History of Chitty Melakas (Straits born Hindus)

[santosh108]

A comparatively neglected and fast dwindling ethnic minority community is the Chitty Melakas or Malacca Straits-born Hindus (locally known as Peranakan).

They are the descendants of traders from the Coromandel Coast in Southern India who visited Malacca from the fifteenth century onwards.

Like the first Chinese settlers, these Hindu traders married Malays, Chinese, Javanese, and Bataks, creating a unique new culture. While many Chitty Melaka have now settled in other parts of Malaysia as well as in Singapore, the culture's historical centre is Kampung Chitty, Gajah Berang, near Malacca.

There are estimated to be about 50,000 Chitty Melakas in Malaysia and about 5,000 in Singapore.

related web sources :

http://peranakan.web1000.com/IndianPeranakans.htm

http://www.geocities.com/mlkachittii1u2/dpage6

[Avanthika]

Very interesting and informative.



A comparatively neglected and fast dwindling ethnic minority community is the Chitty Melakas or Malacca Straits-born Hindus (locally known as Peranakan).

They are the descendants of traders from the Coromandel Coast in Southern India who visited Malacca from the fifteenth century onwards.

Like the first Chinese settlers, these Hindu traders married Malays, Chinese, Javanese, and Bataks, creating a unique new culture. While many Chitty Melaka have now settled in other parts of Malaysia as well as in Singapore, the culture's historical centre is Kampung Chitty, Gajah Berang, near Malacca.

There are estimated to be about 50,000 Chitty Melakas in Malaysia and about 5,000 in Singapore.

related web sources :

http://peranakan.web1000.com/IndianPeranakans.htm

http://www.geocities.com/mlkachittii1u2/dpage6

[asitaraman]

A comparatively neglected and fast dwindling ethnic minority community is the Chitty Melakas or Malacca Straits-born Hindus (locally known as Peranakan).

They are the descendants of traders from the Coromandel Coast in Southern India who visited Malacca from the fifteenth century onwards.

Like the first Chinese settlers, these Hindu traders married Malays, Chinese, Javanese, and Bataks, creating a unique new culture. While many Chitty Melaka have now settled in other parts of Malaysia as well as in Singapore, the culture's historical centre is Kampung Chitty, Gajah Berang, near Malacca.

There are estimated to be about 50,000 Chitty Melakas in Malaysia and about 5,000 in Singapore.

related web sources :

http://peranakan.web1000.com/IndianPeranakans.htm

http://www.geocities.com/mlkachittii1u2/dpage6

Read Chitty as Chetty (or Shetty) and it would start making sense. The population was part of large contingents of Chettis (merchants, traders, money lenders) who travelled from South India to China taking with them large amounts of goods and bring back large amounts of goods from China and Sri Vijaya.

The Mallacca Straits was part of the Sri Vijayan Empire which was on the way from South India to China. One route was to go from Kaveripumpattinam to Kadaram (modern Kedah state in Malaysia) and then go down the straits. The other way is to overland the goods at Kadaram and take it through South China Sea.

In the same area, you will see large archaelogical finds in the Bujang Valley (Kedah province); temples, habitation, pottery, etc.

The history of such trade and settlement is way before the 15th century. We are told it is the 15th Century because that is when the European started coming there (Portugese and Dutch). As usual, we discard our own inscriptional (see http://inscriptions.whatisindia.com), literary, and archaelogical evidence and rely heavily on western sources.


Rgds, Aravind Sitaraman

[sundararaj]

Very good info...mostly they are Thamils settled during Rajaraja - Rajendra Chola period, ie about 1000 years back!

[crazy]

Good Info :)

[Jimano]

Peranakan Festival ends with Chitty Melaka show

11 May 2008 2344 hrs (SST) 1544 hrs (GMT)

SINGAPORE: The Peranakan Festival drew to a close on Sunday - with visitors getting a taste of the Chitty Melaka way of life.

A Chitty Melaka wedding was enacted at the Peranakan Museum by the Chitty Melaka Association.

Their dressing is a fusion of the Chinese and Malay culture, but most of their rituals are Hindu in nature.

Chitties are Malacca-born Indians and are sometimes referred to as Peranakan Hindus.

They are descendents of traders from India who inter-married with local women.

They are often confused with the Chettiers or moneylenders from South India.

Organisers say there are about 5,000 Chitties in Singapore.

But the majority of the Chitties in the region can be found in the village of Gajah Berang in Malacca. - CNA/de

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/palmnews/singaporelocalnews/view/347052/1/.html

[Jimano]

Read Chitty as Chetty (or Shetty) and it would start making sense. The population was part of large contingents of Chettis (merchants, traders, money lenders) who travelled from South India to China taking with them large amounts of goods and bring back large amounts of goods from China and Sri Vijaya.

Chetty made their expedition into SE Asia in the 19th century. However, the Chitty melaka community has been in Melaka (Malacca) since the 15th century during the Malacca sultante's reign.

"PLEASE don't confuse us with the Chettiars. They are moneylenders and we are the traders who came here in the 14th Century like the Babas & Nonyas." So pleads Chitty village elder V. Ramasamy Pillai. "

http://peranakan.web1000.com/IndianPeranakans.htm