Reddy Row was born in a Thanjavur Marathi Deshastha Madhva Brahmin family at Kumbakonam.
[4] Soon after taking over, Reddy Row passed royal proclamations relieving Christians from compulsory donations towards Hindu ceremonies and exempting them from working on Sundays.He also removed restrictions on low-caste Hindus from wearing gold and silver ornaments and jewellery and introduced coffee cultivation and vaccination.
However, when the princess Rukmini Bayi married in 1820, Reddy Row made lavish arrangements for the wedding and was given the villages of Shambhur and Vadakar in Shencottah taluk by the Rani in return.
This scandalised the Travancore court and Venkata Rao complained about the Diwan to the new resident Col. Newall thereby forcing him to resign.
In 1845, General Cullen allegedly engineered the downfall of the Diwan by charging him with receiving bribes and presents.