Paraiyar Samaaj
Paraiyar Samaaj Wikipedia Adi Dravida/ParaiyarRegions with significant populations Tamil Nadu , Puducherry , Sri Lanka Languages Tamil Religion Hinduism , Christianity , Buddhism , Islam Related ethnic groups Tamil people Paraiyar or Parayar [ (formerly anglicised as Pariah and Paree) is a caste group found in Sri Lanka and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . They are also known as Adi Dravida ("Ancient Dravidians"), which was a title encouraged by the British Raj as a substitute for Paraiyar because the British believed that their colonising of the country had ended slavery in India. The 2001 Census of India reported that in Tamil Nadu the Adi Dravida population was 5,402,755 and the Paraiyar population was 1,860,519, giving a total of 7,263,274. The combined total was 11.63 percent of the state's population. They are numerically the largest Scheduled Caste in Tamil Nadu, accounting for about 59 per cent of the total. Etymology Robert Caldwell and several other writ...