Rai Pyare Lāll Sāhab

Rai Pyare Lāll Sāhab was an Indian judge and a member of the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai, India.

Annie Besant wrote of her friend following his death at age 71 on November 18, 1910:

Since 1883 he had been a member of the Theosophical Society,and through evil and good report he bravely stood by his flag.

Pyare Lāll was born on September 18, 1839, in Delhi, the capital city of so many fortunes - Inḍraprasṭha, as good Hinḍūs still love to call it. There is a prophecy that Delhi is to be ruined nine times, and each time it is to rise again and flourish; seven such destructions lie behind it. The boy learned Persian and Arabic with Muhammadan lads, sons of his father's friends, and the boyish association left behind it a friendly feeling towards Musalmāns that lasted throughout his life. he was still a lad when the Sepoy War broke out [in 1857], and lived in Delhi through the siege; in his old age he would tell many a story of that wild time. In 1858 he went to Agra to complete his English education, gained a scholarship and studied in the Government College, rising very rapidly through the classes, and becoming a teacher in 1860.

Pyare Lāll did not, however, remain in the teaching profession, but in 1869, after two years as Head Clerk, he became Musarim of the Judge's Court in Meerut, and as he found the legal profession attractive, he passed the Law Examination in 1873, and came out second on the list. In two years he was appointed a Munsif, and then was made a Sub-Judge at Cawnpore, From this he rose to be Judge of the Small Cause Court at Agra, and later officiated in the responsible post of District and Sessions Judge.