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==Background== | ==Background== | ||
Ayyankali was born on 28 August 1863 in [[Venganoor]], Thiruvananthapuram, [[Travancore]]. He was the first of eight children born to Ayyan and Mala, who were members of the [[Pulayar]] community of untouchable people. Although the family were relatively well-off compared to other Pulayars, having been given {{convert|5|acre|ha}} of land by a grateful landlord, the children were encouraged to adopt the customary occupation of agriculture.{{sfnp|Nisar|Kandasamy|2007|pp=64-65|ps=}} | Ayyankali was born on 28 August 1863 in [[Venganoor]], Thiruvananthapuram, [[Travancore]]. He was the first of eight children born to Ayyan and Mala, who were members of the [[Pulayar]] community of untouchable people. Although the family were relatively well-off compared to other Pulayars, having been given {{convert|5|acre|ha}} of land by a grateful landlord, the children were encouraged to adopt the customary occupation of agriculture.{{sfnp|Nisar|Kandasamy|2007|pp=64-65|ps=}} Members of the Pulayar community generally were rural slaves at this time.{{sfnp|Oommen|2001|ps=}} | ||
The region in which Ayyankali lived, which now forms a part of the state of [[Kerala]], was [[Caste system in Kerala|particularly affected by social divisions]] during his lifetime and was described by [[Swami Vivekananda]] as a "mad house" of [[Caste system in India|castes]].{{sfnp|Nossiter|1982|pp=25-27|ps=}} The Pulayars were regarded as the lowest group of people in the kingdom{{sfnp|Mendelsohn|Vicziany|1998|p=86|ps=}} and they suffered badly from oppressive discrimination, in particular from members of the powerful [[Nair]] caste.{{sfnp|Nisar|Kandasamy|2007|pp=65-66|ps=}} [[Robin Jeffrey]], a professor specialising in the modern history and politics of India, quotes the wife of a Christian missionary, who wrote in 1860 of the complex social code that {{quote|... a Nair can approach but not touch a Namboodiri Brahmin: a Chovan [Ezhava] must remain thirty-six paces off, and a Pulayan slave ninety-six steps distant. A Chovan must remain twelve steps away from a Nair, and a Pulayan sixty-six steps off, and a Parayan some distance farther still. A Syrian Christian may touch a Nair (though this is not allowed in some parts of the country) but the latter may not eat with each other. Pulayans and Parayars, who are the lowest of all, can approach but not touch, much less may they eat with each other.{{sfnp|Jeffrey|1976|pp=9-10|ps=}}}} | |||
Suffering from this social injustice caused Ayyankali to join with like-minded Pulayan friends. These young people gathered at the end of their workday to sing and dance to [[folk music]] that protested the situation. Some joined him in forming a group that challenged and threatened members of the upper castes whenever an opportunity arose, sometimes attacking them physically. His popularity earned him the names of ''Urpillai'' and ''Moothapullai''.{{sfnp|Nisar|Kandasamy|2007|pp=65-66|ps=}} | Suffering from this social injustice caused Ayyankali to join with like-minded Pulayan friends. These young people gathered at the end of their workday to sing and dance to [[folk music]] that protested the situation. Some joined him in forming a group that challenged and threatened members of the upper castes whenever an opportunity arose, sometimes attacking them physically. His popularity earned him the names of ''Urpillai'' and ''Moothapullai''.{{sfnp|Nisar|Kandasamy|2007|pp=65-66|ps=}} | ||
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An attempt by Ayyankali to enrol a Pulayar girl in a government school led to violent acts perpetrated by upper castes against the community and eventually to the burning-down of the school building in the village of [[Ooruttambalam]]. His response was to organise what may have been the first [[strike action]] by agricultural workers in the region, who withdrew their labour from the fields that were owned by the upper castes until the government acceded to a complete removal of restrictions on education.{{sfnp|Ramachandran|2000|pp=103-106|ps=}}{{efn|The date of this strike is disputed. Some sources say it occurred in 1915 but others say 1907-08.{{sfnp|Mendelsohn|Vicziany|1998|p=97|ps=}}}} | An attempt by Ayyankali to enrol a Pulayar girl in a government school led to violent acts perpetrated by upper castes against the community and eventually to the burning-down of the school building in the village of [[Ooruttambalam]]. His response was to organise what may have been the first [[strike action]] by agricultural workers in the region, who withdrew their labour from the fields that were owned by the upper castes until the government acceded to a complete removal of restrictions on education.{{sfnp|Ramachandran|2000|pp=103-106|ps=}}{{efn|The date of this strike is disputed. Some sources say it occurred in 1915 but others say 1907-08.{{sfnp|Mendelsohn|Vicziany|1998|p=97|ps=}}}} | ||
Ayyankali was also central to the success of the Pulayan challenge against the traditional stricture that prohibited female members of the community from clothing their upper body when in public. Caste Hindus had insisted that the custom was necessary to distinguish the lowly status of untouchable people but during the 19th century their belief had come under increasing attack from various untouchable groups and from Christian missionaries. The [[Channar revolt]], through which the [[Nadar (caste)|Nadar]] community were able to overturn the practice in so far as it affected themselves, had happened not long before Ayyankali's birth but the Pulayars remained affected by the discriminatory code until | Ayyankali was also central to the success of the Pulayan challenge against the traditional stricture that prohibited female members of the community from clothing their upper body when in public. Caste Hindus had insisted that the custom was necessary to distinguish the lowly status of untouchable people but during the 19th century their belief had come under increasing attack from various untouchable groups and from Christian missionaries. The [[Channar revolt]], through which the [[Nadar (caste)|Nadar]] community were able to overturn the practice in so far as it affected themselves, had happened not long before Ayyankali's birth but the Pulayars remained affected by the discriminatory code until 1915–16.{{sfnp|Mendelsohn|Vicziany|1998|pp=85-86|ps=}} | ||
===Representation=== | ===Representation=== | ||
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==Contribution and influence in society== | ==Contribution and influence in society== | ||
The historian P. Sanal Mohan has described Ayyankali as "the most important Dalit leader of modern Kerala".{{sfnp|Mohan|2013|p=249|ps=}}He is also known as the Kerala [[ Spartacus ]]. The anniversary of Ayyankali's birth has been celebrated by his descendants and by special interest groups.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/09/02/stories/0402404y.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125090414/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/09/02/stories/0402404y.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=25 January 2013 |title=Tributes paid to Ayyankali |date=2 September 2001 |work=The Hindu |access-date=2014-12-03}}</ref> | The historian P. Sanal Mohan has described Ayyankali as "the most important Dalit leader of modern Kerala".{{sfnp|Mohan|2013|p=249|ps=}}He is also known as the Kerala [[Spartacus ]]. The anniversary of Ayyankali's birth has been celebrated by his descendants and by special interest groups.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/09/02/stories/0402404y.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125090414/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/09/02/stories/0402404y.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=25 January 2013 |title=Tributes paid to Ayyankali |date=2 September 2001 |work=The Hindu |access-date=2014-12-03}}</ref> | ||
== See Also(Social reformers of Kerala) == | == See Also(Social reformers of Kerala) == | ||