Arunthathiyar
Arunthathiyar is a scheduled caste community mostly found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which is also a part and house to an ancient Chera Dynasty region. 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 for the Arunthatiyar, Chakkiliyar, Madari, Madiga, Pagadai, Thoti and Adi Dravida communities;[1] while the Office of the Registrar-General, which administrates the census of India, does not recognise all of those communities as one.[2]
The 2001 Census of India reported that there were 771,659 Arunthathiyar in Tamil Nadu, being 6.5 percent of the Scheduled Caste population of the state.[2]
Current status
At the 2011 census, 59% of the Arunthathiyar population lived in rural areas of Tamil Nadu. Their literacy rate was 58%.[citation needed]
Notable people
- Madurai Veeran, Commander-in-Chief of Naicker's, folk deity and protector of Madurai[3]
- Ondiveeran
References
- ^ "Tamil Nadu Government Gazette" (PDF). Government of Tamil Nadu. 12 March 2009. p. 3. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
- ^ a b "Tamil Nadu Date Highlights: The Scheduled Castes Census of India 2001" (PDF). Office of the Registrar-General. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
- ^ Vannar, Gokul (18 July 2010). "The story of Madurai Veeran". New Indian Express. Retrieved 2015-04-05.