author
K. Rangachari
1868–1934
An Indian botanist and ethnologist, K. Rangachari helped document the cultures and communities of southern India while also advancing botanical education. His career brought together field research, teaching, museum work, and public service.
1 Audiobook
A handbook of some South Indian grasses
by K. Rangachari, C. Tadulinga Mudaliyar
About the author
K. Rangachari (September 1868–May 10, 1934) was an Indian botanist and ethnologist. He is best known for serving as an editor, alongside Edgar Thurston, on the seven-volume Castes and Tribes of Southern India. He also wrote a textbook on botany and taught the subject at the agricultural college in Coimbatore.
Born into a Tamil family of humble means, Rangachari supported himself through private tutoring after his father’s early death. He studied at Madras Christian College and Pachiappa’s College before completing postgraduate work at Presidency College. His professional career included teaching, service as a herbarium keeper at the Government Museum, and work as a senior assistant professor.
Rangachari later became involved in systematic botany and served as acting superintendent for ethnography. He was a founding member and, in 1922, president of the Indian Botanical Society. He received the titles Rai Bahadur in 1913 and Dewan Bahadur after retiring from agricultural service in 1923.