Veera Pandya Kattaboman of Tirunelveli, was one of many leaders in the Tamil region who fought against the British. The nationalist movement of the late 1800's and early 1900's aroused considerable enthusiasm in Tamil Nadu. The Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience, and Quit India movements all received popular support there.

V. O. Chidambaram Pillai helped in the restoration of national honour and self-respect by starting the Indian Steam Navigation Company. Subramanya Bharati woke national feelings in Tamil Nadu through his poems.
A non-Brahmin movement arose in the early 1900's. Its early political organization was the Justice Party, led by Theagaraya Chetty and T. M. Nair. The Self-respect Movement initiated in 1925 by E. V. Ramaswami Naicker (called Periyar) gave a social and cultural dimension to the non-Brahmin movement.
In 1944, Periyar founded Dravida Kazhagam, a social organization dedicated to the ideal of establishing a separate Dravidian country. Annadurai, one of Periyar's close disciples, formed a political party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, with the same objective. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam later gave up its idea of breaking away from India.

At the time of Indian independence in 1947, Tamil Nadu was a part of a British (United Kingdom) administrative unit called the Madras presidency. In 1956, according to the recommendations of the States Reorganization Committee, Tamil-speaking areas were formed into a separate state. The new state was called Madras, after its capital. In 1968, Madras state was renamed Tamil Nadu.