# A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas/28th Generation

Twenty-eighth Generation.
MAHARAJA SIR V. RAJAGOPALA KRISHNA
YACHENDRA BAHADUR, g.c.i.e.,
PANCHAHAZAR MANSABDAR.
Born 25th November, 1857, installed 3rd March, 1879, died 23rd July 1916.)
Private life. — The Maharajah's life is one of the most glorious, eventful, long and prosperous in the History of Venkatagiri Rajahs. Having assumed charge of the Estate even in his twenty-second year, from his father who peacefully led a life of retirement in Madras, he evinced from that young age great tact and natural capacity for administration.
He first turned his attention to building nice and spacious halls in and around his Palace. He also constructed many decent houses in and outside the Town of Venkatagiri. The first in order is the Indra Mahal which will be dealt with later. Next the two buildings at ​the main and sub-entrances into the Palace. Around the Palace, the present Dewan's Office, the Library and Vinodasala are the chief. The Town-hall in the south-east part of the town with the Dewan's lodgings opposite to it, and the Jubilee Rest-house near the Railway station are the noteworthy new constructions. But several others had been considerably repaired and improved during his time, as for instance, the Bara Bungalow near the local pond, and the several Bungalows at Palayamkota, Venganagaripalle and Ginkala-bavi, frequently resorted to for hunting. In leaving behind such excellent constructions he only followed the example of his father, whose interest in domestic arrangements was very keen.
One feature of his life is his love of hunting. He not only paid his seasonal visits to the forest, but even invited and entertained other Zemindars and big Officers in this game. It was in 1882 that at the request of that ​Zemindar he went on a hunting excursion to Kalahasti and the same year the Rajah of Kalahasti paid a return visit during the days of the local annual festival.
Public. — The public life of the Maharajah is very varied and illustrious. It may be divided into three heads in his relations with (1) the Local Government, (2) other Zemindars, and (3) the people.
(1) His dealings with the local Government may again be treated under two heads : Pre-war and War periods. His policy was at all times one of unswerving loyalty to the British Raj. With him patriotism and loyalty were synonymous, and he understood, better than any, that real welfare of India depended upon the British connection and support. Taking the Pre-war days ; in 1883, he invited the then Governor of Madras Sir Mount Stuart Elphinstone Grant Duff to Venkatagiri, and got him to lay the Foundation Stone of the Town-hall on the 22nd July. The place has ​since been very useful for public gatherings and also as a rest-house for native officers on tour. It was also at the time of the same visit, that the Indra Mahal which was begun to build in 1880 was declared duly opened by the Governor. Five years later, another Governor of Madras, Lord Connemara, was invited to plant the Foundation Stone of the Victoria Jubilee Bungalow near the Railway station.
Indra Mahal at Venkatagiri. Opened by H.E. Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff, g.c.i.e., on 22nd July, 1883.
Victoria Jubilee Rest House. Foundation-stone laid by H.E. Lord Connemara, g.c.i.e., on 10th November, 1886.
On all occasions of his visit to Madras, he enjoyed the customary honour due to members of his family of being received or escorted by five troops of His Excellency the Governor's Body-Guard followed by the Governor's Aide-de-Camp. He had also the exchange of visits with the Governors of Fort St. George. He had been nominated to the Madras Legislative Council on two occasions. He was dubbed a K.C.I. E. in 1888, honoured with the personal distinction of a Maharajah in 1910, and another personal title, the crowning point of his honours G.C.I.E., on the 1st January, 1915. ​ In 1910 he played a great part in the formation of the Imperial League to combat forces of unrest among the people. Soon after the War broke out, he was the first Zemindar who made on 27th August, 1914, a voluntary contribution of three lakhs of rupees to the Madras War Fund and at the same time made a solemn promise to place all the resources of his Estate at the disposal of the Government for the conduct of the War. He also made many other contributions to the Prince of Wales War Fund, Viceroy's Imperial Fund, Lady Pentland's Women Relief Fund and St. John's Ambulance Corps besides subscribing Rs. 500 per month till the end of October, 1915, and Rs. 1,000 thereafter for the maintenance of the Madras Hospitalship. In 1915, he gave a further sum of Rs. 15,000 for the purchase of two Ambulance Motor Cars. It is a pity that he did not live long enough to see this successful termination of the War. ​ (2) His public life, with regard to the other Zemindars of the Presidency is closely connected with the History of the Madras Landholders' Association, which is too well- known to need any elaborate treatment. With a view to guard the interests of the landed Aristocracy of the Zemindars on the one hand, and afford an easy medium of consultation or representation by the Local Government on the other, the Association was started on the 23rd July, 1890, and he was its President to the end of his life. The objects of the Association are best defined from the pen of the Maharajah himself in his address to His Excellency Lord Pentland, Governor of Madras, requesting him to lay the Foundation Stone of the building. "The watchword of the Association has been from the beginning unfaltering loyally to the British Throne and earnest co-operation with the Government. As one who took an humble part in its inauguration and has since been officially ​connected with it, I am glad to be able to say that it has amply justified the expectation of its friends and well-wishers. It has earnestly devoted itself to forward the cause of Law and Order, further the welfare of the landholders and promote a spirit of friendliness and unity among them." He spent no little time and attention on its proper growth and usefulness. He erected a handsome building at a cost of more than Rs. 60,000 and made a free gift of it to the Association to form a regular premises for its deliberations. The laying of its Foundation Stone in January, 1916, and the opening of the building in March, 1917, were both conducted by the then Governor of Madras, Lord Pentland, who paid a warm tribute to the Maharajah's glory and character. It is needless to say that the Maharajah's untiring efforts in the Association as well as his influence in the Council Chamber contributed a good deal to the framing of the Impartible Estates Act, a boon to all ​Zemindaris, as also the Estates Land Act in its present form.
(3) His public and private charities were very many, in addition to those already mentioned under visits of Governors, Coronations and War. First in the series comes the donation of one lakh of rupees in 1885 for the construction of the Victoria Gosha Hospital in Triplicane, Madras, which institution has ever been doing very good work in restoring health to women. The second is his handsome donation of Rs. 8,000 to the Madras Gymkhana for the construction of a building in the Island. He gave Rs. 20,000 for the building, and invested Rs. 50,000 as permanent Fund for the Venkatagiri Rajahs' High School, Nellore. Rs. 25,000 was given to the Hindu University, and Rs. 10,000 for the formation of the Telugu Academy. Besides Rs. 38,700 distributed among the distant members of his family at the time of the Coronation in 1911, and ​included in the lakh of rupees noted above, he gave Rs. 30,000 to each of the three sons of his second sister, and Rs. 20,000 to the grand-son of the elder. He also gave financial help of more than three lakhs of rupees to his brother, the late Kumara Raja of Pittapur for his litigation and maintenance.
He spent about ten lakhs of rupees in purchasing several villages formerly belonging to the Kalahasti Estate. He bought four Howdahs of English pattern for use in processions in his town.
A few big suits in Court in which the Samastanam was involved and came out successful are (l) the Thangellamudi Estate Inheritance suit, in virtue of which the said Estate passed into the hands of the Maharajah, (2) Rapur boundary dispute, known as Veligondala case, which fixed the boundary between Venkatagiri and Rapur taluks, (3) the Devadayam and Bramhadayam case alias Inam case which protected the rights of ​petty Inamdars, and (4) the Pasture-lands dispute which gave the right of all pasture lands in the Estate to the Zemindar.
Religions. — The standing religious endowment of his time is the grant of Kalavalapudi Firka to Temple Fund. Before this, the many villages that were granted to temples were all lying scattered in different parts of the Estate, and therefore involved unnecessary expenditure and attention in the matter of collecting the annual revenue. So he annexed all such villages to the Estate and granted in return to the Temple Fund the whole of the Taluk Kalavalapudi with its equal annual rental. At the same time he systematised the expenditure and thus arranged for the undisturbed working of the daily worship and periodical festivals. This system continues to the present day, and is very helpful.
Close upon his Installation, he built a choultry in 1880 at the village of Nannur Gollapalli in Venkatagiri taluk, and granted ​it as an Agraharam, called Lakshminarasamambapuram in the name of his beloved mother.
His travels and pilgrimages are too many to be detailed here. He travelled from the Cape Comorin to the Himalayas, and visited almost all the important places of pious or public interest. So only a passing mention is made of the different important places. Among the holy places in the north may be mentioned Benares, Prayag, Harihara, Ayodhya, Muttra, Brindaban and Jagannath in the south Tirupati, Tiruvannamalai, Con- jeevarem, Chidambaram, Srirangam, Madura and Rameswaram; the chief towns and cities Calcutta, Bombay, Agra, Allahabad, Baroda and Bangalore. The Headquarters of his brothers Bobilli, Pittapur and Jatprole were visited by him more than once. It was during his second pilgrimage to Harihara, in 1915, that he purchased elephants and horses for his estate at a cost of Rs. 25,000. In his ​return visit to the Court of Travancore in 1910, at the request of the Yuvaraja of Travancore, who attended the annual festival at Venkatagiri, he was considerably struck with the glory of the Idol at Ananthasayanam. It is during the same journey that he reached the southernmost point of the Peninsula and paid his worships to Devi Kanyakumari.
Literary and Miscellaneous. — His love of learning and extensive patronage of literature are best evidenced by the Varshasanams, annual maintenances granted to Pandits, Poets, Artists and Musicians, as also by the Rs. 10,000 given to the Andhra Sahitya Parishad (Telugu Academy) and by the large sum of money spent in the cause of Telugu Literature at the time of the heated controversy between Classical and Colloquial Systems of Telugu. He was particularly fond of Telugu Poetry, having been himself a poet of no mean order, and more than a score of poetical works such as Radhakrishnasamvadam ​(dialogue between Radha and Krishna), Sringagara-Padya-Ratnavali (Anthology of Lyric Verses), Parts from Bramhakaivartam (one of the 18 Puranams), Katha-Sarit-Sagaram (Ocean of Legends) and Sanskrita-Kavi-Jivitam (Lives of Sanskrit Poets), were written, printed and published with his financial assistance.
After reading all this one would be the best judge to form one's own estimate of the Maharajah's character with his rare qualities of head and heart combined He is described in the book on the Ruling Chiefs, Nobles and Zemindars of India as "a prominent figure in the Public life of the country. He keeps up the traditions of the family by encouraging learning, and maintains several charitable institutions. He manages the Estate very creditably, and is widely known for his administrative talents." Be it said that he was not only a patron of Literature and Art, but was himself a man of Letters. Side ​by side with the support given to English education, he encouraged Sanskrit and Telugu learning to a full extent. He very much loved Music and Dancing, being well-versed in their theory. He was held in high esteem by the Government in spite of his open criticism of public affairs. With his love of Western games existed side by side his national ideas in athletics and sport. He daily underwent a course of Native Gymnastics to the end of his life, and gave annual subscriptions to the upkeep of the several native gymnasiums in the town. Hunting was with him a hobby. Though himself a Maharajah his simplicity in dress and mode of living was a striking example to all that knew him. He was frugal, yet charitable to an extreme, and to him even charity and religion meant a system. His love of humour and sound sense of equity, combined with a ready and open criticism, while making him an object of terror to all wrong-doers, won for him in the end the love ​and esteem of all. He died on the 23rd July, 1916, leaving behind him a son and a daughter by his first wife, the son being blessed with four sons and a daughter.
Coming to the brothers of the Maharajah, among those that went in adoption to other Estates, the Kumara-Rajah of Pittapur, born in 1858, was deprived of his Estate and so he spent his time mostly in Madras. He is known for his general good nature and love of sports. He died on 5th April, 1914, leaving behind him five sons and one daughter.
The glorious careers of the Rajahs of Bobbili and Jatprole can best be known from their respective Family Histories.
Venkatagiri Gymkhana Club, established in 1891.
Sanskrit books were published. He died without an heir on 8rd July, 1921.
Raja Venkata Krishna Yachendra, born on 26th July, 1870, is remembered by the local Hospital, which was built by him at a great cost, and was handed over to the Local Board with necessary investment. He was a lover of hunting and sports and maintained a Gymkhana at Venkatagiri with a nice play-ground attached to it, he died on 6th April, 1910, leaving behind him a daughter and his brother's son taken in adoption.
Raja Venugopala Krishna Yachendra, born on 11th February, 1874, founded the Veterinary Hospital in Madras, and was the recipient of a First-class Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal from the Government of India. He was ​also known for his love oi riding and sports. In 1893 he went to England with his brother, the Maharajah of Bobbili and had an interview with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales; he died unmarried on 25th June, 1920.