ConflictNational and Dravidian movements

Perungamanallur police firing

· Perungamanallur

Police fired on Piramalai Kallar villagers at Perungamanallur near Madurai who resisted registration under the Criminal Tribes Act.

Under the Criminal Tribes Act, Piramalai Kallar men in the Madurai region were fingerprinted and required to report to police stations at night. Resistance to these registrations reached a climax in 1920. When villagers at Perungamanallur near Sedapatti refused to register, armed police were sent to the village and opened fire, killing more than ten people. A memorial pillar in the village commemorates those killed and the episode is remembered as a symbol of resistance to the Act.

Related events

  1. 1908

    1. 12 Mar 1908 to 12 Dec 1912TirunelveliProtest

      Arrest of V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Tirunelveli unrest

      The arrest of V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Subramania Siva on sedition charges set off unrest in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin.

  2. 1921

    1. 20 Jun 1921 to Oct 1921ChennaiProtest

      Buckingham and Carnatic Mills strike

      Workers of the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in Madras went on a prolonged strike against Binny and Co. over wages and conditions.

    2. 1921ChennaiSocial Reform

      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.

  3. 1930

    1. Nov 1930 to 1931LondonPolitics

      Rettamalai Srinivasan at the Round Table Conference

      Dalit leader Rettamalai Srinivasan represented the depressed classes alongside B. R. Ambedkar at the Round Table Conferences in London.

  4. 1968

    1. 25 Dec 1968KilvenmaniConflict

      Kilvenmani massacre

      Around 44 Dalit agricultural labourers' family members, mostly women and children, were burnt to death at Kilvenmani in Thanjavur district.

  5. 1997

    1. 30 Jun 1997MelurConflict

      Melavalavu massacre

      Dalit panchayat president K. Murugesan and six other Dalit men were murdered at Melavalavu near Madurai by members of a dominant caste.

Open in the timeline explorer