Photograph of a Chettiar man taken at a studio

Title
Photograph of a Chettiar man taken at a studio
Year/Period
20th century
Region
India/ Singapore
Material
Dimension
Object size: 19.0 x 14.0 cm
Accession No.
2016-00198
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Mr M.Meyyappan, The Bangala, Karaikudi

The region of Chettinad in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu is the region of origin of the Chettiar community. The Nagarattar Chettiars are among the early Indian migrants to the Southeast Asian region with business establishments in Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore. Their migration and establishment of money lending business in Singapore-Malaya in particular can be traced back to the early 18th century onwards. This is a group of two photographs of traditional Chettiars from the family of Meyyappan Chettiar.