Ideology and Action Programme of the Swadeshi Movement in Tamil Nadu
2013; Volume: 9; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.9790/0837-0950107
ISSN2279-0845
Autores Tópico(s)Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies
ResumoNationalism in India, though universally affecting the whole of the sub-continent, was an uneven development, originating indifferent parts of India at different points of time.The uniqueness of the Nationalist Movement in Tamil Nadu was due to the Swadeshi and boycott ideology and political activities of V.O.Chidambaram pillai and accompanied with other nationalist.Swadeshi meant not only use of one's own goods but also more significantly the revival of the glorious Seafaring tradition of the Thenpandi of Tirunelvelly district and boycott was both an economic and emotional weapon to free India of the unwanted presence of the foreigner.VOC's ideology ofSwadeshi and boycott led to the birth of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company against the British Indian Steam Navigation Company and mobilising the workers of Coral Mills in Tirunelvelly.This brought him in to increasing conflict with the British Raj and proves that the British were not needed in India.In addition this paper express briefly about SubramaniaBharathi and Subramania Siva a well-knownSwadeshi activists and supporter of VOC. Key words, Swadeshi and boycott ideology of VOC-Revivalist and Nativist sentiments of VOC-Birth of Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company-Labour unrest and Swadeshi-VOC with SubramaniyaBharathi and Subramaniya Siva- I. IntroductionNationalism in India was an outcome against the oppressive and suppressive policies of the British Government.Nationalist sentiments, though uniform in their sources of origin, varied greatly from region to region in their modes of expression because of regional disparities and the cultural diversity of India.In Tamil Nadu, as in other parts of India, the expression of opposition to British rule was due to the emergence of major political figures such as Veerapandiakattapomman,C.Subramania Iyar, V.O.ChidambaramPillai and SubramaniaBharathi were influenced by the Bengali nationalist.Madras on the Coramandel Coast was the first territorial acquisition of the British in 1639, establishedas a trading post in the seventeenth century it gradually grew into the Madras Presidency in the course of the eighteenth century.This first settlement of the British was also the first centre of revolt against the political activities of the British.The Tamil land especially Thenpandi or Pandinadu in the extreme south, referred to as the Tirunelvelly district in the British records, possesses an ancient andglorious history.In the later part of the eighteencentury, it had fostered a movement of resistance to British rule spearheaded by Kattabomman of Panchalankurichy fame.He was publicly hanged at Kayattar on 16 October 1799.The second attempt was made at Vellore in 1806.Thus thepoligars of Tirunelvelly and the sepoys of Vellore were ruthlessly punished by the colonial Government.V.O.Chidambaram Pillai, a native of Tirunelvellydistrict wasexposed to the folklore at a very young age and drew great inspiration from the fallen heroes of Tirunelvelly.In the wake of the partition of Bengal in 1905, the extremists gained ground and started a new movement.Everywhere in British India the new movement hadcomprised young men bound together bythe ideology opposition to the British.In Tamil Nadu V.O.ChidambaramPillai of Ottapidaram, along with C. SubramaniaBharathi, Subramaniya Siva V. ChakkaraiChetti, Ethiraj, SurendranathArya, S. Srinivasachari,S.N Thirumalachari and M. P. Tirumalachari constituted the core group of the new movement.However, V.O.Chidambaram Pillai practically put to experiment the Swadeshi ideology and stoodabove other leaders of the same period.An attempt has been made in this paper to throw light on the roleof V.O.Chidambaram Pillai in the National Movement in Tamil Nadu and his
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