Madhava Rao was born in February 1850 in Kumbakonam, Madras Presidency into an ancient family of Thanjavur Marathi Deshastha Madhva Brahmin family,[1] long ago settled in Tanjore, who were supposed to have emigrated from the Satara district to southern India in the wake of the Maratha conquest of Tanjore.

[citation needed] Madhava Rao entered the service of the Kingdom of Mysore in 1869 as a headmaster of the royal school.

Department of Public Health was created and competitive exams for the Mysore Civil Services were revived.

The government sanctioned a free grant of land to the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore.

[4] Madhava Rao was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1899 and was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal in 1900.