PERSONALITY

Iyothee Thassar – Important Points

• Context:Tamil nadu Chief Minister paid floral tributes to the statue of social reformer Pandit lyothee Thassar at Gandhi Mandapam in Chennai on the occasion of his 181 birth anniversary. 

EARLY AND  POLITICAL ACTIVITY

• Ayothidasa was born on May 20, 1845, under the name ‘Kathavarayan’.

• • Later, he adopted the name ‘Ayothidasa’ in honor of his teacher.
  • He mastered Siddha medicine through his family’s traditional lineage.
  • Ayothidasa was a multifaceted personality who excelled as a writer, journalist, social reformer, Siddha physician, Tamil scholar, and Buddhist scholar.
  • To propagate ideas of social reform, he published and edited the journal Tamizhan  for eight years.
  • During the 1870s, he mobilized indigenous communities—including the Todas living in the Nilgiri Hills—and fostered ideas related to the freedom movement.

• In 1891, in collaboration with Rettamalai Srinivasan, he founded the “Dravida Mahajana Sabha.”

• At the Nilgiri Conference held in 1892:

• • He put forward the demand for reservation.
  • He advocated for representational rights for oppressed communities.

• • He emphasized equal rights for men and women.
  • He championed widow remarriage, vocational education for women, and reservation and equal rights for women.
  • In 1898, he established the “Sakya Buddhist Society” in Madras and subsequently set up its branches across South India.
  • In June 1907, he launched the journal Oru Paisa Tamizhan  to coordinate the activities of this organization.
  • He is hailed as the “Father of South Indian Social Reform.”
  • Pandit Ayothidasa’s birth anniversary is celebrated annually as a state event by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
  • He vehemently opposed Brahmanism, Vedic rituals, untouchability, and caste-based discrimination.
  • His grandfather, Kandappan, was a renowned Tamil scholar and a Siddha physician.

• Kandappan preserved a palm-leaf manuscript of the Thirukkural.

• During his time in Ooty, he established the ‘Advaitananda Sabha’ to propagate the philosophy of Advaita.
• He maintained close ties with Henry Steel Olcott and John Rathinam.
• He strove tirelessly for the educational advancement of oppressed communities.
• He played a pivotal role in the formation of the ‘Dravidar Kazhagam’ in 1882.
• In 1885, he launched a periodical titled Dravida Pandiyan.

JOURNALS OF DEPRESSED CLASSES

• During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Tamil journals were published by intellectuals from the Depressed Classes in Tamil Nadu. 
  • Suriyodayam (1869) ,Panchama (1871) ,Sugirdavasani (1877),Dravidapandian / Dravidan (1885) ,Dravidamitran (1885) ,Anror Mitran (1886) ,Mahavikatatoothan (1888) ,Dravida Kokilam (1907),Tamilan (1907) 

Ideologies of Iyothee Thassar

• These journals became important platforms for Dalit social and political awareness. 
• Iyothee Thassar believed that social change was more important than political change.
• He worked towards creating a society without caste discrimination.
• He is considered one of the earliest leaders of the Dravidian movement.
• He is regarded as the first modern revolutionary leader of the Dalit community.
• He became the earliest well-known anti-Brahmin leader in the Madras Presidency.
• He described Dalits as “Casteless Dravidians” because they existed outside the Hindu caste system.