Arunthathiyar is a scheduled caste community mostly found in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. The term has two distinct usages: for the purposes of the state government's positive discrimination program, in 2009 it was designated an

umbrella term Hypernymy and hyponymy are the wikt:Wiktionary:Semantic relations, semantic relations between a generic term (''hypernym'') and a more specific term (''hyponym''). The hypernym is also called a ''supertype'', ''umbrella term'', or ''blanket term ...

for the Arunthatiyar, Chakkiliyar (Sakkiliyar), Madari,

Madiga Madiga is a Telugu caste from southern India. They mainly live in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, with a small minority in Tamil Nadu. Madigas are historically associated with the work of tannery, leatherwork and smal ...

, Pagadai, Thoti and

Adi Andhra Adi-Andhra is a Telugu caste found in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, primarily in the Coastal Andhra region. They are categorised as a Scheduled Caste by the Government of India. ''Adi-Andhra'' literally means 'the origina ...

communities with a total population of 2,150,285, accounting for 14.89% of the Scheduled Caste population according to the 2011 Census of India. While the Office of the Registrar-General, which administers the

census of India The decennial census of India has been conducted 15 times, as of 2011. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1872. Post 1949, it has been conducted by the R ...

, does not recognize all of those communities as one. Specifically, within Arunthathiyar caste it is reported that there were 1,084,162 individuals in Tamil Nadu, being 7.52 percent of the Scheduled Caste population of the state.

Origin

Due to their speaking Telugu and lack of mention in early Tamil texts, most scholarly authorities believe the community originated in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and migrated to

in the 17th century. However, the community's own history is that they are originally Tamil kings who ruled the area around Tagadur (

Dharmapuri Dharmapuri is a city in the north western part of Tamil Nadu, India. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Dharmapuri district which is the first district created in Tamil Nadu after the independence of India by splitting it from ...

), who were taken as captives in war to Andhra and Karnataka in ancient days and only returned in the 16th century as the Kannada-speaking Madiyars and Tamil-speaking Chakkiliyars. Therefore, they called themselves Adi Tamizhar.

Occupation

The Arunthathiyars, although they never touched dead cattle, still worked leather as

leatherworker Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

s and

cobbler Cobbler(s) may refer to: *A person who repairs shoes * Cobbler (food), a type of pie Places * The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland * Mount Cobbler, Australia Art, entertainment and media * ''The Cobbler' ...

s, and were thus given a low social status in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

Caste system A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), foll ...

. Many are also landless agricultural labourers and are engaged in bonded labour.

Current status

The vast majority of the community, almost 18.27 lakhs, live in Tamil Nadu, with small minorities in neighbouring states. Small populations live in the Palakkad district of Kerala (40,507), and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh (30,190) and Karnataka (2,959). 62% of the community lived in rural areas, and the literacy rate is 60%. Many Arunthathiyars in northern Tamil Nadu work as landless agricultural labourers for Naidu landlords, and their women work as domestic help in their houses. Some girls from the community are dedicated to the Mathamma cult, a local village deity tradition.

Notable people

Madurai Veeran Madurai Veeran, also known as Veeran, is a Tamil Hindu folk deity popular in southern Tamil Nadu, India. His name literally means, "warrior of Madurai". Legend According to the ''Maduraiveeraswamikathai'' text, Veeran was born to aristocr ...

- King and commander-in-chief (Thirumalai Nayakkar Period) *

Ondiveeran Ondiveeran Pagadai (or Ondi Veeran) (died 20 August 1771) was an Indian commander-in-chief who fought against the British East India Company in Tamil Nadu. Ondiveeran came from the Arunthathiyar community and is viewed by them as a hero. Press ...

- King and commander of an army who fought against the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

* Veeramangai

Kuyili Veeramangai Kuyili (died 1780) was an army commander of queen Velu Nachiyar who participated in campaigns against the East India Company in the 18th century. She is considered the first suicide bomber and "first woman martyr" in Indian hist ...

- Kuyili was an army commander of queen Velu Nachiyar. She is considered the first suicide bomber in Indian history * Rao Sahib L.C. Gurusamy - Member of the round table conference team led by

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

; founder of Arunthathiyar Mahajana Saba. Member of the Justice Party, social activist and politician.

References

{{reflist Dalit communities Scheduled Castes of Tamil Nadu