gender in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-04361-9.

[18] Gupta (IAS.), G. S. (1991). Free Masonry in India. G.S. Gupta.

[19] Court, India Supreme (1963). Indian Factories & Labour Reports. Law Publishing House.

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