On Nattukottai Chettiars...

Fortune Seekers: A Business History of the Nattukottai Chettiars
Author: Raman Mahadevan(2025)

The Chettys are believed to have been present in the Malay Peninsula as early as the 16th century in the history of the Malacca Empire, according to Portuguese writings, when they arrived on Malacca's shores. The community, known as Chetty or Chitty in Malacca, had its own distinctive way of life, integrating with the local population, establishing places of worship, and holding significant positions in the Sultanate. They are said to originate from the Coromandel (Eastern) Coast of India. Interestingly, their settlement is called 'Gajah Berang' — 'Angry Elephant' in Malay. This might also be a corruption of Kanchipuram's old name, Karca Pidam. Therefore, the Chittys could have originated from Kanchipuram rather than Nattukottai.

In many P Ramlee films, the character of a Chetty frequently appears as the stereotypical moneylender.

It has been said that much of the State lands belonging to the Sultans changed hands to the Chettys in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One particular monarch, who was addicted to booze and gambling and a bad gambler too, lost much of his property by signing it away to obtain loans from Chettys to feed his gambling addiction. Usually, the loans were not repaid, leading to the lands being seized and taken over by the Chettys. Concerned local chiefs approached the British administrators, who proposed the Malay Reserve Land Code to preserve State lands for the Malays, that is, within the control of the Sultans, the protectors of Malay sovereignty.

Many groups within the Indian population are naturally entrepreneurial. These include the Mawaris, Khataris, Multani, Parsi, Baniar, Sindhi, Chetti, and many others. They possess sharp business skills and have an exceptional ability to foresee and grasp future economic trends.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021/11/13/
ethnic-chetty-residents-want-more-effort-to-preserve-village

In my hometown, Penang, the Nattukottai Chettiars are renowned for organising the now world-famous annual three-day Thaipusam celebrations with chariot processions and hundreds of kavadi-bearing devotees. To support these events, they have built a large temple complex along Waterfall Road and a silver chariot to oversee the entire celebration. Historically, the Chettiars owned extensive land in Malaysia for much of the first half of the 20th century. However, following the unrest associated with communists (between 1948 and 1960) and the race riots in 1969 in the newly independent Malaya, the Chettiars chose to liquidate their assets and return lock, stock and barrel back to India.

The history of the Nattukottai Chettiars dates back to 2893 BC. By the late 19th century, they had established themselves around the princely State of Puthukottai in South India. They were also known as Nagarathars. The area they inhabited was not suitable for farming, so they evolved into a mercantile community and small local traders. The rule of the British Raj in India made doing business more difficult, leading the Chettiars to explore overseas opportunities for expanding their money-lending enterprise. 

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 radically changed global commerce. The plantation economy began to develop in colonies such as Ceylon, Burma, Indochina, and Malaya. The demand for credit surged, and the Chettiars stepped in to meet the need by lending to local planters in these regions. 

70% of all loans in Burma in 1930 were from Chettiars.
https://www.yangontimemachine.com/en/index?id=24&art=chettiar_temple

In Burma and Indochina, rice plantations expanded to meet global demand. Crops such as coffee, tea, and coconut were cultivated on a large scale in Ceylon. Rubber estates flourished in Malaya. Tin mining commenced in Malaya in the early 20th century. Chettiars prospered by doing what they did best—being moneylenders. Their primary activity was an intra-community banking system based on trust and risk-taking. Within the community, they established a support network to ensure that each member received assistance and that disputes between members were resolved internally, without resorting to legal action. Their intra-community bond was powerful. Sadly, the Nagarathars were not particularly friendly with the locals. It was all business. This proved to be an albatross around their neck when the Saya San rebellion broke out in Burma. 

The business was a roaring success for them until 1928, when the world faced the Great Depression. Some had cut their losses and returned home, while others bought large parcels of land when borrowers were unable to repay their loans. The Chettiars became major landowners.

Their businesses faced further difficulties when World War II broke out. The depreciation of local currencies and the switch to Japanese Banana money in Burma and Malaya resulted in overwhelming losses. In Burma, resistance manifested as regional nationalism, such as the Saya San Rebellion, and many of their properties were nationalised. Thousands of Chettiars had to flee on foot as refugees back to India.

Some Chettiars repatriated their capital to India. Many shifted to managing cotton mills, modern industries, education, and banking. A small number of them never recovered from their losses. Over-commitment to money lending and an unwillingness to diversify led to the collapse of their traditional business model.

By 1938, ~25% of Burma's rice-growing areas were in Chettiar hands.
https://www.yangontimemachine.com/en/index?id=24&art=chettiar_temple

Their apparent presence in the modern world, from 1870 onwards, throughout post-independent India, has left an indelible mark. A few figures have secured their place in Indian history.

There was Sir Annamalai Chettiar, an industrialist, banker, philanthropist, and educationist. He is immortalised in the university bearing his name. Another legendary Nattukottai Chettiar is Dr Alagappa Chettiar, one of the first in the community to study English and decide to read Law at the University of London. During his stint in the UK, he worked part-time in the banking sector and acquired a flying licence. Despite completing his course, he was refused permission to practise Law in the UK because he had contracted leprosy, which had slightly disfigured his face. He returned home to found Alagappa University and fund hospitals. Later, he founded Jupiter Airways, which played a crucial role in bringing refugees to India during the Partition. He was the youngest Indian to be knighted in 1946, but he voluntarily renounced the title after India's independence. Alagappa Chettiar's business portfolio included the acquisition of Ayer Manis Rubber Estate in Muar, Johor, in Malaya during the 1920s.

Then there was MCT Chidambaram Chettiar, the founder of Indian Overseas Bank. One of the survivors of the Burma ordeal is the group of AMM Murugappa Chettiar. He relocated to India and ventured into manufacturing cycles, steel tubes, ceramics, sugar, fertilisers, financial services, and more. The Murugappa Group has become a powerhouse of the Indian industry.

Karumuthu Thiagaraja Chettiar was another textile magnate, philanthropist, and supporter of the arts and Tamil language. He was a freedom fighter and a member of the Indian National Congress. This should not be confused with Sir Pitty Theagaraya Chettiar, another notable industrialist and a founding member of the Justice Party. The affluent neighbourhood of T. Nagar in Chennai is named after him. Pitty did not belong to the Nattukottai Chettiar community but to the Telugu-speaking Devanga Chetty community.

AV Meiyappa Chettiar is known for his AVM Studio, AVM Production House and his role as a doyen in Tamil cinema during its golden age.

In Malaysia, the average person might not fully appreciate the business savvy and close-knit qualities of the Nattukottai Chettiars. They might only learn about their black umbrellas, the ash spread on their foreheads, and their money-lending trades after watching several P Ramlee movies. One thing they would not overlook is the Chettinad eateries and their delicious cuisine, which can be found all over town.

(N.B. Over the last decade, a conspiracy has emerged regarding the Nattukottai Chettiar-managed silver chariot used during Penang's Thaipusam procession. It was alleged that the monies offered by the public do not go towards the uplift of Hindus or the maintenance of Hindu temples in Penang. The Chettiars were accused of siphoning off the collection to Chettinadu in Tamil Nadu. The Penang Hindu Endowment Board, in retaliation, introduced a golden chariot in direct competition with its silver counterpart.)

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The philosophical king who never was!

The Emperor Who Never Was
Dara Shukoh in Mughal India
Author: Supriya Gandhi

Genghis Khan (and Timur, who followed suit later) likely established the tradition of not designating a successor. He believed that the issue of ascension should remain open. It was anticipated that the most capable individual, able to vanquish rivals for the throne, would emerge as the strongest ruler and govern the Empire more effectively. It was irrelevant if brothers, stepbrothers, widows, and uncles fought against one another; politics took precedence over emotions. Primogeniture, the right of succession granted to the firstborn, as seen in feudal rule, is noticeably absent in the Mughal Empire.

Naturally, the Mughals, whose ancestry arose from these barbaric races, continued that tradition. After Babur, animosities among siblings to usurp the corridor of power were frequent occurrences. Factions formed, with one parent siding with a particular son or grandson. Moreover, emperors had multiple wives. Shah Jahan, known as Kurram before seizing the throne, faced such a situation. Khusrau, Kurram's elder brother, had a long-standing battle with their father, Jahangir, before Jahangir blinded him. After becoming emperor, one of the actions he took was to execute his stepmother, Nur Jahan, and his half-brother Shahar, among others. Such was the brutal process of succession. During the later part of his reign, Jahangir was half the man he once was. Long-term use of opiates and alcohol had taken a toll on his health. Nur Jahan effectively took over the realm.

We have all read about Aurangzeb and his antics during his lengthy reign as one of the last emperors of the Mughal Dynasty. However, we rarely hear of his elder brother and half-brother, Dara Shikoh.

Dara Shikoh was Shah Jahan's third child and his firstborn son. Jahanara, Shah Jahan's first child, grew up as Dara's confidante, seeking wisdom. She was erudite, never married, and followed the path of spirituality. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal had four sons: Dara Shikoh, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb, and Murad Baksh.

It is fantastic to read about the childhood these princes had. Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb were caught in Shah Jahan's bizarre mutiny attempt against his father, Jahangir. Jahangir took Dara and Shikoh hostage in a political chess game. Naturally, they matured precociously.

By the age of 19, Dara showed his killer instinct by hunting down and slaying an amok elephant. Following in the footsteps of his father, Shah Jahan, and his grandfather, Jahangir, Dara Shikoh displayed an affinity for exploring spiritualism, Sufism, and other religions prevalent in India at the time. Perhaps, like his great-grandfather, Akbar, who proposed 'Din Illahi', he was moving toward the monotheistic concept of a One God common to all religions. In the tradition of the Mughal courts, Dara was proficient in Farsi, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Arabic. He was favoured and groomed by Shah Jahan as his successor. Dara endeavoured to promote religious tolerance in his philosophical journey in association with the renowned Chisti and Qadiri Sufi Orders, much like Akbar before him. He translated the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita into Persian. Throughout his life, hardships, such as losing two newborn children, illustrated his susceptibility to depression, much like how his father, Shah Jahan, was affected by the loss of Mumtaz, his favourite wife, who died of haemorrhage after her 14th delivery. Perhaps this is why Shah Jahan kept him close, depriving him of the military exposure that proved crucial later on.

Dara Shikoh

To keep Aurangzeb out of the throne's loop, Shah Jahan sent him far away with the army to conquer new lands in Central Asia and Kandahar, ensuring the vassal states towed the line. Aurangzeb received his religious guidance from more hardline orthodox Islamic scholars, who were quick to label Dara Shikoh a heretic. 

One day in 1657, Shah Jahan was afflicted with what is now assumed to be infective prostatitis. Dara Shikoh was designated as the natural successor, being the philosophical ruler who understood the scripture, earned the respect of the masses, and demonstrated courage. He was also Shah Jahan's favourite son. Upon hearing this, the remaining brothers rushed to Agra to assert their place in the Empire. Aurangzeb, the one skilled in military affairs, emerged victorious. He had his father, Shah Jahan, imprisoned and had Dara decapitated. His head was presented on a platter to Shah Jahan while he was having dinner. This exemplifies how much brutality was normalised in the Mughal Empire.

At a time when intolerance masquerading as faith is prevalent, the name Dara Shikoh shines as a beacon of hope that united all of India.

[P.S. Plato's idea of a perfect leader is a philosophical king who possesses profound knowledge and a love of wisdom. These qualities, in Plato's eyes, made them true rulers, not just power-holders, to rule justly in a harmonious society. Obviously, in the real world, increasingly the sword and the wealthy hold the corridors of power at ransom.]

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The Man with so many Dark Secrets!

A Convenient Death (2020)
The Mysterious Demise of Jeffrey Epstein
Authors: Alana Goodman & Daniel Halper

The turn of the 21st century witnessed the rise of conspiracy theories, including Pizzagate, #MeToo, following the exposé of Harvey Weinstein, and QAnon. One prominent news story that captured public consciousness was that of Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein began life as the modest son of a refuse collector in Coney Island. Although poorly qualified and lacking a university degree, he fabricated his resume to secure a teaching position at a school. He was an intelligent man, but when his deception was revealed, he transitioned to the money market. Despite lacking formal qualifications, he succeeded in persuading his clients to invest significantly through him.

Epstein claims to have made millions for his clients, but some insist that he keeps the liaisons going through well-crafted blackmail.  

He is said to have made tonnes through his shady business of pimping minor girls and arranging them for some 'special' clients. His close clientele may include Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, Bill Gates, Woody Allen, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Alec Baldwin, MBS, Ehud Barak and maybe Trump.

Many of those mentioned in his later exposé deny ever knowing Epstein, but video evidence is plentiful. The mastermind behind Epstein's recruitment was Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of Britain's disgraced media baron Robert Maxwell. She is reported to have a network for procuring underage girls to get the ring started.

It is said that Epstein was audacious in his actions. He flaunted his private jets, including a Boeing 727 whimsically named 'Lolita Express', about the 1962 film 'Lolita', to win over VIPS, and even acquired his own island for his alleged illicit activities. His net worth remains questionable. Some even doubt whether he is truly worth what he claims to possess. Conversely, much like he does for his clients, he may have concealed his wealth in offshore accounts, beyond the scrutiny of prying eyes. Epstein was known to be a philanthropist, donating to numerous institutions of higher learning and funding research. His most prominent client was Leslie Wexner, the owner of 'Victoria's Secret', who availed himself of more than just his financial management services.

In 2005, one of the girls recruited as an escort reported to the police. This soon opened a can of worms that would not disappear. Epstein's house of cards collapsed. Ghislaine was also implicated. One by one, Epstein's acquaintances claimed not to know him. After receiving a jail sentence for soliciting a prostitute and an underage one, he was released in 2009. In 2019, he was rearrested on federal sex trafficking charges. A month after his arrest, having rewritten his will and preparing for his trials with his team of lawyers, he was found dead in his cell. The cause of death was determined to be suicide by hanging. Even though Epstein was on suicide watch, the CCTV was not functioning. No staff had observed his activities for an extended period. The post-mortem findings were contradictory, such as the ability of a tall man to hang himself without sufficient leg space. The pattern of neck injury was also questioned by detractors.

For a man carrying so many dirty secrets which could tarnish the image of many, there is every reason for him to be dead and not wash their dirty linen in public.

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The Mysterious Demise of Jeffrey Epstein

By 

By 

In a secular nation?

Hindus in Hindu Rashtra(2023)
Eighth-Class Citizens and Victims of State-Sanctioned Apartheid
Author: Anand Ranganathan

I felt as if I were listening to him debate on Indian internet television. For the uninformed, a debate in the Indian context differs from the BBC's 'Hard Talk' or a conventional debate in which one person is given the stage to speak while others listen.

On these Indian shows, what we see on our monitors are multiple smaller windows, reminiscent of those in 'Brady Bunch' or ‘Hollywood Squares’, with everyone yelling at the top of their lungs simultaneously to make their point. With the rapid-fire speed of speech, often seen in speed debates, and the caustic choice of words, it is quite a spectacle. Everything is drowned out in the cacophony of each speaker's voice. Amidst all this, the anchor begins to argue at a higher pitch without turning off the guests' microphones. Sometimes, I wonder why the guests bother to attend at all. 

Anand Ranganathan has attended numerous such debates. His strong command of English and fluent expression of thoughts make him a standout in right-wing media. 

After listening to so many of his arguments on X, the book evokes a sense of 'déjà vu'. His premise is that Hindus in India are receiving a raw deal. After being overrun by foreign invaders from the West before the Common Era, India finally attained independence 75 years ago. Despite the change in rulers, he argues that Hindus continue to be treated as the stepchildren of the nation. The British governed this vast country using their 'divide and rule' tactics, which, regrettably, persist to this day. 

Ranganathan presents eight points regarding why Hindus in a Hindu nation are receiving a raw deal. Although India's Constitution declares the country to be secular, the State deems it appropriate to oversee the management of Hindu temples. For thousands of years, the temple ecosystem has served as a centre for worship, education, community living, trade, economy, statecraft, and even defence. Every invader understood that to dismantle India, they had to dismantle the temples. The law allows for the appointment of non-Hindus to the boards managing temples. In contrast, mosques and churches govern their own affairs. Court cases seeking the independence of Hindu temples have been ongoing for years.

Back in the 1990s, 700,000 Kashmiri Hindus were systematically driven out of their homes. Thirty years after the massacre, the state finds it more profitable to have them return as tourists for foreign exchange, but not to their ancestral homes. In contrast, Rohingya Muslims are permitted to settle in Jammu and Kashmir. Is the abrogation of Article 370 the right path to rectify the status quo?

The Waqf is considered the third largest landowner in India, after Defence and Railways. What began during pre-Independence times by the British to appease the Muslims has since expanded. Many prominent landmarks around Delhi, as well as Ambaini's house, are now believed to be Waqf land. Any property adjudged arbitrarily by Muslim law irrevocably belongs to Allah for all time. It reached a point of absurdity when a 1,500-year-old Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu is claimed to be situated on Waqf land, despite Islam being only 1,300 years old. The archaeological and physical evidence of lingams at the Gyanwapi Mosque serves as proof that it was constructed atop the grand Kashi Vishwanath temple. Even Aurangzeb, in his verified biography, Masir-e-Alamgiri, conceded to demolishing the aforementioned temple to erect a mosque. The 1995 Waqf Act solidifies the authority of the Waqf Board; however, these days, Parliament is attempting to amend this.

The Right to Education Act (RTE) of 2009 is said to be leading Hindu-run schools towards extinction. The Act dictates financial control, as well as the choice and quota of students and teachers, selectively applying these rules to non-minority schools; failure to comply results in closure. These restrictions compel schools to raise their fees, forcing parents to seek alternatives in schools run by minorities. Even in states where Hindus are a minority, the Act continues to operate against their interests.

The author highlights legislation that appeases non-Hindus but targets Hindus. For instance, bigamy is illegal under Indian law, yet it is permitted under the Muslim Personal Law of 1937, illustrating the double standards. Feminists advocate for equal rights but remain silent when the court permits Muslims to marry upon puberty. The corridors of power are intent on reforming Hinduism and addressing the social ills that characterise Hindu society, while the Abrahamic religions remain untouched.

The author also has a bone to pick with India's fixation on glorifying the invaders of the land. He is particularly scathing about naming one of Delhi's main roads 'Aurangzeb Road,’ referring to a ruthless conqueror who found solace in destroying pagan religions, particularly Hinduism, upholding Islamic law over his territory, imposing jizya on non-believers, and forcibly converting Sikh spiritual leaders. The nearest train station to visit the remnants of Nalanda University is Baktiyapor, named after the invader who burned Nalanda, thus losing centuries of knowledge and wisdom. 

It appears that the actions of the courts show no hesitation in attempting to alter Hindu practices, such as in the Sabarimala case, where women of menstruating age are not permitted to enter the Swami Ayyappa temple. However, the courts chose to remain silent regarding other religions, as exemplified by the case of Nupur Sharma, who is blamed for the killing of an innocent tailor for commenting on the Quran. Ranganathan further illustrates the bias of the Indian courts against Hindus.

Even though the author is an engineer by training, he chose to dedicate most of his time to highlighting the plight of the second class of Hindus in a country where the majority are Hindu. He even states that there is a legislative, judicial, and constitutional apartheid against them. 

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A giant awakens?

Awakening Bharat Mata: The Political Ideologies of the Indian Right
By: Swapan Dasgupta (2019)

History tells us of a time when Indian soft powers ruled beyond their lands. Indian (read Hindu) way of living was the only way to live to the East of the land irrigated by the Sindhu Saraswati river systems. The nearest advanced culture to them was the Persians. Now they had an issue pronouncing 'S'. They did not have 'S' in their spoken language but used 'H' in places occupied by 'S'. Hence, the people living around the Sindhu Valley became known as 'Hindus', and their way of living was Hindu.

The perplexing thing is that from an era when the whole world was imitating their culture whilst the rest of the world was in the dark ages, at the time of its independence, it was a nation quite apologetic to its way of life and its history. What gave?

Perhaps it was the repeated invasions and trans-generational traumas with a tinge of Stockholm Syndrome. Still, the bulk of Indians, during their independence from the British colonial masters, had a very low esteem of themselves. They tended to look at other civilisations as superior and scorn upon their own way of living. Maybe because they had missed the bus of the first and second Industrial Revolution and the mercantile type of economy ruled the world, the socialist-minded Prime Minister and his ruling party thought it was pertinent they should be followers, not leaders of the world. They even refused a UN Security Council seat. Government-sanctioned leftist historians reinforced Western false narratives. 

The 1991 Indian general elections must have been a watershed moment in the right-wing movement. Even though they did not win the elections, they sowed their idea of a Ram Rajya (Hindu nation) in the Indian psyche. Their election promises to rebuild the old Ram Mandhir in Ayudhya fascinated the population at large. Just about that time, archaeological excavations revealed that a mosque indeed built atop the site considered the birthplace of the much revered Prince Rama of Ayodhya.

With widespread news of corruption and mismanagement, the 2014 general elections saw the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), headed by the Indian Congress Party, lose to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a coalition headed by BJP. BJP, on its own, secured a majority, surpassing the much-needed 272 seats.

The right-wing Hindu parties have always been in the bad books of the Indians. Ever since Godse, a Hindu nationalist, assassinated MK Gandhi, RSS, the social arm of BJP, and other Hindu parties have been painted with the same brush. The anglophilic apologists and leftist historians have created a centre stage for a dichotomy of anglophile 'intellectual elites' versus homegrown saffron politics.

In the late 1960s, Congress weakened, and a wave of anti-Westernisation swept through the nation. The public was uncomfortable with the outward display of modernity and the intellectual move towards the West. They started reminiscing about the alternative intellectual ecosystem initiated by Hindu nationalist bulwarks like Tilak, Aurobindo, Savarkar and more. The new BJP-RSS combo was not anti-Western and anti-technological development but would use technology to improve administration quality.

After much deliberation, Modi was put forward as the PM material for the 2014 election. His economic success story in Gujarat worked in his favour. The naysayers, including the Western media, were rapacious in putting him as the villain in the 2002 racial riots. The foreign press went on a rant that he was bad news for Indian harmony. His visa to the US, UK and EU was denied as he was deemed too controversial.

Tired of the Nehru-Gandhi dynastic brand of politics with ineffective leaders in the Nehru's descendants, in 2014, NDA with BJP as the majority was voted in to rule the biggest democracy in the world. The going on till the time of writing of the book, at the end of BJP's first term, has been anything but smooth sailing. Quickly, many day-to-day issues can be made out to be big deals, even though the general public is not too bothered by them. The politicians and their desire to create a mountain out of a molehill are the root of the problem. After all, historically, India has a reputation for embracing all cultures, including Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity and more. They had played host to many refugees.

A simple recital of a national independence hymn like Vande Mataram can become a national issue. Muslim leaders refuse to allow their people to chant this old anthem as it is considered not secular. Cow protection on one side and insistence on beef-eating as a birthright without compromise is another thorn in the Hindu-Muslim relationship. Even though the Indian Constitution bans cow slaughtering, occasional skirmishes and lynching continue. This is not a new problem. Even in 1966, Sadhus demonstrated in front of the Parliament to criminalise cow slaughtering unsuccessfully.

It is all right for a country to be ruled by Christian, Islamic or even Jewish ideologies. However, it seems Hinduism is not compatible with modern democracy. So says the rest of the world. The colonial masters even thought it was pertinent to emphasise in the Constitution that India is a secular country. In the mind of the right-wing Hindu politicians, Sanathana Dharma is secular. In the eyes of the world, Hindutva is a bad word, implying combative fundamentalism. In reality, it just denotes Hinduness.

In the understanding of the right-wing Hindu leaders, a Hindu is someone born in India, with the cultures of India, bowing to the nation of India. So, in their understanding, a Muslim or a Christian is a Hindu. It is wrong, say a Muslim to have allegiance with their religion and show reverence to an external force whilst turning his back to Bharat.

The book tries to clear many misconceptions started by the colonial masters and the subsequent Anglophile Congress leaders who just held the helm on their behalf. They try to allay the misinformation that RSS and BJP are anti-intellectuals or are lacking intellectual depth. They try to break the mould of slave mentality among the citizens and rewrite the distorted Indian history penned previously by leftist historians to maintain the hegemony of the colonial masters over their subject. 

A good read. 

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