Rao Bahadur

Rao Bahadur

Rao Bahadur was a title of honour issued in British India to individuals who had performed great service to the nation....

 Namasivayam Sivaraj (September 29, 1892 - September 29, 1964) was an Indian lawyer, politician and Dalit

Dalit

Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...

 activist from the state of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. He served as a Member of the Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

 for Chengalpattu

Chengalpattu (Lok Sabha constituency)

Chengalpattu is a defunct Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu. It was earlier known as Chingleput. This constituency no longer exists, since it was removed after 2009, due to delimitation.-Assembly segments:...

 from 1957 to 1981.

Early life and education

Sivaraj was born to Namsivayam, an accounts officer, on 29 September 1892 in the town of Cuddapah in the then Madras Presidency

Madras Presidency

The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...

. His father was a Tamil from the Dalit community who had converted to Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 and Sivaraj was raised Buddhist. His ancestors were from the town of Poonamallee

Poonamallee

Poonamallee is a town in the Poonamallee taluk of the Thiruvallur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu...

 near Madras. Sivaraj passed his matriculation in 1907 and graduated in arts from Presidency College, Madras in 1911. In 1915 he graduated as a lawyer from the Madras Law College and practised as a junior under Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer. He worked as a lecturer in the Madras Law College for a period of thirteen years.

Politics

Sivaraj joined the Justice Party and was elected to the Madras Legislative Council on a Justice Party ticket in 1926 and served as member till 1937. From 1937 to 1945, Sivaraj served as a member of the Imperial Legislature of India. Her participated in the 1952, 1957 and 1962 Lok Sabha elections and served as Member of Parliament from 1957 to 1962 representing Chengalpattu constituency.