Pandit Iyothee Thass -- First Leader Who Had Worked For The Cause of Revival of Buddhism In India.

Buddha, Pandit Iyothee Thass and Dr. Ambedkar.

Tribute to Revolutionary Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and E. V. Ramasamy Periyar’s pioneer Pandit Iyothee Thass. Babasaheb's inspiration for writing his "The Buddha and His Dhamma" was none other than Pandit Iyothee Thass associate Lakshmi Narasu's work “The Essence Of Buddhism”. Pandit Iyothee Thass is called as 'Father of South India Social Reform'. I dunno how many Dravidian activists know the name "Iyothee Thass" who introduced E.V. Ramasamy Periyar in politics?

TITTLE : Pandit, Father of South Indian Social Movements.

BORN : 20 May, 1845.

DIED : 5 May, 1914.

ACHIEVEMENTS :

He worked for the downtrodden people. He was the first person who instrumental in articulating the idea that the downtrodden people were not only Buddhists formerly but were the original inhabitants of India which later paved way for many social movements. He was the first Leader who had worked for the cause of revival of Buddhism in Modern India. In 1898, he founded the “Sakya Buddhist Society” ( Indian Buddhist Association). Iyothee Thass was the first modern Dalit social revolutionary. He succeed in the getting the thousands of acres of lands and distributed among the landless poor under the scheme of “Panchami Lands”.

EARLY LIFE :

Iyothee Thass was born in Nilgiris in 1845 and his father was Kandaswamy. His original name was Kathavarayan. As his teacher's name was Iyothee Thass, Kathavaraya changed his name into Iyothee Thass. He also obtained the title of Pandit. He was also a popular Siddha Doctor. He gained expertise in reading palm leaf manuscripts, Tamil literature, philosophy, Siddha and had good knowledge of English, Sanskrit and Pali. Iyothee Thass was the first Dalit to undergo a personal educational revolution. He educated himself in Tamil, Sanskrit, Pali and English. Because he was self-taught, he was able to shed new light on Tamil and Pali culture and spirituality. He is a role model for every Dalit student struggling in casteist, run-down government schools. He realized, as few others did, that the real revolutionary potential lay not in urban Dalits, but in the rural Dalits and adivasis. Iyothee Thass united and organized the various tribes of the Nilgiri Hills (Wayanad in Kerala, Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu).

* 1885 - Launched a magazine 'Dravida Pandian'.

* 1886 - He declared that Untochables were not Hindus.

* 1891 - Established the Dravida Mahajana Sabha. During first census, he urged so called Untouchables to register themselves as Casteless Dravidians.

* 1896 - He moved from Nilgiris to Chennai where he created one Buddhist Temple.

Pandit Iyothee Thassar

SOCIAL REFORMS:

Iyothee Thass was a forerunner of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and E.V. Ramasamy Periyar. He was the first Dalit to use Dravidian sentimental legacy to liberate Dalits from Hinduism. He did this based on his deep knowledge of Tamil history, culture and social dynamics. He was the first Dalit to realize the revolutionary legacy of Buddhism and to use Buddhism to create social change. While his movement did not transcend religion into a genuine spiritual movement, it had a tremendous impact in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. He created the first ideological media revolution, writing from his deep personal knowledge to enlighten Dalits on countless subjects. Still today, his writings are not properly compiled let alone translated. Iyothee Thass was also an intellectual revolutionary because while most Indians were running after Western knowledge or imagining airplanes and atoms in the Vedas and revived the Dravidian Siddha system of medicine. The Tamil Siddhas were among the most revolutionary poets in Indian history. Their strong assault on not just casteism but the very materialist mentality behind it has a powerful impact, even in translation, on any materialist, western or eastern. Iyothee Thass revived this anti-Brahminical medical knowledge system in the teeth of resistance from the Aryan, Ayurvedic establishment. 

His meeting with Olcott was a turning point not only in his life but also for the Dalit movement in many ways. He argued that Tamil Dalits were originally Buddhists. He led a delegation of prominent Dalits to Henry Steel Olcott and asked for his help in the re-establishment of "Tamil Buddhism". Olcott helped Thass to visit Sri Lanka, where he received Deeksha from Bhikkhu Sumangala Nayake. After returning to India, Thass established the ‘Sakya Buddhist Society’ in Madras with branches in many places including Karnataka. Thass established a weekly magazine called Oru Paisa Tamizhan ("One Paisa Tamilan") in Chennai on 19th June 1907 and its price was 'one paisa'. On 26th August 1908, the name, Oru Paisa Tamizhan, was changed into Tamizhan. He published Tamizhan from 1907 to 1914. From 17th June 1914 to 26th August 1915, Tamizhan was published by Wilson Patabiraman and then from 7th July 1926 to 27th June 1934, Kolar Goldvaiyal Pandithamani Appaduraiar published it, which served as a news letter linking all the new branches of the Sakya Buddhist Society. The magazine discussed traditions and practices of Tamil Buddhism, new developments in the Buddhist world, and the Indian subcontinent's history from the Buddhist point of view and edited it till his death in 1914. He established of several Panchama schools in Chennai. Iyothee Thass, with the help of Col. Olcott, set up five schools in the City, specifically for the Depressed Class. It was from these schools that the first generation of leaders and ideologues emerged. He focused on education and the land issue. He interpreted Indian history which can be classified as subaltern history in a true sense. Today even uttering the name of Iyothee Thass in the Tamil public sphere has become an act of a rebellion. the Dravida parties, Communists and Tamil rationalists. Nobody has any regard for Thass. He died in the year 1914. The Central Govt has decided to restore Iyothee Thass and name to “ The National Centre for Siddha research in Chennai”. Iyothee Thass's teachings nurtured and shaped the career of Rettamalai Srinivasan and M. C. Rajah in Tamil Nadu.

Books written:

He wrote 325 political, 55 literary, 51 social, 109 religious articles in Tamizhan. On 3rd February 1909, he wrote an article about voting right to minority. Iyothee Thass wrote several articles in the Tamizhan explaining the historical evolution of the society, religious traditions and cultural patterns of Tamil Nadu. Dalit political discourses dominated the columns of Tamizhan. These bring out a systematic argument of the first ever Depressed Class Ideology in Tamil Nadu. In Indirar Desa Charithram (History of the Country of Indrars), Iyothee Thass declared that in the past, the Subcontinent was known as 'Indirar Desam' or the 'Land of Indirar'. Indirar was none other than the Buddha who had managed to control his five senses successfully. His knowledge prompted him to arrive at the conclusion that the Panchamas were not Hindus but 'Adi Thamizharhal' (Original Tamils). Iyothee Thass also wrote at length on Buddhism, the life of Buddha, his readings, the dialogues he had with his disciples, and on the principles of faith and action which he upheld. He argued that the text, Thirukural, was originally known as Thiri-kural (thiri means three) and it was the first Buddhist Text in a Dravidian Language. The Kural content adhered to the three Pitakas of the Buddha's Teachings and hence it was known as the Thirukural. The idea of Communal Reservation was articulated in 1885 by him.

Thirikural and Pandit Iyothee Thass

Iyothee Thass and his Understanding of the History of this Nation (It is not India but Indira Desam):

Pandithar argues that Gowthama Buddha after his enlightenment taught the people of this nation the way of truth. Therefore, people of this nation celebrated the Buddha by calling Him as Varadhar and Baradhar and also they started calling the two parts of this nation as North Baradha Desam and South Baradha Desam. And the Buddha was called as the "Indirar" which would refer to the one who conquered the five senses. Thus, the way of the Buddha was called as Indira Thanmam, and the nation in which he was born was called as Indirar desam. Gradually this name "Indirar Desam" turned into be Indhiya Desam (North Indhiyam and South Indhiyam). Therefore, it is because of the Buddha this nation was called as Indirar Desam and there is no any other reason for this. But the Aryans who invaded this Indirar Desam never understood this history and they started calling them as Hindus and their religion as Hinduism. And more over they called themselves as Indians and those who are in India are Hindus alone. They even say now that it is from Hinduism, Buddhism was born and some of the Hindus only became Buddhists. Iyothee Thass would claim that the history of this nation was covered and therefore the Religion of this nation according to him is Indirar Dhammam (the way of the Indirar = the Buddha) and all the people of this nation are Indirars since they all followed the Indirar Dhammam. Hinduism had no roots in this Nation. Let us celebrate Iyothee Thass for this wonderful explanation and let us call ourselves as Indirars and this nation as Indira Desam.

Jai bheem..!

10th Std Tamil Book of "Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation" ( Page 213 ).

Reference: * “The Role of Pandit Iyothee Thass to the Elevation of Depressed class in Tamil Nadu” by R. Suresh Kumar. * “Pandit Iyothee Thass” by T. Nalini Anbarasu. * “Social Reformers of Modern India” by D. Padmavathy.