Kamarajar was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for all but a decade from 1954 to 1963. Kamaraj , the ‘King Maker’. As the president of the Indian National Congress, he steered the party during testing times post the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. Kamaraj was born in what is now southern Tamil Nadu to a family of the Nadar (next-to-lowest) caste. His father, a coconut merchant, died when Kamaraj was a young boy. When he was 12 years old, he dropped out of school and began working in a cloth shop. Kumaraswami Kamaraj , born on July 15, 1903, in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, emerged from humble beginnings to become one of India's most revered political leaders and a symbol of simplicity and service. Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963.