Paraiyar or Parayar ( anglicised by Europeans as Pariah) is a caste group found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In Tamilnadu though they have been enumerated under three different cast names as Paraiyan, Samban and Adi Dravida, they have generally been referred to as Paraiyar. In northern Tamil Nadu they are known as Paraiyar, in southern Tamilnadu they are known as Samban. Paraiyan and samban are synonymous with Adi Dravida.

The Indian census of 2001 reported that in Tamil Nadu the Adi Dravida population was about 5,402,755 and the Paraiyan population as 1,860,519 .