page_title: Rai Pannalal Mehta
section_title: Charismatic personality
hierarchical_section_title: Rai Pannalal Mehta / Charismatic personality
caption_attribution_description: English: 1905_Rai_Pannalal_Mehta
context_page_description: Mewar Vibhuti, Pradhan Rai Pannalal Mehta served four Maharanas, as Prime Minister of Mewar state in former state of Rajputana in India.
  Rai Pannalal Mehta carried out the duties of Munshi Mahakma Khas from 1869 to 1878 AD. De facto he was carrying out the duties of Pradhan, as most of the time the post of Pradhan was either not filled or their powers were diluted. In 1878, he was formally appointed as Pradhan. In 1894, on the advice of Agent to the Governor General, Col GH Trevor, Pannalal proceeded on long leave and whilst on a pilgrimage, he resigned.
  During his tenure as Pradhan, Rai Pannalal Mehta was instrumental in conceiving and promoting various reforms and public interest projects:
  The Separation of judiciary from executive and the publication of the first regular Gazette cum Journal.
  Land and fiscal reforms and introduction of financial budget.
  In 1885, Lord Dufferin, then Viceroy of India, laid foundation for New Walter Zanana Hospital
  In 1889, Prince Albert Victor, inaugurated the marble statue of his grandmother Empress Victoria in Gulab Bagh.
  In 1889, Lord Lansdowne, then Viceroy of India, inaugurated public library in Gulab Bagh, Udaipur.
context_section_description: Raja Ravi Varma, a celebrated Indian painter and artist, closely related to the royal family of Travancore (Trivandrum), visited Udaipur at the invitation of Maharana Fateh Singh, from Saturday 6 April 1901 onward to commission his portrait. Varma writes in his autobiography ‘Raja Ravi Varma: Portrait of an Artist’
  "We met Fatehlal Mehta, a noble of Mewar state, with whom we had a long correspondence on the subject of their visit, at the Public Gardens. Mr Fatehlal Mehta had returned only the day before from the pilgrimage. He is the son of Rai Pannalal Mehta, CIE and former Dewan of Udaipur….”
  Raja Ravi Varma liked the charismatic and photogenic face of Pannalal so much, that they requested Fatehlal to ask his father to sit for a photo session. They then completed his portrait at Travancore (Trivandrum). Varma writes in his book (25 June 1901). 
  "Rai Pannalal Mehta, our friend’s father, sat to us this evening for his portrait which we intend finishing at home, as our departure is approaching. His features are very regular and his complexion is fair. He has a dignified and noble air. He was Dewan of the state for nearly thirty years and had during his administration introduced many reforms of improvement.”
  Capt Pitney, then a British Resident in India once described Pannalal Mehta as,
  “I have met royal persons and dignitaries in my life and sometimes been disappointed but one person I shall never forget is Rai Pannalal Mehta, former Pradhan of Mewar. I saw him first when he called on me in plain and spotless white with his uncurled white Rajput beard framing the face like smoothly wrinkled parchment. He moved with such dignity that in slightness of his figure seemed of no account but his gaze defied flattery and deceit. Though he spoke softly, every syllable could be heard in rush, which his calm presence created. I thought of myself that if that was the result of over five hundred years of breeding and generations of Mehtas, there was clearly something to be said for preserving such qualities for the further well-being of this clan”.
  Rai Pannalal Mehta passed away at Udaipur in December 1919. He was cremated with full state honours at Mahasatiyaji in Oswal nobles’ (Musaddi’s) cremation area. A cenotaph (Chatri) in the memory of Pradhan Rai Pannalal Mehta was constructed by his son Mehta Fatehlal in 1920. At the time of his death he was survived by his son Fatehlal, grandsons Devilal and Udailal, who all distinguished as able high-profile administrators in the state of Mewar. Pannalal’s younger brother Laxmilal predeceased him in 1906 and youngest brother Takhat Singh passed away in 1924. Pannalal was the last Pradhan of Mewar state and also from Bachhawat clan, who held this exalted position in the reign of four successive Maharanas, starting with Swarup Singh, Shambhu Singh, Sajjan Singh and ending with Fateh Singh.
  Pannalal maintained a diary along with important correspondence and documents in his life time but he formally commenced collating and writing his memoirs in 1916. Later in 1960s his great grandson Mehta Gokal Lal, IAS, collated all the information to publish a biographical book, ‘Swa-Jeewni – Rai Pannalal Mehta, CIE, Amatya of Mewar State’.
caption: Portrait of Rai Pannalal Mehta. Painted in 1910 by Artist Pannalal Chatur, Mewar
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