Origin of Chettiars
Chettiars are basically members of Hindu
religion belonging to Southern Districts of Indian Sub-Continent. They originated
from a place called Naganadu but later on moved to a place
known as Kaveri Poompattinam situated on the eastern coast of Tamil
Nadu which was then ruled by the Cholas. Chettiars are also known as
the Nagarathars which means "People living in Towns."
Chettiars are considered as the Pioneers
of Modern Banking. They introduced a new concept of " " commonly termed as " Pattru Varavu
" in Tamil, known to all of us as Debit & Credit respectively in English.
During the Chola reign Chettiars were asked to carry on the Ceremony
of Coronation of the Chola Kings. They were given lot of respect and privileges
in the kingdom.
But this did not last longer as the Chettiars decided to leave this land and
move on further south to Pandia Kingdom. This was because one of the
Chola Kings fell in love with one of the Chettiar girl. But refused to marry
her. Thus the Chettiar Ladies in the region, to protest this, burned themselves
alive. This got the Chettiars to move out of this Kingdom.
The Pandia Kings invited the Nagarathar Community to their Kingdom with honor
and respect. The Nagarathar Community accepted the invitation and settled
in the Pandia Kingdom. But as there existed no woman now in their community
they decided to marry a Saiva Pillai woman from Tirunelveli district
for further growth of the community.
But they put up a condition that they will not have any alliance with
the Saiva Pillai community in future. They selected the place in the South-Eastern
districts of this kingdom, presently in " Sivagangai District "
of TamilNadu and settled there, which later went on to be known as " Chettinad.
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