Shyamji Krishnavarma

Born: Oct 30, 1857
Mandvi, Kutch

Died: March 30, 1939

Nationality: Indian

Known for: Indian Independence Movement

Spouse(s): Bhanumati Krishnavarma

Shyamji Krishna Varma (Shyamji Krishna Nakhua) (1857 - 1930) was an Indian scholar, lawyer, nationalist and a journalist who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and The Indian Sociologist in London. A graduate of Balliol College, Krishna Varma was a noted scholar in Sanskrit and other Indian languages. He pursued a brief legal career in India and served as the Divan of a number of Indian princely states in India.[1]. He had, however, differences with Crown authority and was dismissed following a supposed conspiracy of local British officials at Junagadh,[2] and chose to return to England. An admirer of Dayanand Saraswati’s approach of Cultural nationalism, and of Herbert Spencer, Krishna Varma believed in Spencer’s dictum “Resistance to aggression is not simply justified, but imperative”.[1] In 1905 he founded the India House and The Indian Sociologist, which rapidly developed as an organised meeting point for radical nationalists among Indian students in Britain at the time, and one of the most prominent centres for revolutionary Indian nationalism outside India. Most famous among the members of this organisation was V.D. Savarkar. Krishna Varma himself moved to Paris in 1907, fearing prosecution. He died in 1930.

Early life

Shyamaji Krishna Varma was born October 30, 1857 in Mandvi, Kutch province, the son of, Karasan Bhanushali (Karasan Nakhua, Nakhua is the specific surname while [Bhanushali] is the community Name), a labourer for cotton Press Company and Gomatibai, his mother who died when Shyamaji was only eleven years old. He was raised by his grandmother. After completing secondary education in Bhuj he went to Mumbai for further education at Wilson High School. Whilst in Mumbai he learnt Sanskrit.
In 1875 Shyamaji got married to Bhanumati, a daughter of a wealthy businessman of the Bhatia community and sister of his school friend Ramdas. Then he got in touch with the nationalist Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a radical reformer and an exponent of Vedas, who had founded Arya Samaj. He became his disciple and was soon conducting lectures on Vedic Philosophy and Religion. In 1877, a public speaking tour secured him a great public recognition all over Bharat. He became the first non-Brahmin, to receive the prestigious title of Pandit by the Pandits of Kashi in 1877. He came to the attention of Professor Monier Williams, an Oxford Professor of Sanskrit who offered Shyamaji a job as his assistant.

Balliol

Shyamji arrived in England and joined Balliol College on 25 April 1879 with the recommendation of Professor Monier Williams. Passing his B.A. in 1883, he presented a lecture on “the origin of writing in India” to the Royal Asiatic Society. The speech was very well received and he was elected a non-resident member of the society. In 1881 he represented India at the Berlin Congress of Orientalists.

Legal career

He returned to India in 1885 and started practice as a lawyer. Then he was appointed as Diwan (chief minister) by the King of Ratlam State; but ill health forced him to retire from this post with a lump sum gratauity of RS 32052 for his service. After a short stay in Mumbai he settled in Ajmer, headquarters of his Guru Swami Dayananda Saraswati, and continued his practice at the British Court in Ajmer. He invested his income in three cotton presses and secured sufficient permanent income, to be independent for the rest of his life. He served for the Maharaja of Udaipur as a council member from 1893 to 1895, followed by the position of Diwan of Junagadh State. He resigned in 1897 after a bitter experience with the British agent which shook his faith in British Rule.

Nationalism

Krishna Varma was very much impressed with Lokmanya Tilak and supported him during the Age of Consent bill controversy of 1890. However, he rejected the petitioning, praying, protesting, cooperating and collaborating policy of the Congress Party, which he considered undignified and shameful. In 1897, following the atrocities inflicted by the British Government during the plague crisis in Poona, he supported the assassination of the Commissioner of Plague by the Chapekar brothers but he soon decided to fight for Indian Independence in Britain.