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| Thomas Munro equestrian statue with no sirrrup. thehindu.com |
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| Memorial Sir. Thomas Munro, St. Mary's Church, Madras. wikiwand.com |
The equestrian Munroe statue in 'The Island' area is a popular landmark in Chennai city (then Madras). The statue depicts the popular British administrator Thomas Munro riding a horse..
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| Sir. Thomas Munro's Statue, Madras (MacLeod, p.124, 1871,en.wikipedia.org |
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| The Stirrup-less Majesty. Sir Thomas Munro. commons.wikimedia.org |
Munroe served his regiment during the Angelo-Mysore war against Hyder Ali (1780–1783) of Mysore and later against Hyder Ali's son Tipu Sultan (1790–1792). The latter ceded certain territories to the British as part of a peace treaty. His early productive professional life - his seven year tenure as a military officer cum administrator (settlement officer) in Canara and Bellary helped him shape his administrative ability and decision-making. His sojourn in Baramahal (in present day Salem district) was quite helpful to him; He got an opportunity to experiment the usefulness of the proposed Ryotwari settlement. Being smart and affable, he had a good relationship with the natives and given due consideration to their grievances. His posting here provided him to gain in-depth knowledge of the principles of management of revenue lands, survey and assessment. Later he took an active role in the decisive war between the Maratha empire and the English company in 1817-18. This war was a turning point for the British to control most parts of India. The Marathas had been blocking their expansion for a long time time and now, they were out of the way for good. For the British, it was an open range, a vast territory under the control of the English company.
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| Gov. of Madras, EI company Sir. Thomas Munro en.wikipedia.org |
In 1820, Munroe was appointed the Governor of Madras and held on to the post till death in 1827 from cholera. Munro was instrumental in drafting an education policy for the Madras Presidency. To help the farmers from fleecing by landlords and zamindars who demanded exorbitant rent for tilling the lands, he introduced the Ryotwari System in South India.
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| Equestrian statue of Munroe.agefotostock.com |
Yet another outstanding contribution in the area of administration is the division of districts and talukas headed by a District Collector who was vested with lot of administrative and judicial powers. The District Collectors had the advantage of interacting with the natives there and dispose of the pending cases quickly and effectively with out having to depend on higher officials in Madras. This way he supported the participation of natives in the administration of India. Munro is the subject of a number of folk tales and ballads and is even worshiped by some. Folk tales and ballads hail Munro
as the incarnation of Mandava Rishi by the Hindus. Peasants even now name children
‘Munrolappa.
Thomas Munro and his party, while on an official tour of present day Andhra, camped at Gooty on 4 July 1827 where some of his men were afflicted with cholera. In those days it was a dreaded disease and proper medication was not yet perfected. A couple of days later at at Pattikonda, Munro contracted cholera from his men and had to be taken care of. His condition having become serious, he died on 6 July 1827.
Upon hearing Munroe's death near Gooty, at Madras a pale of gloom descended on the city and all classes of people were in pain to accept his unexpected demise. The Madras Presidency government issued a Gazette Extraordinary on 9 July 1827. The message praised his vast knowledge of various fields, his keen interest in the welfare of the natives and in oriental studies, his affable manners, equal justice in his sphere of activities, his ability to establish tranquility of the places where he served, etc. Hence, he was known with the appellation of the ''Father of the People.''
Thomas Munro and his party, while on an official tour of present day Andhra, camped at Gooty on 4 July 1827 where some of his men were afflicted with cholera. In those days it was a dreaded disease and proper medication was not yet perfected. A couple of days later at at Pattikonda, Munro contracted cholera from his men and had to be taken care of. His condition having become serious, he died on 6 July 1827.
Upon hearing Munroe's death near Gooty, at Madras a pale of gloom descended on the city and all classes of people were in pain to accept his unexpected demise. The Madras Presidency government issued a Gazette Extraordinary on 9 July 1827. The message praised his vast knowledge of various fields, his keen interest in the welfare of the natives and in oriental studies, his affable manners, equal justice in his sphere of activities, his ability to establish tranquility of the places where he served, etc. Hence, he was known with the appellation of the ''Father of the People.''
At a public meeting held in his memory in the city, a proposal had been made to have a statue erected there through public subscription. In the place of death Pattikonda, the Madras government opened a memorial for Munro and a choultry called "Munro Choultry" in Gooty in his honor.
As for the statue, a total of £8000, was collected through public subscription. The British sculptor Francis Chantrey (April 1781- November 1841) was put in charge of making a lovely statue worth Monroe's name. It was in 1834, Chantrey completed the stunning and impressive equestrian statue - one of the three equestrian statues sculpted by him. The statue, weighing six tones, was shipped to India in three parts and erected at The Island, Chennai in 1839 atop a granite plinth made by Ostheider & Co of Calcutta. On 23 October 1839 the statue was ceremonially opened. It was a public commemoration in appreciation of his integrity and honesty in his line of duty. According some sources, the Duke of Wellington, on seeing the completed statue, had exclaimed, 'A very fine horse; a very fine statue, and a very extraordinary man'.
If you take a careful look at the statue, you will be surprised by the absence of stirrups for the rider. Is it a deliberate omission or just overlooked by the sculptor? It is a much-discussed oddity of this eye-catching statue. The explanation is that the sculptor knew that Munro had a passion for bareback riding, so Chantrey avoided the stirrup. The statue is also referred to as ‘The Stirrup less Majesty. Besides, the sculptor was quite aware that the native adored him very much because he championed their cause, in this respect he was careful about the choice of steed and he preferred an Arabian horse over the war horse. It is based on the model of his own work on an equestrian statue of King George IV at the Trafalgar square, London.
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| Equestrian statue of King George IV, London.en.wikipedia.org |
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| Equestrian statue of King George IV, London. alamy.com |
Above images: Bronze Equestrian statue of King George IV at the Trafalgar square, London. The emperor without stirrups on the horse. Sculptor: Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey. Note the depiction of king George V in ancient Roman attire and riding bareback. it was to be mounted atop the Marble Arch at the entrance to Buckingham Palace, but was placed in its current location following the King's death in 1830. Cast in 1828, the statue was placed temporarily on an empty plinth in Trafalgar Square in December 1843, however it has remained there ever since.......
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| British sculptor Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey.npg.org.uk |
Chantrey emphasized the commemorative aspects of the Monroe statue in Madras to bring out the close rapport he had with the natives and avoided the authoritative aspects of western practices. The sculpture of Thomas Munro, considered to be the finest among Francis Chantrey's works and the horse, his worst ever, even to day attracts the daily users of the locality where it stands now. The combined height of the horse and the rider is more than 15 feet. While the horse gazes calmly, ever active and energetic Munro presents a thoughtful pose; both motionless, yet ready to gallop.
In Munroe's sudden death the EIC lost a distinguished administrator and the natives lost a great human being who lived with a true Christian spirit till his last days. Right from Indian soldiers to farmers every body liked him and the Madras Presidency never had a governor of his caliber since then. In 2010, the Tamil Nadu Govt_ had a proposal to remove this statue in view of the World Classical Tamil Conference held in Coimbatore. Later the proposal was given-up for good as there was a big protest from monument lovers and conservationists against the removal of a colonial statue.
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