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The  CHETTIARS of Tamil Nadu,  Pioneers of Modern Banking – By   W.S. WEERASOORIA ” Nagaraththar or Nattukottai Chettiars in Ceylon . The community is a prominent mercantile caste in Tamil Nadu. The Nagarathars hail from a place called Chettinad in the southeastern region of Tamil Nadu in the district of Sivaganga.     At one time, they lived in 96 villages, but now due to migration their spread has diminished to about 75 villages. They began in the 18th century by trading salt produced in coastal districts in the inland towns and villages. From there they expanded to moneylending. They are considered the pioneers of modern banking. They introduced concepts like pattru (debit), varavu (credit), selavu (expenditure), laabam (profit) and nashtam (loss). These are all collectively known as iynthogai (trial balance) – a unified document which reflects the current financial status of the business at any given time. They also had different lending ...