Tamil Nadu Timeline

C. N. Annadurai

25 events, 1944 to 2019; 10 marked as turning points.

  1. 1944

    1. 27 Aug 1944SalemPolitics

      Justice Party becomes Dravidar Kazhagam at Salem

      Meeting at Salem, the Justice Party, now led by Periyar, took the name Dravidar Kazhagam and gave up contesting elections.

  2. 1947

    1. Aug 1947ChennaiPolitics

      Periyar calls Independence Day a day of mourning

      Periyar called for 15 August 1947 to be kept as a day of mourning, a stand Annadurai rejected, deepening the rift between them.

    2. 15 Aug 1947Fort St. GeorgePolitics

      India becomes independent; Madras Province

      India gained independence and the Madras Presidency became Madras Province of the Dominion of India; Periyar called it a day of mourning.

  3. 1949

    1. 17 Sep 1949RoyapuramPolitics

      Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founded

      Breaking away from Periyar's Dravidar Kazhagam, C. N. Annadurai and his associates formed the DMK in Madras.

  4. 1953

    1. 18 Jun 1953 to 18 May 1954ChennaiEducation

      Rajaji's Modified Scheme of Elementary Education

      Rajaji's two-shift school scheme, criticised as Kula Kalvi Thittam (hereditary education), triggered protests and was later dropped.

  5. 1957

    1. Mar 1957ChennaiPolitics

      DMK contests its first election

      Won by Kamaraj's Congress, the 1957 Assembly election was the first in which the DMK took part after its founding.

  6. 1961

    1. 1961ChennaiPolitics

      E. V. K. Sampath leaves the DMK and forms the Tamil National Party

      E. V. K. Sampath split from the DMK and founded the Tamil National Party with the poet Kannadasan.

  7. 1962

    1. 1962New DelhiPolitics

      Annadurai demands self-determination in the Rajya Sabha

      In his Rajya Sabha speeches, C. N. Annadurai stated the DMK case for the right of self-determination for the Dravidian south.

    2. Feb 1962ChennaiPolitics

      DMK becomes main opposition in 1962 election

      Congress under Kamaraj retained power in 1962, while the DMK won 50 seats to become the principal opposition party.

  8. 1963

    1. Nov 1963ChennaiPolitics

      DMK drops demand for a separate Dravida Nadu

      After the Sino-Indian War and the anti-secession Sixteenth Amendment, the DMK abandoned its demand for an independent Dravida Nadu.

  9. 1965

    1. 25 Jan 1965 to Mar 1965MaduraiProtest

      1965 anti-Hindi agitation

      Student-led protests against Hindi becoming the sole official language turned into statewide riots, with police firing and self-immolations.

  10. 1967

    1. 1967ChennaiWelfare

      Annadurai's rupee-a-measure rice scheme

      The first DMK government tried to supply rice at one rupee a measure, an election promise made during an acute rice shortage.

    2. Feb 1967ChennaiPolitics

      DMK wins the 1967 Assembly election

      A DMK-led alliance defeated the Congress, ending Congress rule in Madras State; Kamaraj lost his own seat.

    3. 6 Mar 1967 to 3 Feb 1969Fort St. GeorgePolitics

      C. N. Annadurai becomes Chief Minister

      C. N. Annadurai was sworn in as the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Madras State since independence, heading a DMK government.

  11. 1968

    1. Jan 1968Marina BeachCulture

      Second World Tamil Conference held in Madras

      Madras hosted the second International Tamil Research Conference, known as the World Tamil Conference, under the Annadurai government.

    2. 2 Jan 1968Marina BeachCulture

      Statues of Tamil literary figures erected on the Marina

      Statues of Tamil poets and scholars, including Kambar, Bharathiyar and Robert Caldwell, were unveiled on Marina Beach for the World Tamil Conference.

    3. 8 Jan 1968New DelhiLanguage

      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.

    4. 20 Jan 1968ChennaiSocial Reform

      Self-Respect marriages given legal validity

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

    5. 23 Jan 1968Fort St. GeorgeLanguage

      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.

  12. 1969

    1. 14 Jan 1969ChennaiGovernance

      Madras State renamed Tamil Nadu

      With the Madras State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1968 in force, the state officially took the name Tamil Nadu.

    2. 3 Feb 1969Anna MemorialPolitics

      Death of C. N. Annadurai

      Chief Minister C. N. Annadurai died of cancer; his funeral was recorded as one of the largest ever attended.

  13. 1978

    1. 4 Sep 1978Guindy, ChennaiEducation

      Anna University established

      Anna University was established in Madras as a technical university, named after former Chief Minister C. N. Annadurai.

  14. 1985

    1. 1985VandalurEnvironment

      Madras zoo moves to Vandalur as Arignar Anna Zoological Park

      The Madras Zoo, founded in 1855, moved to a large new site at Vandalur as the Arignar Anna Zoological Park.

  15. 2004

    1. 2004Veeranam LakeInfrastructure

      New Veeranam water supply project completed

      A project to pipe water from Veeranam Lake to Chennai, first conceived in 1967, was completed during a severe water shortage.

  16. 2019

    1. 1 Nov 2019ChennaiCulture

      Tamil Nadu Day first observed on 1 November

      The Palaniswami government began observing 1 November as Tamil Nadu Day; in 2022 the DMK government moved it to 18 July.