Bankers of the east

THE NATTUKOTTAI CHETTIARS were prosperous merchants known for trading precious stones, pearls, rice and spices across southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia, Burma and Vietnam.

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The Hindu community also served as financiers to the kings and the British, with their credit network extending to Singapore and Malaysia for many centuries. They were thus known as 'bankers of the east'. When they rose to the peak of their power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the community build a network of 96 villages in the Chettinad region, of which only 73 remain today.