Kanakaraya Mudali
| Pedro Kanagaraya Mudaliar | |
|---|---|
Kanagaraya Mudaliar's Bust at St. Andrews Church, Pondicherry
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| Native name | துபாஷ் பெத்ரோ கனகராய முதலியார் |
| Born | 1696 Pondicherry |
| Died |
February 12, 1746 (Aged 50) Pondicherry |
| Cause of death | Diabetes |
| Other names | Kanagaraya Mudali |
| Occupation | Chief Dubash and Broker |
| Years active | 1722 - 1746 |
| Employer | French East India Company |
| Organization | French East India Company |
| Known for | Building St. Andrews Church, Reddiarpalayam, Pondicherry |
| Home town | Pondicherry |
| Title | Chief Dubash of Pondicherry |
| Predecessor | Guruva Pillai |
| Successor | Ananda Ranga Pillai |
| Spouse(s) | Natchathiram |
| Children | Velavendra Mudali |
| Parent(s) | Father: Andre Muthappa Mudaliar |
| Relatives | Grandfather: Thanappa Mudaliar |
Pedro Kanakaraya Mudaliar was the chief dubash and a broker for the French East India Company. He remained in service for the longest period of 24 years between 1722 and 1746, especially during the early period of Joseph François Dupleix. He was succeeded by Ananda Ranga Pillai. Everything known about his life comes from the private diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai and the inscriptions found in the walls of St. Andrews church, which he built in the memory of his dead son. In the diary, he is portrayed as being jealous and the chief rival of Ranga Pillai. Thus, the accuracy of the description is questionable.
As a broker, his roles were to act as an intermediary, supervising the manufacture of clothes, warehousing, and export of merchandise. Although the role of the broker was not to supply the French company with manufactured goods, he did so. He was a great merchant.
Nothing is known about the early life of Pedro Kanagaraya Mudaliar. All converted Christians were poor except the family of Kanagaraya Mudaliar and his brothers. It was only of late years that a few had been able to keep themselves in comfort as Europeans' dubashes or in other employment.
His grandfather Thanappa Mudaliar was the first chief dubash of the French East India Company. Thanappa played an important role in creating and instituting the French colony in Pondicherry.
Thanappa Mudaliar, a native of Poonarnallee, embraced Christianity with his son on 20 March 1671 and took the name Lazaro de Mota. He did business in rice with French starting from 1672. The French kept him as their consultant in trade and commerce. It was by his suggestion that the French officials reached Pondicherry by sea on 15 January 1674 with 150 migrants. Thanappa Mudaliar was appointed as the chief agent of the East India Company in 1674. He was appointed as the head of the Tamil merchants in 1686. He was thus given the full control over the entire business of the company with the native merchants. He was the one to fix the prices of all commodities made available to the French in Pondicherry.
Thanappa Mudaliar invited weavers from neighboring places and made them settle down in areas with a view to procuring sufficient volumes of textiles for export. He got constructed storehouses for the commodities so textiles, saltpeter, camphor, ivory, precious stones, and spices from other regions were brought to Pondicherry for export to France.
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Wikipedia