Language

Ellis publishes the Dravidian Proof

Francis Whyte Ellis argued that the South Indian languages form a family separate from Sanskrit.

Tamil scholar F. W. Ellis dies at Ramnad

Francis Whyte Ellis, Collector of Madras and founder of the College of Fort St. George, died of cholera on 10 March 1819 at Ramnad.

Caldwell's Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian languages

With his Comparative Grammar, Robert Caldwell showed that the Dravidian languages make up a separate language family.

Pandithurai Thevar founds the Fourth Tamil Sangam in Madurai

Pandithurai Thevar, a member of the Ramnad royal family, founded the Madurai Tamil Sangam, known as the Fourth Tamil Sangam, to promote Tamil learning.

Work begins on the University of Madras Tamil Lexicon

In January 1913 the University of Madras began work on the Tamil Lexicon, the most comprehensive Tamil dictionary, published in 1924-1939.

Maraimalai Adigal starts the Pure Tamil movement

Maraimalai Adigal pledged to use Tamil free of Sanskrit loanwords, starting the Tanittamil Iyakkam (Pure Tamil movement).

University of Madras completes the Tamil Lexicon

The final volume of the University of Madras Tamil Lexicon was published, completing the largest Tamil dictionary of its time.

Compulsory Hindi order and first anti-Hindi agitation

The Rajaji government's move to make Hindi compulsory in schools triggered a large anti-Hindi agitation led by Periyar, the Justice Party and Tamil scholars.

Compulsory Hindi order withdrawn

The Governor of Madras, Lord Erskine, withdrew the order making Hindi compulsory in schools, ending the first anti-Hindi agitation.

Gandhi presides over Hindi Prachar Sabha silver jubilee

Gandhi came to Madras to preside at the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha's silver jubilee.

Official Languages Act passed

Parliament passed the Official Languages Act to allow continued use of English alongside Hindi after 1965.

Official Languages (Amendment) Act guarantees bilingualism

Amid fresh protests in Madras State, Parliament amended the 1963 Act to ensure English would continue in use alongside Hindi.

Assembly adopts the two-language policy

The Madras Legislative Assembly scrapped the three-language formula and removed Hindi from the school curriculum, adopting Tamil and English.

International Institute of Tamil Studies founded

The state government established the International Institute of Tamil Studies in Madras for research on Tamil.

Invocation to Tamil Mother adopted for state functions

Chief Minister Karunanidhi announced that verses of Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai's invocation to Tamil Mother would open state government functions.

Fifth World Tamil Conference held in Madurai

The fifth World Tamil Conference, a gathering of Tamil scholars from many countries, was held in Madurai.

Eighth World Tamil Conference held in Thanjavur

The eighth World Tamil Conference was hosted in Thanjavur by the Tamil Nadu government.

Tamil Virtual University established

To provide internet-based Tamil learning around the world, the Tamil Nadu government created the Tamil Virtual University, now the Tamil Virtual Academy.

Tamil declared a classical language

The Government of India declared Tamil the first classical language of India.

Central Institute of Classical Tamil moves to Chennai

The Union government's Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil moved from Mysore to Chennai and became the Central Institute of Classical Tamil.