Adi Dravida
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Tamil Nadu | |
| Languages | |
| Tamil | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism, Christianity, Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Paraiyar, Paraiyar, Arunthathiyar |
Adi Dravida (or Adi Dravidar) is term used by the state of Tamil Nadu in India to denote Dalits.
Origin
The term means "original natives of Dravida land (southern India)". Iyothee Thass, a leader of the outcast Paraiyar community, believed that the term "Paraiyar" was a slur. He attempted a reconstruction of the Tamil history, arguing that the Paraiyars were the original inhabitants of the land, who had been subjugated by upper-caste invaders. Another Paraiyar leader, Rettamalai Srinivasan, however, advocated using the term "Paraiyar" with pride, and formed the Parayar Mahajana Sabha ("Paraiyar Mahajana Assembly") in 1892.[1] Thass, on the other hand, advocated the term "Adi-Dravida" ("Original Dravidians") to describe the community. In 1892, he used the term Adidravida Jana Sabhai to describe an organization, which was probably Srinivasan's Parayar Mahajana Sabha. In 1895, he established the “People’s Assembly of Urdravidians” (Adidravida Jana Sabha), which probably split off from Srinivasan's organization. According to Michael Bergunder, Thass was thus the first person to introduce the concept of "Adi Dravida" into political discussion.[2]
Another Paraiyar leader, M. C. Rajah — a Madras councillor — made successful efforts for adoption of the term "Adi-Dravidar" in the government records.[1] In 1914, the Madras Legislative Council passed a resolution that officially censured the usage of the term "Paraiyar" to refer to a specific community, and recommended "Adi Dravidar" as an alternative.[3] In the 1920s and 1930s. E.V.Ramasami ensured the wider dissemination of the term "Adi Dravida".[2]
In 1918, the Adi Dravida Mahajan Sabha also requested the Indian government use the term to replace the current but pejorative term "Pariah" (Paraiyar) used for the community.[4]
References
- 1 2 Srikumar 2014, p. 357.
- 1 2 Bergunder 2004, p. 69.
- ↑ Bergunder 2001, p. 260.
- ↑ Christophe Jaffrelot (2003). India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India. Columbia University Press. pp. 169–. ISBN 978-0-231-12786-8.
Bibliography
- Bergunder, Michael (2004). "Contested Past: Anti-brahmanical and Hindu nationalist reconstructions of early Indian history" (PDF). Historiographia Linguistica 31 (1): 95–104. doi:10.1075/hl.31.1.05ber.
- Bergunder, Michael (2011). Ritual, Caste, and Religion in Colonial South India. Primus. ISBN 978-93-80607-21-4.
- Srikumar, S (2014). Kolar Gold Field: (Unfolding the Untold). Partridge Publishing India. ISBN 978-1-4828-1507-8.