The Nagarathar (also known as Nattukottai Chettiar) is a Tamil caste found native in Tamil Nadu, India. They are a mercantile community who are traditionally involved in commerce, banking and money lending. They are well known for their temples and the lavish houses they thoughtfully built. They use the title Chettiar and are traditionally concentrated in modern region Chettinad. They have since the 19th century been prominent entrepreneurs who funded and built several Hindu temples, schools, colleges and universities. Etymology The term Nagarathar literally means "town-dweller". Their title, Chettiar, is a generic term used by several mercantile groups which is derived from the ancient Tamil term etti (bestowed on merchants by the Tamil monarchs). Nagarathars are also known as Nattukottai Chettiar. The term Nattukottai literally means "country-fort" in reference to their fort-like mansions. History Nattukottai Nagarathars were originally from Naganadu. This ancient land Naganadu is believed to be destroyed (either in an earthquake or floods) and this place was either North or North West of Kanchipuram. Nagarathars migrated and lived in the following places: · Kanchipuram (Thondai Nadu) – From 2897 BC for about 2100 years · Kaveripoompatinam (Poompuhar), the capital of the early (Chola Kingdom) – From 789 BC for about 1400 years. · Karaikudi (Pandiya Kingdom) – From 707 AD onwards. When they were in Naganadu these Dhana Vaishyas had three different divisions: 1. Aaru (Six) Vazhiyar 2. Ezhu (Seven) Vazhiyar 3. Nangu (Four) Vazhiyar All these three divisions were devoted to Emerald Ganesha (மரகத விநாயகர்). Only after they migrated to the Pandya_Kingdom they were called as Ariyurar, Ilayatrangudiyar, and Sundrapattanathar. Nagarathars of Ilayatrangudiyar were later called as Nattukottai Nagarathar. Ariyurar Nagarathars further split into 3 divisions: Vadakku Valavu, Therku Valavu and Elur Chetty (Nagercoil). Sundrapattanathar Nagarathars migrated to Kollam district in Kerala and their history is completely lost now since there was no record keeping. The Nagarathar or Nattukkottai Chettiar were originally salt traders and historically an itinerant community of merchants and claim Chettinad as their traditional home. How they reached that place, which at the time comprised adjacent parts of the ancient states of Pudukkottai, Ramnad and Sivagangai, is uncertain, with various communal legends being recorded. There are various claims regarding how they arrived in that area. Among those are a fairly recently recorded claim that they were driven there because of persecution by a Chola king. No more details are forthcoming about this story and