[2] At the time of the 2011 Census of India, they made up about half of Tamil Nadu's Scheduled Caste population.
He attempted a reconstruction of Tamil history, arguing that the Paraiyars were the original inhabitants of the land, who had been subjugated by upper-caste invaders.
According to Michael Bergunder, Thass was thus the first person to introduce the concept of "Adi Dravida" into political discussion.
[4] Another Paraiyar leader, M C Rajah — a Madras councillor — made successful efforts for adoption of the term "Adi-Dravidar" in the government records.
[3] In 1914, the Madras Legislative Council passed a resolution that officially censured the usage of the term "Paraiyar" to refer to a specific community, and recommended "Adi Dravidar" as an alternative.