ROLE OF TAMIL NADU IN THE INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT

Tamil Nadu played an important role in the Indian National Movement. Even prior to the Great Revolt of 1857, the rebellion in Panchalam Kuruchi, the 1801 “South Indian Rebellion” of the Marudu brothers and the Vellore Mutiny of 1806 were the early anti-colonial struggles in Tamil Nadu. During the nationalist era Tamil Nadu provided the leaders like G. Subramania Iyer, V.O.C. Chidambaram Pillai, Subramania Bharathi, C. Rajagopalachari and K. Kamaraj to the National Movement. Besides, the nationalist movement in Tamil Nadu was as active as elsewhere.

Beginning of the National Movement in Tamil Nadu

The earliest political organisation, the Madras Native Association was started in July 1852. Lakshminarasu Chetty and Srinivasa Pillai were the founders of this organization. The Madras Native Association was sharply critical of the policies of the East India Company’s rule. Subsequently in 1884, the Madras Mahajana Sabha was established by P. Anandacharlu and P. Rangaiya Naidu. The Madras Native Association was ultimately merged with this organization.

The Madras Mahajana Sabha strongly supported the activities of the Indian National Congress. It had also initiated social reform. G. Subramania Iyer performed the remarriage of his widowed daughter in December 1889. He moved the first resolution in the first session of the Indian National Congress in 1885. He started the nationalist papers like The Hindu in English and Swadeshamitran in Tamil.

In 1892, the Madras Provincial Conference was started to mobilize people in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu. The third session of the Indian National Congress was held in Madras in 1887 under the presidentship of Fakruddin Thyabji. Later a number of such annual sessions were also held in the city of Madras.