Ondiveeran Pagadai (or Ondi Veeran) (died 20 August 1771) was an Indian commander-in-chief who fought against the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. Ondiveeran came from the

Arunthathiyar 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 Reservation in India, the state government's positive discrimination program, in 2009 it was de ...

community and is viewed by them as a hero. Pressure from the Arunthathiyars led the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

to build a memorial to him in Tirunelveli district. The community's efforts to obtain a monument included public protests. The foundation stone for the memorial was laid in 2011.

commemorative Postage stamp

India Post issued a commemorative Postage stamp of Denomination Rs5 on Ondiveeran on 20.08.2022.https://www.epostoffice.gov.in/ProductDetails/ProductDetails?Prodid=P14OkEg7XcTytZJeinlzVQ

Memorial

In the mid-2000s, the Dailt community in Tamil Nadu petitioned the government to establish a memorial to Ondiveeran, including public protests. The foundation stone for the memorial (which cost the government 49 lakh rupees) was laid in 2011 by Minister for Information and Public Relations Parithi Ilamvazhuthi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ondiveeran Pagadai Indian rebels People from Tirunelveli district Year of birth missing 1771 deaths