Chettiar (also spelt as Chetti and Chetty) is a title used by many traders, weaving, agricultural and land-owning castes in South India, especially in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. [1] [2] [3]
Chettiar/Chetty is derived from the Sanskrit word Śreṣṭha ( Devanagari: श्रेष्ठ) or Śreṣṭhin ( Devanagari: श्रेष्ठीन्) meaning superior, Prakritised as Seṭhī ( Devanagari: सेठी), and then Śeṭ ( Devanagari: शेट) or Śeṭī ( Devanagari: शेटी) in modern Indo-Aryan dialects. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
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The Chetti, Vaisya, or merchant caste
Chettiar (also spelt as Chetti and Chetty) is a title used by many traders, weaving, agricultural and land-owning castes in South India, especially in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. [1] [2] [3]
Chettiar/Chetty is derived from the Sanskrit word Śreṣṭha ( Devanagari: श्रेष्ठ) or Śreṣṭhin ( Devanagari: श्रेष्ठीन्) meaning superior, Prakritised as Seṭhī ( Devanagari: सेठी), and then Śeṭ ( Devanagari: शेट) or Śeṭī ( Devanagari: शेटी) in modern Indo-Aryan dialects. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
{{
cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(
help):”In all the early Indian literatures, the word is applied to a very wealthy class of merchants, who invariably belonged to the Vysya class”
The Chetti, Vaisya, or merchant caste