Social Reform

Channar revolt over the upper cloth

Nadar women in southern Travancore, including today's Kanyakumari district, struggled for decades for the right to cover their upper bodies.

Vallalar opens the Sathya Dharma Salai at Vadalur

At Vadalur, Ramalinga Swamigal opened a free kitchen for the needy of every caste and lit a stove that was never to be put out.

Birth of E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar)

E. V. Ramasamy, later known as Periyar, founder of the Self-Respect Movement and the Dravidar Kazhagam, was born at Erode.

Iyothee Thass declares Dalits are not Hindus

Anti-caste activist Iyothee Thass declared that the depressed classes were not Hindus, a stand he later carried into the Dravida Mahajana Sabha and the 1891 census.

Rettamalai Srinivasan founds the Paraiyar Mahajana Sabha

Rettamalai Srinivasan set up the Paraiyar Mahajana Sabha, an early Dalit body, and launched the Tamil paper Paraiyan in 1893.

Iyothee Thass founds the Dravida Mahajana Sabha

Iyothee Thass founded the Dravida Mahajana Sabha and urged Dalits to record themselves in the census as casteless Dravidians rather than Hindus.

Rettamalai Srinivasan launches the Paraiyan newspaper

Dalit leader Rettamalai Srinivasan started the Tamil paper Paraiyan in October 1893 to speak for the Paraiyar community.

Kamudi temple entry agitation

Nadars entered the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple at Kamudi in 1897; the courts, and in 1908 the Privy Council, ruled against their right of entry.

Iyothee Thass launches Oru Paisa Tamizhan

Iyothee Thass launched the Tamil weekly Oru Paisa Tamizhan, an anti-caste journal that later became The Tamilan.

Nadar Mahajana Sangam founded

The Nadar Mahajana Sangam was formed in 1910 through the efforts of T. Ratnasamy Nadar to work for the uplift of the Nadar community.

Women's Indian Association founded at Adyar

Margaret Cousins, Annie Besant, Dorothy Jinarajadasa and others founded the Women's Indian Association at Adyar to campaign for women's rights.

Madras grants voting rights to women

The Madras Legislative Council resolved to extend the franchise to women, among the first provinces in British India to do so.

Council adopts the term Adi Dravida

Acting on a resolution by M. C. Rajah, the Madras Legislative Council adopted Adi-Dravida officially in place of terms like Paraiya and Panchama.

Cheranmadevi Gurukulam controversy

Separate dining for Brahmin and non-Brahmin students at a Congress-funded gurukulam at Cheranmadevi caused a major controversy.

Vaikom Satyagraha

A satyagraha in Travancore demanded that people of oppressed castes be allowed to use the roads around the Vaikom temple; E. V. Ramasamy took part.

Periyar leaves Congress and starts the Self-Respect Movement

After his resolution on communal representation was not allowed at the Kanchipuram conference, E. V. Ramasamy left the Congress and began the Self-Respect Movement.

Muthulakshmi Reddy becomes first woman legislator in India

Doctor and reformer Muthulakshmi Reddy was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council, becoming the first woman legislator in British India.

First Provincial Self-Respect Conference at Chengalpattu

The first provincial conference of the Self-Respect Movement at Chengalpattu passed resolutions against caste and for women's rights.

Muthulakshmi Reddy starts Avvai Home

Muthulakshmi Reddy founded the Avvai Home in Madras to shelter and educate orphaned and destitute girls.

Travancore Temple Entry Proclamation

The Maharaja of Travancore opened state temples to all Hindus regardless of caste, including temples in present-day Kanyakumari district.

Dalits enter Madurai Meenakshi Temple

A. Vaidyanatha Iyer led a group of Dalits and Nadars into the Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, defying orthodox opposition.

Self-Respect marriages given legal validity

The Hindu Marriage (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1967 became law, legalising marriages performed without priests or Vedic rituals.

Sattanathan Backward Classes Commission

The first Backward Classes Commission of Tamil Nadu, headed by A. N. Sattanathan, recommended a separate Most Backward Class category.

Order allowing people of all castes to become temple priests

A 1970 order of the Karunanidhi government opened priesthood in public temples to all castes; in 1972 the Supreme Court struck it down.

Reservation raised to 49 percent

The DMK government raised the backward classes quota from 25 to 31 percent and the SC/ST quota from 16 to 18 percent.

Women first recruited into the Tamil Nadu Police

The first batch of women police, a sub-inspector, a head constable and 20 constables, was recruited in Tamil Nadu in 1973.

Death of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, founder of the Self-Respect Movement and leader of the Dravidar Kazhagam, died in Vellore aged 94.

Income ceiling introduced for backward class reservation

The MGR government introduced an annual income ceiling to exclude better-off families from backward class reservation.

Income ceiling withdrawn, backward class quota raised to 50%

After electoral setbacks, the MGR government withdrew the income ceiling and raised the backward class quota from 31% to 50%.

Separate 20% quota for Most Backward Classes

The DMK government split the 50% backward class quota into 30% for Backward Classes and 20% for Most Backward Classes and Denotified Communities.

Uthapuram caste violence and the 'untouchability wall'

After caste violence in Uthapuram near Madurai in 1989, caste Hindus built a wall separating the Dalit area of the village.

Separate 1 percent reservation for Scheduled Tribes

The Karunanidhi government split the combined SC/ST quota and gave Scheduled Tribes a separate 1 percent reservation.

All-women police stations set up

The Jayalalithaa government opened police stations run entirely by women to handle complaints from women, starting in Chennai.

First Samathuvapuram equality village inaugurated

The first Periyar Ninaivu Samathuvapuram, a housing colony where families of different castes live side by side, opened near Madurai.

Separate reservation for Backward Class Muslims and Christians

Under a 2007 Act, Backward Class Muslims and Christians received their own portion of the backward class quota.

Internal reservation for Arunthathiyars

Tamil Nadu set aside 3 percent within the Scheduled Caste quota for the Arunthathiyar community.

Priests of all castes appointed to state temples

The government appointed trained archakas from many castes, including non-Brahmins, to temples under the HR and CE department.