Later Life
In his later years, Madhava Rao strove to reform the educational system. Even while serving as Diwan of Baroda, Rao was made a fellow of the Madras University. He campaigned in support of women's education and attacked child marriage. He also criticized the literal interpretation of Hindu shastras. However, Madhava Rao was, till the end, a pacifist and was moderate and unreactionary in his views on social reforms.
In 1885, at the request of the then Governor of Madras, Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff, Madhava Rao presided over the Malabar Land Tenure Commission. In 1887, he presided over the convocation of the Madras University. In December 1887, Madhava Rao presided over the inaugural session of Indian National Social Conference
Madhava Rao took a liking for British sociologist and political theorist Herbert Spencer and spent the last days of his life studying his works. He contributed articles to newspapers on a variety of topics ranging from politics and religion to astronomy. Under the pseudonyms "Native Thinker" and "Native Observer", Madhava Rao wrote opinion pieces on the German occupation of Africa and on the dress code to adopted by Hindu women in public. He forwarded his article on the German occupation of Africa to the German chancellor Bismarck who replied with a letter of acknowledgement and appreciation. In 1889, he published a pamphlet titled "Hints on the training of native children by a native Thinker" which was translated into various Indian languages as Gujarati, Marathi and Malayalam. He also composed a few small poems in Tamil.
Towards the end of his life, Madhava Rao was affected by health problems. On December 22, 1890, he suffered a stroke at his Mylapore home. Madhava Rao died three months later, on April 4, 1891 at the age of sixty-three.
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