Social ReformBritish Crown rule

Iyothee Thass launches Oru Paisa Tamizhan

· Chennai

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

On 19 June 1907 Iyothee Thass began publishing the weekly Tamil newspaper Oru Paisa Tamizhan (One Paisa Tamilian), later known simply as Tamilan. He ran it until his death in 1914. The paper criticised caste hierarchy and Brahminical dominance and promoted Tamil Buddhism and a casteless Tamil identity. It is regarded as an important early voice of anti-caste journalism in Tamil.

Related events

  1. 1886

    1. 1886ChennaiSocial Reform

      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.

  2. 1891

    1. 1891ChennaiSocial Reform

      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.

  3. 1893

    1. Oct 1893ChennaiSocial Reform

      Rettamalai Srinivasan launches the Paraiyan newspaper

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

  4. 1898

    1. 1898ChennaiReligion

      Iyothee Thass founds the Sakya Buddhist Society

      After embracing Buddhism in Ceylon, Iyothee Thass founded the Sakya Buddhist Society in Madras, launching a Tamil Buddhist revival among Dalits.

  5. 1916

    1. Dec 1916ChennaiPolitics

      Non-Brahmin Manifesto published

      The new non-Brahmin federation issued a manifesto criticising Brahmin dominance in public services and politics, drawing sharp criticism from The Hindu.

  6. 1922

    1. 1922ChennaiSocial Reform

      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.

Open in the timeline explorer