The region of Chettinad in Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu is the region of origin of the Chettiar community of business or the Vaishya caste. The Nagarattar Chettiars are am ong 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 are of special significance to the Indian Heritage Centre (IHC). Their presence in the Straits Settlements can be traced to the early 18th century onwards. This is a collection of travel documents, photographs and horoscopes from the family of Ramasamy Chettiar.
