Caste

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.

Abbe Dubois's account of south Indian customs published

Abbe J. A. Dubois's account of south Indian customs and institutions appeared in London in an English translation.

Ayya Vaikundar begins his mission

Ayya Vaikundar began the teachings that gave rise to Ayyavazhi, a movement that challenged caste rules in southern Travancore.

Indian Slavery Act abolishes legal slavery

Under Act V of 1843, slavery lost legal recognition in Company territories, agrestic slavery in the Tamil districts included.

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 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.

Sivakasi riots

In and near Sivakasi, Maravar-Nadar clashes killed 22 people and burnt hundreds of houses until troops stepped in.

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.

Madras Dravidian Association formed

The Madras United League, founded by C. Natesa Mudaliar in 1912, was renamed the Madras Dravidian Association, an early non-Brahmin political body.

South Indian Liberal Federation (Justice Party) founded

Non-Brahmin leaders including C. Natesa Mudaliar, T. M. Nair and P. Theagaraya Chetty founded the South Indian Liberal Federation, later known as the Justice Party.

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.

Madras Presidency Association formed

The Madras Presidency Association was set up by non-Brahmin Congressmen to press for non-Brahmin representation inside the national movement.

Perungamanallur police firing

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

First Communal Government Order on reservation

The Justice Party government issued the first Communal Government Order, reserving government posts for different communities.

Nadar Bank founded at Thoothukudi

Founded at Thoothukudi, the Nadar Bank was later renamed Tamilnad Mercantile Bank.

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.

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.

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.

M. C. Rajah and the Rajah-Moonje Pact

Dalit leader M. C. Rajah of Madras agreed with B. S. Moonje to reserved seats within joint electorates for the depressed classes.

Abhiramam convention against the Criminal Tribes Act

Muthuramalinga Thevar organised a convention at Abhiramam demanding repeal of the Criminal Tribes Act.

Muthuramalinga Thevar defeats the Raja of Ramnad

As the Congress candidate, Muthuramalinga Thevar beat the Raja of Ramnad in Ramanathapuram in the 1937 election.

N. Sivaraj becomes first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation

At Nagpur, Madras Dalit leader N. Sivaraj was elected first president of the new All-India Scheduled Castes Federation founded with Ambedkar.

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.

Ramnad (Mudukulathur) riots

Violent caste clashes broke out in Ramanathapuram district between Thevar and Dalit communities after the 1957 elections.

Dalit leader Immanuel Sekaran murdered

Immanuel Sekaran, a Dalit activist and former soldier, was murdered amid caste tensions in Ramanathapuram district.

Death of Muthuramalinga Thevar

Forward Bloc leader U. Muthuramalinga Thevar, an influential figure in southern Tamil Nadu, died on the eve of his birthday.

Kilvenmani massacre

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

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.

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%.

Meenakshipuram mass conversion

Several hundred Dalits in Meenakshipuram village in Tirunelveli district converted from Hinduism to Islam, citing caste discrimination.

Vanniyar reservation agitation

The Vanniyar Sangam led a road blockade agitation in northern Tamil Nadu demanding separate reservation for the Vanniyar community.

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.

Pattali Makkal Katchi founded

S. Ramadoss founded the Pattali Makkal Katchi, a party rooted in the Vanniyar Sangam and the 1987 reservation agitation.

69% reservation Act placed in the Ninth Schedule

Through the 76th Amendment, the Constitution's Ninth Schedule came to include Tamil Nadu's 1993 law that kept reservation at 69%.

Kodiyankulam police raid

About 600 policemen raided the Dalit village of Kodiyankulam in Thoothukudi district, destroying property amid caste clashes in southern Tamil Nadu.

Melavalavu massacre

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

K. Krishnasamy founds Puthiya Tamilagam

Former MLA K. Krishnasamy founded Puthiya Tamilagam, a regional political party in Tamil Nadu.

Internal reservation for Arunthathiyars

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

Paramakudi police firing

Police opened fire on Dalits protesting at Paramakudi on the Immanuel Sekaran memorial day, and the death toll rose to seven.

Dharmapuri caste violence

Mobs burned Dalit homes in three villages near Dharmapuri after an inter-caste marriage.

Marakkanam caste violence

At Marakkanam, PMK cadres heading to a Vanniyar youth festival clashed with Dalit villagers, setting off violence in the northern districts.

Murder of Dalit engineering student Gokulraj

Dalit engineering student V. Gokulraj was abducted from a temple in Tiruchengode and murdered, in a case treated as an honour killing.

Seshasamudram violence over a Dalit temple car procession

A dominant-caste mob attacked the Dalit colony of Seshasamudram and burned a temple car on the eve of its procession.

Udumalaipettai honour killing of Shankar

Dalit youth Shankar was hacked to death in a busy street in Udumalaipettai for marrying Kausalya, a woman from a dominant caste.

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.

Vengaivayal drinking water tank contamination

Human faeces were found in an overhead water tank serving Dalit families in Vengaivayal village of Pudukkottai district.

Nanguneri attack on Dalit student and his sister

A 17-year-old Dalit student and his sister were attacked with sickles at home in Nanguneri by schoolmates from dominant castes.

Kalaignar Kaivinai Thittam for artisans

Tamil Nadu launched its own credit-linked subsidy scheme for artisans in about 25 trades after declining to join the PM Vishwakarma scheme.