Editing Nagarathar (section)

{{Short description|A Hindu mercantile caste}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| image            = Chettinad palace.jpg
| caption          = 
| group            = Nagarathar
| poptime          = 
| population       = [[Wiktionary:circa|c.]] 75,000-1,00,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/nagarathars-in-north-america/article5459738.ece|title=Nagarathars in North America|date=14 December 2013|work=The Hindu|first=S.|last=Muthiah}}</ref>{{efn|This number is for the population of Nattukottai Nagarathars. The exact population of the other Nagarathar communities is unknown.}}
| popplace         = [[India]]: [[Chettinad]] region of [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Chennai]]
| langs            = [[Tamil language|Tamil]]
| rels             = [[Shaivam]]
| related          = [[Tamil people]]
| native_name      = நகரத்தார்
| native_name_lang = 
}}

'''Nagarathar''' (நகரத்தார்) is a [[Tamil people|Tamil]] caste found native in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]. The Nagarathar community was not originally a single caste, but developed from an assortment of related subcastes, which over time became known under the umbrella term Nagarathar.

Notable castes that use the name Nagarathar include: [[:ta:நாட்டுக்கோட்டை  நகரத்தார்|Nattukottai Nagarathar]], [[:ta:அருவியூர்_நகரத்தார்|
Aruviyur Nagarathar]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A8%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%81_%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%81_%E0%AE%87%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%B5%E0%AF%8A%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8D|title=தமிழ்நாடு அரசு இடவொதுக்கீட்டுப் பட்டியல்|date=12 May 2025|via=Wikipedia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/aruviyur-vadakku-valavu-nagarathar-kural-book-may-2025-kural-book | title=Aruviyur Vadakku Valavu Nagarathar Kural Book May 2025 Kural Book }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSj296Lm7ogC|title=[History of Aruviyur Nagarathar Part1 from 2897BC to till date]|publisher=Alangar Manickam|via=Google Books}}</ref> [[:ta:உறுதிக்கோட்டை நகரத்தார்|Uruthikottai Nagarathar]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E0%AE%89%E0%AE%B1%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8B%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%88_%E0%AE%A8%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%93%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%88_%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF.jpg|title=தமிழ்: உறுதிக்கோட்டை நகரத்தார் ஓலை சுவடி|date=6 November 2019|via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref> [[Elur Chetty]] Nagarathar, [[Vallanattu Chettiar|Vallanattu Nagarathar Chettiar]], Sundarapattina Nagarathar,<ref name=":13">{{Cite book|last=Pattu Veshti Ramanathan|first=Chettiar|title=Analytical History of Nagarathar (நகரத்தார்களின் பகுத்தாய்ந்த வரலாறு)|publisher=Surya Print Solutions|year=2015|location=Sivakasi}}</ref> Muraiyur Nagarathar,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tamildigitallibrary.in/book-detail?id=jZY9lup2kZl6TuXGlZQdjZY2kJpd&tag=%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%86%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%20%E0%AE%A8%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D%20%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%86%E0%AE%A8%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D#book1/ | title=செட்டி நாடும் செந்தமிழும் }}</ref> [[Attangudi]] Nagarathar, Palaaiyapatti Nagarathar, Dhanavanikar Nagarathar, [[Nattarasankottai]] Nagarathar, 96 Oor Nagarathar and Naana Desikal.

A few subsects of the Nagarathar community, such as the Nattukottai Nagarathar,  were traditionally wealthy landlords and money lenders.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/tracking-indian-communities/nattukottai-chettiars-traced-to-more-than-65000-years-ago/|title=Nattukottai chettiars traced to more than 65,000 years ago|first=M. T.|last=Saju|work=The Times of India}}</ref>
Nagarathars are a [[merchant|mercantile community]] who are traditionally involved in [[commerce]], [[banking]] and [[Money-Lending|money lending]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Asian Trade Routes|last=Haellquist|date=2013-08-21|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136100741|pages=150|language=en}}</ref> They use the title [[Chettiar]] and are traditionally concentrated in modern region [[Chettinad]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sociolinguistics and Dialectology: Seminar Papers|last1=Agesthialingom|first1=Shanmugam|last2=Karunakaran|first2=K.|date=1980|publisher=Annamalai Univ|pages=417|language=en}}</ref> They are prominent philanthropist who funded and built several [[Hindu temple]]s, [[Choultry|choultries]], [[school]]s, [[college]]s and [[University|universities]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Parrys 200: A Saga of Resilience|last=Ramaswami|first=N. S.|date=1988|publisher=Affiliated East-West Press|isbn=9788185095745|pages=193|language=en}}</ref>