Pachaiyappa Mudaliar

Pachaiyappa Mudaliar was born in a poor family in Periyapalaiyam in Thiruvallur district. He lost his father when he was five years old, but with the help of a family friend whose help was sought by his mother he learned about business and English. He became a dubash at the age of 16 and amassed a fortune by the time he was 21.

Pachaiyappa was a protégé of Narayana Pillai and he rose to dubash-ship soon after the demise of his mentor. During the same time, his employers, English merchants, brothers Henry Powney and Thomas Powney rose to Mayorship of Madras. This increased the stature of Pachaiyappa Mudaliar and he emerged as one of the richest and most powerful men in Madras city. Despite being one of the richest men in the city, Pachaiyappa Mudaliar led a simple and austere lifestyle. He built a house at No. 26, Pagoda Street in the year 1790. There, he lived until his death. Witnesses recall that Pachaiyappa Mudaliar would bathe in the Coovum every day along with his affluent neighbors before worshipping at the temple at Komaleeswaranpet. He divided his time between Madras and Tanjore and used to travel to his village regularly. During the journey, he used to stop for days at Chidambaram to pray at the famous Hindu temple. During one such visit to Tanjore in 1794 he fell ill at Kumbakonam and died at Tiruvaiyaru on March 21, 1794.

Pachaiyappa Mudaliar was one of the first Indians to leave a will. He had set aside Rs. 4.5 lakh of what he had left to be spent on Hindu religious institutions and the remaining Rs. 7 lakh on providing an English education to Hindu youth. Since in those days wills were almost unknown and their validity scarcely recognized. The consequence was that there was long-drawn out litigation: the provisions of Pachaiyappa’s will were not carried out for the next 40 years. It was with his money that the first Indian College in Madras was started and, along with it, a number of other educational institutions which keep his memory alive.