Tamil Nadu in the Freedom Struggle and the Dravidian Movement
Tamil Nadu in the Freedom Struggle and the Dravidian Movement. The examiner looks for local specificity: the Tamil theatre of national agitations and the separate trajectory of the Dravidian parties.
Nationalist activity in the region
- Early resistance runs from Kattabomman (executed 1799) and the Vellore Mutiny (1806) to the Madras Mahajana Sabha (1884) and the Congress sessions held in Madras.
- V.O. Chidambaram Pillai launched the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in 1906 and led the Coral Mill strike at Tuticorin in 1908; his sedition conviction made him a symbol of Swadeshi in the south.
- Annie Besant's Home Rule League, her internment in 1917, and the Massakkal? no - her release after protest, tied Madras directly to national politics.
- C. Rajagopalachari led the Vedaranyam salt march from 13 April to 28 April 1930, covering roughly 150 miles from Tiruchirappalli to the coast; the Madras Temple Entry Authorisation Act of 1939 and the entry into the Meenakshi temple marked the social edge of the struggle.
The Dravidian Movement
- The South Indian Liberal Federation (Justice Party), 1917, formed the first non-Brahmin ministry in Madras in 1920.
- Periyar's Self-Respect Movement (1925) and its journal Kudi Arasu attacked caste and Brahminical dominance; the first anti-Hindi agitation (1937–39) arose against compulsory Hindi in schools.
- The Justice Party became the Dravidar Kazhagam (1944); Annadurai founded the DMK in 1949; the DMK-led front won the 1967 election, and the 1965 anti-Hindi agitation reinforced the language question.
Worked example
Why is Vedaranyam significant? Salt made the tax visibly unjust, the march linked Tamil Nadu to Gandhi's Dandi campaign, and Rajagopalachari's disciplined, well-publicised leadership broadened Congress support. Its significance is symbolic and organisational, not military.
Traps
- Vedaranyam was led by Rajagopalachari, not Gandhi, and lies on the Bay of Bengal coast.
- The Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company is 1906.
- DK 1944 and DMK 1949 are not interchangeable.