The title was given to recognise and reward individuals who had made significant contributions in various fields such as public service, commerce, industry, and philanthropy.
Those awarded the Rao Bahadur title were usually drawn from the lower rank of Rai Sahib, both of which were below the rank of Dewan Bahadur.[2] These titles were subordinate to the two orders of knighthood: the Order of the Indian Empire and the higher Order of the Star of India. A holder of a Rai Sahib, Rai Bahadur or Dewan Bahadur title came lower in the order of precedence.[1]
Selected recipients awarded the Rao/Rai Bahadur title
Manik Lal Joshi, chief minister of Bundi, Rajputana[6]
Motilal Nehru, Indian independence activist, he later surrendered it during the non-co-operation movement of 1921.
H.H Dr. Rai Rajeshwar Bali BahadurOBE, MLA Taluqdar Raja of Rampur Dariyabad, Honorary Magistrate, Barabanki, Minister of Education, Medical Relief & Public Health and Local Self-Government of the UP Assembly
Chhotu Ram, Minister for Agriculture and Home Affairs, erstwhile Punjab, 1945. First Indian-origin Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly
Cruz Fernandez, businessman, and municipal chairman. He was the longest-serving chairman of Tuticorin municipality and is considered the father and architect of modern Tuticorin (now called Thoothukudi)
Pushkar Thakur, District Magistrate and Collector of Champaran. Title awarded in 1945 in recognition of his outstanding service as Special Officer for War Risks Insurance for Bihar and Orissa, covering an area larger than that of the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands combined. The Viceroy Lord Wavell personally wrote a letter congratulating Pushkar Thakur on the contribution of Bihar and Orissa in the National War Effort, which had been the highest in the country. [7]
Dewan Jaggatnath, secretary to the municipal committee and district board, Dera Ismail Khan[6]
Sahu Parsotam Saran Kothiwala, member of the district board, Moradabad[4]
Lala Jai Lal, member of the Municipal Committee, Simla[4]
A. Savarinatha Pillai, Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Madras Presidency; winner of King's Coronation Award for Distinguished Public Service, London[10]
Akshey Kumar Sarkar, superintendent, Department of Commerce and Industry, Government of India[6]
Dewan Bahadur P. Somasundaram Chettiar, Coimbatore - industrialist and pioneer in textiles.[12]
Jagmal Raja Chauhan (1887–1974), better known as "Rai Bahadur Jagmal Raja", industrialist and railway contractor, private banker, aviation pioneer and philanthropist
Jairam Valji ChauhanMBE (or "Chouhan"; 1892–1956), better known as "Rai Bahadur Jairam Valjee", was a Kutchi railway contractor, mill-owner, miner and philanthropist, at Jairamnagar and Raigarh
Hariram Goenka (1862–1935), businessman and cofounder with his brothers, including Badridas Goenka, of Goenka group of Kolkata
Badridas GoenkaCIE (1883–1973), industrialist and business tycoon; cofounder of the original Goenka Group from Kolkata, of which the RPG Group is a successor; first chairman of the State Bank of India
Upendranath BrahmachariFRSMFRS (1873–1946), Bengal-born physician and scientist. Synthesised urea stibamine, determining its effectiveness as a treatment for the disease Kala Azar
Balkishen Kaul, surgeon, lecturer, and superintendent of Lahore Medical college[4]
Puttana Venkatramana Raju (1894–1975), civil engineer, industrial advisor to government of India, educationist
Ram Dhan Singh, pioneer agricultural scientist, principal, College of Agriculture, Lyallpur, erstwhile Punjab, 1947[16]
Babu Ram Sadan Bhattacharji, deputy magistrate, Bengal[4]
Chaudhary Dewan Chand SainiMBE, (born 1887) of Gurdaspur, Punjab, distinguished lawyer of Punjab High Court, leader of the criminal bar; elected member of Legislative Council of colonial Punjab
T. Rattinasami Nadar , founder of Nadar Mahajana Sangam efforts of T. Ratnasamy Nadar, in 1910. There are several schools and colleges under the control of Nadar Mahajana Sangam
Salig Rām (1829–1898), Postmaster-General for North-Western Provinces; disciple of Shiv Dayal Singh, later succeeding him as guru. Often known by the honorific "Huzur Maharaj"
Yele Mallappa Shetty (1815–1887), philanthropist who constructed Bangalore's first obstetrics hospital, funded Vani Vilas Hospital construction, and restored Kaadu Malleshwara Temple, Bangalore. The name of the Yele Mallappa Shetty Lake commemorates his contribution to the construction of drought-relieving water storage in the Bangalore region[6]
Gubbi Thotadappa, businessman, philanthropist, founded Dharmachathra (free lodging places for travellers) and free hostels for students throughout Karnataka
Mayhew, Arthur (October 1931). "The Commission on Christian Higher Education in India". International Review of Mission. 20 (4): 512–524. doi:10.1111/j.1758-6631.1931.tb04099.x.
St Stephens, Cambridge University and the Mathematical Tripos, and general background:
Bhattacharji, Jaya (April 1995). "Remembering Principal Mukarji". The Stephanian. Vol. CIII, no. 1. pp. 1–5. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
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Viceroy of India