Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by E. V. Ramasami, also called Thanthai Periyar. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a "Dravida Nadu" from the Madras Presidency. Dravidar Kazhagam would in turn give birth to many other political parties, including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and later the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including all of present-day Andhra Pradesh, almost all of Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha and Telangana in the modern day. The city of Madras was the winter capital of the presidency and Ooty was the summer capital.