The Origin of the Nattukkottaiyars and Their Communal Practices

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The author-editor M.Gobalakichenane, born in 1940 in Pondicherry. was educated in French College there. After passing 'Baccalaureat'. he went to France and got his degrees in Science in Paris and Grenoble Universities. When he became Professor of Physics in (South-) Vietnam, he had ample opportunities to travel extensively in Southeast Asian countries which enabled him to discover the influence of Indian and Tamil cultures. From then onwards, he worked in personal research on Tamil history and Tamil inscriptions.

After a long career as Computer Science Engineer in Paris and other places, he is retired in Orsay and continuing his research in Tamil Nadu History. He has presented several papers in various Conferences in Kuala Lumpur, Taipeh, Mauritius, Pans, Budapest and Heidelberg.

In 1992. he published "Irandam Viranaiker Natkurippu (1778-1792)"which added a new Tamil basis for the period following the one of Dupleix well known for the French period, through the famous Private Diary of Ananadarangappillai. After showing that the present English version of 12 volumes is not a thoroughly complete set, he published "Anandarangappillai V-Natkurippu Prajothpathi Andu (1751-1752)" in 2005 and then "Anandarangappillai V-Natkurippu Angirasa Andu (1752-1753)" in 2006. The third volume "Anandarangappillai V-Natkurippu Srimuga Andu (1753-1754)" has come out in 2008. The fourth volume "Anandarangappillai V-Natkuhppu Maya Andu (1754-1755)" is in preparation.

The present monograph is the English version of "Nattukkottaiyarin Urpaththiyum Avargalin Sathiyin Muraiyum"in Tamil, describing the practices of Chettiyars in the first half of 19th century, based upon a Tamil manuscript unearthed in Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, enlarged with select bibliography and several illustrations.

**Contents and Sample Pages**