Arunthathiyar
Arunthathiyar is a scheduled caste community mostly found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which is also a part and house to an ancient Chera Dynasty region. 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, Madari, Madiga, Pagadai, Thoti and Adi Dravida communities; while the Office of the Registrar-General, which administrates the census of India, does not recognise all of those communities as one.
The 2001 Census of India reported that there were 771,659 Arunthathiyar in Tamil Nadu, being 6.5 per cent of the Scheduled Caste population of the state.Current status
At the 2011 census, 59% of the Arunthathiyar population lived in rural areas of Tamil Nadu. Their literacy rate was 58%.Notable people
