ISBN:
0520072367
,
0520083504
Language:
English
Pages:
Online-Ressource
DDC:
305.554095482
Keywords:
Nattukottai Chettiars
;
Caste
;
India
;
Tamil Nadu
;
India
;
Commerce
;
History
;
Indien
;
Kaste
;
Tamil Nadu
;
Indien
;
Kapitalismus
;
Geschichte 1800-1930
Abstract:
This book examines a vital component in the South Indian economy, the merchant-banking caste: a corporate organization of men and families that has been crucial to processes of capital accumulation, distribution, and investment. My focus of study is the well-known Nattukottai Chettiar caste or, as they call themselves, the Nakarattars. They represent the major banking caste of South India during the period from 1870 to 1930. I present an analysis of the commercial organization and activities of the caste during the period of their preeminence. I also demonstrate the precolonial roots of Nakarattar commercial practices and commercially oriented social institutions extending back to the beginning of the seventeenth century. I do not argue that the caste was unchanged during this period.
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