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{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Iyothee Thass
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Kathavarayan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1845|05|20}}
| birth_place = [[Thousand Lights]], [[Madras]], [[Madras Presidency]], British India
| death_date = 5 May 1914
| death_place =
| other_names =
| known_for = [[South Indian Sakya Buddhist movement]]
| occupation = [[Siddha|Siddha physician]], [[linguist]], [[Social activism|social justice activist]], [[journalist]], [[philosopher]], [[anthropologist]]
| nationality = [[Indian people|Indian]]
}}
{{Buddhism}}

'''C. Iyothee Thass''' (20 May 1845 – 1914) was a prominent [[Tamils|Tamil]] [[Anti-Brahminism|anti-caste]] activist and a practitioner of [[Siddha]] medicine. He famously converted to [[Buddhism]] and called upon the [[Paraiyars]] to do the same, arguing that this was their original religion.{{r|bergunder}} He also founded the Panchamar Mahajana Sabha in 1891 along with [[Rettamalai Srinivasan]]. ''Panchamas'' are the ones who do not come under [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna system]]; they are called as ''[[Avarna]]'' communities.

"Iyothee Thass" is the most common Anglicized spelling of his name; other spellings include Pandit C. Ayodhya Dasa, C. Iyothee Doss, C. Iyodhi Doss, C. Iyothee Thoss, K. Ayōttitācar (avarkaḷ), K. Ayōttitāsa (paṇṭitaravarkaḷ),<ref name="bergunder">{{cite journal |last=Bergunder |first=Michael |title=Contested Past: Anti-Brahmanical and Hindu nationalist reconstructions of Indian prehistory |journal=Historiographia Linguistica |volume=31 |number=1 |year=2004 |pages=59–104 |doi=10.1075/hl.31.1.05ber |url=http://theologie.uni-hd.de/rm/online-artikel/bergunder-2004-contested-past.pdf}}</ref> or Ayothidas Pandithar.<ref name="Geetha V">Geetha, V., and S. V. Rajadurai. “Dalits and Non-Brahmin Consciousness in Colonial Tamil Nadu.“, p.2091. ''Economic and Political Weekly'', vol. 28, no. 39, Economic and Political Weekly, 1993, pp. 2091–98, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4400205?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents]</ref>

== Early life ==
Iyothee Thass possessed deep knowledge in Tamil, Siddha medicine and philosophy, and literary knowledge in languages such as English, Sanskrit and Pali.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vignessh|date=2020-05-20|title=Iyothee Thass: The man who gave Tamils a new identity|url=https://thefederal.com/states/south/tamil-nadu/iyothee-thass-the-man-who-gave-tamils-a-new-identity/|access-date=2021-05-29|website=The Federal|language=en-US}}</ref>

Iyothee Thass was born Kathavarayan on 20 May 1845<ref name="politics_of_naming">{{cite news | last= Ravikumar| title= Iyothee Thass and the Politics of Naming | date=28 September 2005 | url =http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-ravikumar280905.htm | work = The Sunday Pioneer | access-date = 9 September 2008}}</ref> in [[Thousand Lights]], a neighbourhood in [[Madras]] (now Chennai), and later migrated to the [[The Nilgiris District|Nilgiris district]].{{r|bergunder}}{{rp|9}} His family followed [[Vaishnavism]] and on that basis he named his children Madhavaram, Pattabhiraman, Janaki, Raman and Rasaram. His grandfather worked for George Harrington in [[Ootacamund]] (now Ooty) and little Kathavarayan profited immensely from this association.<ref name="DeathCentenary">{{cite news|title=Death centenary of a Dravidian leader|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/death-centenary-of-a-dravidian-leader/article6594092.ece|newspaper=The Hindu|date=13 November 2014|location=Coimbatore, India}}</ref>

== Assumption of leadership of Scheduled Caste ==
In the 1870s, Iyothee Thass organized the [[Todas]] and other tribes of the [[Nilgiri Hills]] into a formidable force. In 1876, Thass established the Advaidananda Sabha and launched a magazine called ''Dravida Pandian'' in collaboration with [[John Rathinam|Rev. John Rathinam]].<ref name="politics_of_naming" />

In 1886, Thass issued a revolutionary declaration that Scheduled caste people ([[Dalits]]) were not [[Hindus]].<ref name="politics_of_naming" /> Following this declaration, he established the "Dravida Mahajana Sabha" in 1891. During the 1891 census, he urged the members of Scheduled castes to register themselves as "Casteless Dravidians" instead of identifying themselves as Hindus.<ref name="politics_of_naming" /> His activities served as an inspiration to Sri Lanka's Buddhist revivalist [[Anagarika Dharmapala]].<ref name="SundayTimes">{{cite news|title=Taking the Dhamma to the Dalits|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140914/plus/taking-the-dhamma-to-the-dalits-117240.html|newspaper=The Sunday Times|date=14 September 2014|location=Sri Lanka}}</ref>

== Conversion to Buddhism ==
Iyothee Thass met [[Henry Steel Olcott|Colonel H. S. Olcott]] with his followers and expressed a sincere desire to convert to Buddhism.<ref name="politics_of_naming" /> According to Thass, the Paraiyars of [[Ancient Tamil country|Tamilakam]] were originally Buddhists and owned the land which had later been robbed from them by [[Indo-Aryan migration debate|Aryan invaders]].{{r|bergunder}}{{rp|9–10}} With Olcott's help, Thass was able to visit [[Ceylon]] and obtain ''[[diksha]]'' from the Sinhalese Buddhist monk Bikkhu Sumangala Nayake.<ref name="politics_of_naming" /> On returning, Thass established the Sakya Buddhist Society in [[Madras]] with branches all over [[South India]]. The Sakya Buddhist Society was also known as the ''Indian Buddhist Association''<ref name="The Hindu_inaugurationofhospital">{{cite news | last=Manikandan | first=K. | title= National Institute of Siddha a milestone in health care | date=1 September 2005 | url =http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/01/stories/2005090114280700.htm | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071107022440/http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/01/stories/2005090114280700.htm | url-status =dead | archive-date =7 November 2007 | work=[[The Hindu]] | access-date = 12 September 2008}}</ref> and was established in the year 1898.<ref name="buddhism_in_india">{{cite book | title=Reconstructing the World: B. R. Ambedkar and Buddhism in India| last=M. Lynch| first=Owen| year=2004| pages=316| publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

== Political activism and later life ==
On 19 June 1907, Iyothee Thass launched a weekly Tamil newspaper called ''[[Oru Paisa Tamizhan]]'' or ''One Paise Tamilian and Dravidia Pandian'',<ref name="SundayTimes"/> later known simply as ''The Tamilan'', which he ran until his death in 1914. This newspaper became the main instrument of his criticism against caste power.<ref name="Ayyathurai">{{cite thesis |type=Ph.D. |first= Gajendran |last= Ayyathurai |title=Foundations of Anti-caste Consciousness: Pandit Iyothee Thass, Tamil Buddhism, and the Marginalized in South India |publisher=Columbia University, Department of Anthropology |year=2011|url =https://anthropology.columbia.edu/content/anti-caste-consciousness-tamil-buddhism}}</ref> In addition to hosting Iyothee Thass' editorials, the newspaper gave a voice to the public, including members of the Dalit community, who had the opportunity to publish articles on areas such as "religion, law, Tamil literature, economy, agriculture and a Ladies Column"{{r|Ayyathurai}}.{{rp|22}} The newspaper enjoyed a wide reach among marginalized communities and took an explicit anti-caste stance, also reflected in its refusal to use caste names{{r|Ayyathurai}}.{{rp|22}}

Iyothee Thass claimed that his grandfather Kandappan, who worked as a butler of George Harrington, a European Civil Servant possibly in Madurai district, later complained to [[Francis Whyte Ellis]], a British civil servant in the [[Madras Presidency]] and a scholar of [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Sanskrit]] who had established a Tamil ''sangam'' (academy) in [[Madras]] in 1825 and asked Tamil enthusiasts to "bring to him ancient Tamil manuscripts for publication", that "four new verses had been added to the original version of ''Thiruvalluvar Malai''". He also noted that Ellis' omissions about [[Valluvar]]'s possible parentage as the son of a [[brahmin]] father and a [[Outcast (person)|pariah]] mother contributed to historical distortion and "co-opting [Thiruvalluvar] and his work into the brahminical Hindu value system".<ref name="GeethaAndRajadurai1993"/><ref name='Rajangam'>S. Rajangam, "Iyodhee Thass Pandithar: A Pioneer in Dalit History and Literature", trad. by Dharani Thangavelu. ''The Wire'', [https://thewire.in/history/iyodhee-thass-pandithar-a-pioneer-in-dalit-history-and-literature]</ref> Between 1825 and 1831, Kandappan discovered handwritten manuscripts of the ''Thirukkural'' as well as the ''[[Tiruvalluva Maalai]]'' (a hagiographic anthology of Valluvar and his work) and the ''Naaladi Naannurru'' (also known as ''[[Nālaṭiyār|Naalatiyaar]]'', a poetry collection from the [[Sangam period]]).<ref name="GeethaAndRajadurai1993"/> According to popular sources, Kandappan preserved the works from destruction after finding the manuscripts written on palm leaves in a pile of leaves used for cooking. Kandappan had them delivered to Ellis.<ref name="GeethaAndRajadurai1993"/> The books were finally published in print for the first time in 1831 thanks to the collaboration between Ellis, his manager Muthusamy Pillai, and Tamil scholar Tandavaraya Mudaliar.<ref name="GeethaAndRajadurai1993">{{cite journal | last =Geetha, V., and S. V. Rajadurai | title =Dalits and Non-Brahmin Consciousness in Colonial Tamil Nadu | journal =Economic and Political Weekly | volume =28 | issue =39 | pages =2094 | year =1993 | jstor= 4400205 | url =https://www.jstor.org/stable/4400205 }}</ref>

Iyothee Thass fought (unsuccessfully) with the [[Madras Mahajana Sabha]] for the right of [[Parayars]] to enter [[Vishnu]] and [[Shiva]] temples, traditionally denied to Dalit communities, and advocated with the British for free education up to the fourth grade and allocation of unused lands to oppressed Parayars.{{r|Ayyathurai}}{{rp|24}}

Iyothee Thass died in 1914 at the age of 69.<ref name="DeathCentenary" />

== Legacy ==
Iyothee Thass remains the first recognized anti-caste leader of the Madras Presidency. In many ways, [[Periyar E. V. Ramasamy|Periyar]], [[Dravidar Kazhagam]], and [[B. R. Ambedkar]] are inheritors of his legacy. He was also the first notable [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes|Scheduled Caste]] leader to embrace Buddhism.

However, Iyothee Thass was largely forgotten until recent times when the Dalit Sahitya Academy, a publishing house owned by [[Dalit Ezhilmalai]], published his writings.<ref name="The Hindu_inaugurationofhospital" /> Ezhilmalai, then the Union Health Minister, also made a desired to name the planned National Center for Siddha Research after the leader.<ref name="The Hindu_inaugurationofhospital" /> However, the proposal did not come into effect until 2005, when vehement protests by Se. Ku. Tamilarasan of the Republican Party of India (RPI) forced the Government to take serious note of the matter.<ref name="The Hindu_inaugurationofhospital" /> The institute for Siddha Research ([[National Institute of Siddha]]) was subsequently inaugurated by [[Indian Prime Minister]] [[Manmohan Singh]] and [[Anbumani Ramadoss]] the then Union Health Minister on 3 September 2005 and named it after the anti-caste Buddhist leader.<ref name="The Hindu_inaugurationofhospital" /> At its inauguration, the hospital had 120 beds.<ref name="The Hindu_inaugurationofhospital" /> The patients were treated as per the traditional system of [[Siddha medicine]].<ref name="The Hindu_inaugurationofhospital" />

A commemorative postage stamp on him was issued on 21 October 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Stamps2005.aspx|title=Stamps-2005|publisher=Department of Posts, Government of India |access-date=2 August 2013}}</ref> His works are nationalized and ''solatium'' was given to their legal heirs in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/budget/Budgetspeech2008-2009.pdf|title=Tamil development - Budget speech|date=20 March 2008|publisher=Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly|access-date=2 August 2013}}</ref>

== Criticism ==

In the early part of the 20th century, he indulged in vehement condemnation of the [[Swadeshi movement]] and the nationalist press remarking that he could "locate the power of the modern secular brahmin in the control he wielded over public opinion."<ref name="criticism_iyotheethass">{{cite book | title=SECULARISM, MODERNITY, NATION:An Epistemology Of The Dalit Critique| url=http://www.sephis.org/pdf/nigam2.pdf| last=Nigam| first=Aditya| pages=16}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Dalit Buddhist movement|Dalit Buddhist Movement]]
* [[Dalit Ezhilmalai]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | title=Towards a Non-Brahmin Millennium: From Iyothee Thass to Periyar | last=Geetha| first=V.| year=2001| publisher=Bhatkal & Sen|isbn= 978-81-85604-37-4}}
* {{cite book | title=Re-making the Past: Iyothee Thass Pandithar and Modern Tamil Historiography| last=Geetha| first=V.}}
* Balasubramaniam, J. [http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7569:pandit-iyothee-thass-and-the-revival-of-tamil-buddhism&catid=119:feature&Itemid=132]
* Leonard, Dickens. [https://www.academia.edu/36522827/Caste-less_Community_Iyothee_Thass_1845-1914_and_Tamil_Buddhism]

{{Dravidian politics-hor}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thass, Iyothee}}
[[Category:Paraiyar leaders]]
[[Category:1845 births]]
[[Category:1914 deaths]]
[[Category:Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism]]
[[Category:Indian Buddhists]]
[[Category:Tamil activists]]
[[Category:People of British India]]
[[Category:People from Nilgiris district]]
[[Category:Siddha medicine]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Activists from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian editors]]
[[Category:Journalists from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian former Hindus]]
[[Category:20th-century Buddhists]]
[[Category:19th-century Buddhists]]
[[Category:Dalit leaders]]
[[Category:Anti-caste activists]]

Iyothee Thass - Revision history

>Rasnaboy at 17:07, 1 December 2021