Arunthathiyar
| Arunthathiyar | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Scheduled caste |
| Religions | Hinduism • Christianity |
| Languages | Tamil • Telugu • Kannada |
| Country | India |
| Populated states | Tamil Nadu • Kerala • Karnataka • Andhra Pradesh |
| Region | Northern and western Tamil Nadu |
| Ethnicity | South Asian |
| Population | 2,150,285 |
| Subdivisions | Arunthathiyar • Chakkiliyar • Madari • Madiga • Pagadai • Thoti • Adi Andhra |
Arunthathiyar is a scheduled caste community mostly found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The term has two distinct usages: for the purposes of the state government's positive discrimination program, in 2009 it was designated an umbrella term for the Arunthatiyar, Chakkiliyar (Sakkiliyar), Madari, Madiga, Pagadai, Thoti and Adi Andhra communities with a total population of 2,150,285, accounting for 14.89% of the Scheduled Caste population according to the 2011 Census of India. While the Office of the Registrar-General, which administers the census of India, does not recognize all of those communities as one.
Specifically, within Arunthathiyar caste it is reported that there were 1,084,162 individuals in Tamil Nadu, being 7.52 percent of the Scheduled Caste population of the state.