V. Bhashyam Aiyangar
{{Short description|Indian lawyer (1844–1908)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = V. B. Aiyengar
| honorific-prefix = Sir
| honorific-suffix = CIE
| image = V. Bhashyam Iyengar.png
| predecessor2 = C. A. White
| office1 = Advocate-General of Madras Presidency (acting)
| predecessor1 = J. H. Spring-Branson
| successor1 = C. A. White
| successor2 = J. E. P. Wallis
| birth_name = Vembakkam Bhashyam Aiyangar
| birth_date = January 1844
| birth_place = Vembakkam, Madras Presidency, India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1908|11|18|1844|1|}}
| death_place = Madras Presidency, India
| spouse =
| occupation = lawyer
| profession = Advocate-General, legislator|
| term_start1 = 1897
| term_end1 = 1898
| term_start2 = 1899
| term_end2 = 1900
}}
Diwan Bahadur Sir Vembakkam Bhashyam Aiyangar Kt. {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CIE}} (January 1844 – 18 November 1908) was a lawyer and jurist who served as the first Indian Advocate-General of the Madras Presidency and later, as a Justice of the High Court of Madras.
As a Vakil he was easily the undisputed leader of the Madras bar;{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCI8AQAAMAAJ&dq=V.+Bhashyam+iyengar+facile+princeps&pg=RA1-PA371 |title=The Madras Law Journal |date=1909 |publisher=R. Narayanaswami Aiyar |language=en}} he was described as in his heyday, the 'greatest jurist in India',{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2o_AQAAMAAJ&q=Bhashyam+,+the+greatest+Jurist+of+India+;+and+having+been+enrolled+as+a+High |title=Encyclopaedia of the Madras Presidency and the Adjacent States |date=1920 |publisher=Oriental Enclyclopaedic Publishing Company |language=en}} 'India's foremost lawyer', 'perhaps the great Indian lawyer of modern times',{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OuI9AQAAMAAJ |title=The Madras Weekly Notes |date=1914 |publisher=N. R. K. Tatachariar. |language=en}} and 'a gigantic intellect' who was 'ultimately worshipped as a legal genius',{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZmO7MxK-j8C&dq=V.+Bhashyam+iyengar+unique&pg=PA566 |title=The Hindustan Review |date=1915 |publisher=Printed at the Indian Press |language=en}} credited with establishing the fundamental credibility of the office of Vakil against that of Barrister.
He was a central figure in the first generation of the Mylapore clique, and the patriarch of the Vembaukum family.
Posts held
Bhashyam Aiyangar served as the Acting Advocate General of Madras from February 1897 to March 1898 and September 1899 to March 1900.India Office List 1905, p. 439 He was the first Indian to hold the post. In February 1897, Bhashyam Aiyangar was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council as an official member He was nominated for two more terms in November 1899 and March 1900.India Office List 1905, p. 75
In July 1901, Bhashyam Aiyangar was appointed a Judge of the High Court at Madras,{{London Gazette |issue=27338 |date=26 July 1901 |page=4950}} in which position he served until 1904.
Honours
Bhashyam Aiyangar was created a Companion of the Indian Empire in May 1895. He was knighted on 5 February 1900,{{London Gazette| issue=27162 |page=806 |date=6 February 1900}} after a knighthood had been announced in the 1900 New Year Honours list.{{cite book |last=Shaw |first=William Arthur |year=1906 |title=The Knights of England |volume=II |location=London |publisher=Sherratt and Hughes |page=406 |url=https://archive.org/stream/knightsofengland02shawuoft#page/406/mode/2up}}
File:Venbakam Bashyam Aiyangar.jpg
A statue of Bhashyam Aiyangar was donated by M. S. Nagappa in 1927 and has been installed in the Madras High Court campus, just outside the Madras Bar Association entrance.{{cn|date=January 2023}}
Personal life
Bhashyam Aiyangar was part of the large and celebrated Vembaukum family. His brother-in-law was C. V. Rungacharlu, Diwan of Mysore. He had a number of daughters. His third daughter was married to eminent lawyer and freedom fighter S. Srinivasa Iyengar,Some Madras Leaders, Pg 11 who apprenticed under him, alongside his Vembaukum relatives V. C. Desikachariar and V. C. Seshachariar.{{Cite book |last=Sastry |first=Kadayam Ramachandra Ramabhadra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7uW1AAAAIAAJ |title=S. Srinivasa Iyengar |date=1972 |publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India |language=en}} The Indian independence activist Ambujammal is his granddaughter. Actor Utkarsh Ambudkar is a descendant of Aiyangar.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
{{commons category}}
- {{cite book | title=The India List and India Office List| last=Great Britain India Office| date=1905| publisher=Harrison and Sons| location=London|ref=India Office List 1905}}
- {{cite book | title=Some Madras Leaders| date=1922| publisher=Babu Bishambher Nath Bhargava| location=Allahabad|ref=Some Madras Leaders}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhashyam Aiyangar, V}}
Category:19th-century Indian lawyers
Category:Lawyers in British India
Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
Category:Indian Knights Bachelor
Category:Lawyers awarded knighthoods
Category:Advocates general for Tamil Nadu
Category:Members of the Madras Legislative Council
Category:20th-century Indian lawyers