Sir Thomas Munro

As we remember madras and its glory, it is only appropriate that we also remember the people responsible for the magnificent city it was. Both Indian and British officials have a huge part in the administration during the colonial period but nobody is quite fondly remembered as Governor Thomas Munro. Yesterday was the birth anniversary for Sir Thomas Munro (27,may 1761) who was born 256 years ago in Scotland.

Initially he served the British forces that fought Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. He moved to administration and experimented with the ryotwary system, which he improved later in the Ceded Districts, now Rayalaseema. It was considered favourable to the peasants.
In the Rayalaseema area, where he spent some years as Collector, there are a number of temples with which his name is associated, such as in Kadiri, Mantralayam and Tirupati. Peasants even now, name their children ‘Munrolappa’.
After becoming the Governor of Madras in June 1820, Munro reversed the policy of his predecessors as far as relations with the native people were concerned. He wanted them entrusted with greater responsibilities in administration. Munro laid the foundations of a form of district administration that has survived to this day with few changes. Concrete steps were taken towards the formation of an education policy for Madras during his time.
To the commonly felt perception that Indians in administration were corrupt, Munro had this to say: “Their (Indians) place could never be supplied by a few foreigners imperfectly acquainted with their customs and language. I have never seen any European whom I thought competent, from his knowledge of the language and the people, to ascertain the value of the evidence given before him. He died of cholera in 1827 while touring the Northern Districts. Years later, Rajaji said “Whenever any young Civil Servant came to me for blessings or when I spoke to them in their training school, I advised them to read about Sir Thomas Munro, who was the ideal administrator.”
Thomas Munro may be remembered by his Majestic statue mounted on a horse in the heart of Madras but Munro’s best memorial lay in the hearts of the people.

Thomas Munro Statue, 1838

Even though there are several statues for governors of the colonial period all over india, The statue for Governor of Madras Sir Thomas Munro mounted on a horse in Anna salai deserves a special mention because of its grandeur and the fond love people of madras have for him . When he died in 1827 due to Cholera, Sir Francis Chatrey the most outstanding English portrait sculptor of his generation, was commisioned to sculpt a statue but it was completed only in 1838. The model for the horse was found in King George V stable and it was also sculpted in statues of other kings such as the Duke of Wellington. Another difficulty was that the sculptor had to make do with one 3/4 portrait photo showing only one side of his face.The whole statue weighing 6 tonnes was initially moulded in plaster of Paris and later cast in bronzes as 5 different parts i.e the horse, tail,sword, rider and stirrup which was later assembled together.
The statue was initally planned to be placed opposite to the present University buildings. It was then Governor of Madras Elphinstone who decided that the present location was a better spot and a public holiday was declared on the day of inaugration. Anothet peculiar aspect of this statue is the absence of saddle or stirrups which is said to be a intentional reference to Munro’s penchant for bareback riding.

Source: Sriram.V | The Hindu