Dewan Bahadur Sachivottama Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer KCSI KCIE (12 November 1879 – 26 September 1966), popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law member of the Executive council of the Governor of Madras from 1923 to 1928, Law member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India from 1931 to 1936 and the Diwan of Travancore from 1936 to 1947.

However, at the same time, he is also remembered for the ruthless suppression of the communist-organized Punnapra-Vayalar revolt, and his controversial stand in favor of an independent Travancore.

's grandfather, Chetput Ramaswami Iyer served the British East India Company as Tehsildar of Kumbakonam.

He spent his college vacations in the Mysore kingdom with the Diwan, Sir K. Seshadri Iyer whom he reportedly always claimed as his inspiration.

By 1910 his meteoric rise has led to his being acknowledged as the undisputed leader of the original bar at the Madras High Court, shortly after which he was selected as the President of the First All Indian Lawyers Conference held at Allahabad.

[14] Forty-two minutes, my Lord, he once announced to a judge who asked him how much time he would need to finish a case; the next several years saw him win spectaculator victories in some of the highest-profile cases of the time,[15] including the Ashe murder trial[13] and the Besant Narayaniah case.,[16] as well as representing the Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar and the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, rapidly earning a considerable private fortune, and rising to become the most powerful man in the Madras presidency for decades.,[17] having cultured intimately close, even inappropriate friendships with Lord and Lady Willingdon.

In 1920, then-Governor Lord Willingdon appointed him he the youngest-ever Advocate-General of Madras, during which tenure his income rose to an unprecedented 4,000 rupees, and in which capacity he would serve as premier state prosecutor for four years, until his subsequent promotion to the Governor's Executive Law Council, and, subsequently, the Viceregal Imperial War Council.

stint on the Executive Law Council was marked by an intense commitment to industrialization and lowering the levelized post of power, with C.P.

championing initiatives ranging from the introduction of hydroelectricity to the Mettur, Pykara and Bhavani projects and for the development of the Cochin, Tuticorin and Vishakhapatanam ports.

The more-expensive Mettur initiative, inccuring capital outlays of 385 lakh rupees, nonetheless rendered over 328,396 acres in Tanjore District fully irrigated, with excess electric power being made available downstream.

[17] Sir C.P., at the request of his old friend the Junior Maharani of Travancore, also acceded to take on a further portfolio as the underage Maharaja's constitutional and legal adviser - a sum for which he was now earning 72,000 rupees a year.

In 1923, he was nominated to the executive council of the Governor of Madras and was charged with the portfolios of law and order, police, Public Works Department, irrigation, ports and electricity.

agreed and served as Legal and Constitutional adviser and Regent to the prince from 1931 to 1936, drawing comensation of 72,000 rupees a year for his direct services.

[32] "He was builder of dams, canals, hydroelectric works, fertilizer plants, member of Viceroy's executive council, vice-chancellor of three universities, delegate at third round table conference and much more" During C.P.

carried out a great deal of pioneering work for the Vivekananda Rock at Cape Comorin and built guest-houses at Kanyakumari.

He renovated the Padmanabhapuram Palace of Marthanda Varma's days (in present-day Kanyakumari District) and expanded the Trivandrum Art Gallery.

On 24 October Travancore police killed near about 200 people in Punnapra and the government ordered martial law in Alleppey and Cherthala.

CP's police and army moved to Alleppey and on 27 October, Vayalar witnessed another mass uprising and 150 people were killed on the spot.

When, on 3 June 1947, the United Kingdom accepted demands for a partition and announced its intention to quit India within a short period, the Maharaja of Travancore desired to declare himself independent.

[41][42][43] On the other hand, noted historian Ramachandra Guha has written about how C.P., egged on by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, had established secret ties with senior Ministers of the British Government, who encouraged him in the hope that he would give them privileged access to monazite, a material Travancore was rich in and which could give the British a lead in the nuclear arms race.

[45] He also visited the United States, where he gave talks at the University of California, Berkeley, and had discussions with important bank executives, journalists and US President Harry S.

left for England to conduct research on a planned book titled "A History of My Times" at the India Office library.

[51] At about 11:30 am, on 26 September 1966, he was in the National Liberal Club (where he had been a member for over 50 years), when he suddenly slumped on his armchair while speaking to a reporter and died instantly.

He is credited with having transformed Kanyakumari district into the rice-bowl of Travancore and is acclaimed for being the first person to envisage the industrialisation of Madras Presidency.

[62] While serving as a law member of the executive council of the Governor of Madras, Ramaswami Iyer's agenda for social reform and opening the doors of Hindu temples for Dalits and low-caste Hindus were praised by C. Natesa Mudaliar, one of the founders of the South Indian Liberation Federation.

He did not agree with a good deal that I said and corrected me with decision, but with courtesy that took it for granted I was too intelligent to be affronted by contradiction[64]Indian civil servant C. S. Venkatachar wrote that the Kashmir issue might have been resolved in favour of India had Jawaharlal Nehru chosen C. P. instead of Gopalaswami Ayyangar to present India's case at the United Nations.

introduced the clause making it mandatory that newly elected member of Parliament and state assemblies should take an allegiance to the Indian Union.

[66] It is believed that the introduction of this clause compelled the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to give up its goal of secession from the Indian Union.

[68] In 1946, Communist dissent over C. P.'s policies erupted in the form of the Punnapra-Vayalar revolt which was crushed with a brutal hand by Travancore army and navy.

[44] In 1895, at the age of 16, C. P. was married to nine-year-old Seethamma (1886–1930), granddaughter of Indian polyglot and judge C. V. Runganada Sastri[71] and sister to High Court justices Dewan Bahadur Sir C. V. Kumaraswami Sastri and Dewan Bahadur C.V. Viswanatha Sastri, as well as cousin to Shankaracharya Bharati Krishna Tirtha Maharaj, pontiff of the Dwaraka Math, and later supreme pontiff of Smarta Hinduism at the Govardhan Math, and to the Finance Secretary of the Madras Presidency and former Tehsildar Dewan Bahadur V.S.