Periyar Erode Venkata Ramasamy (Tamil: பெரியார், 17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), also known as Ramaswami, EVR, Thanthai Periyar, or Periyar, was a Dravidian social activist and former politician from India, who founded the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He propagated the principles of rationalism, self-respect, women’s rights and eradication of caste. He opposed the exploitation and marginalisation of the non-Brahmin indigenous Dravidian peoples of South India and the imposition of, what he considered, Indo-Aryan India. While continuing the Self-Respect Movement, he advocated for an independent Dravida Nadu (Dravidistan).

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