Tamil Nadu Timeline

Social ReformBritish Crown rule

Birth of E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar)

· Erode

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

E. V. Ramasamy was born on 17 September 1879 at Erode, then in Coimbatore district of the Madras Presidency. He began his public life in the Congress and the Vaikom agitation before breaking with the party. He launched the Self-Respect Movement in 1925 and in 1944 turned the Justice Party into the Dravidar Kazhagam. Known as Periyar, he campaigned against caste, religious orthodoxy and Hindi imposition, and shaped the Dravidian movement.

Related events

  1. 1919

    1. 1919ErodePolitics

      Periyar joins the Indian National Congress

      E. V. Ramasamy of Erode, later known as Periyar, joined the Indian National Congress, beginning a political career that later led to the Self-Respect Movement.

  2. 1925

    1. 2 May 1925ErodeCulture

      Periyar launches Kudi Arasu

      E. V. Ramasamy began publishing the Tamil weekly Kudi Arasu, which became the main voice of the Self-Respect Movement.

    2. 1925KanchipuramSocial Reform

      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.

  3. 1931

    1. 29 Mar 1931ErodeLiterature

      Kudi Arasu editorial on Bhagat Singh's execution

      Writing in Kudi Arasu, Periyar faulted Gandhi over Bhagat Singh's execution, a sign of the journal's increasingly leftist stance.

  4. 1935

    1. 1935ErodeLaw Justice

      Tamil translation of 'Why I am an Atheist' banned

      Bhagat Singh's 'Why I am an Atheist' in Tamil was banned by the Madras government, which also arrested the translator and the publisher.

  5. 1973

    1. 24 Dec 1973VelloreSocial Reform

      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.

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