Chōla king, says the legend, wanted to marry a Chetti; whereupon the caste set fire to the town, and only these eleven boys escaped. They rested on the Ratnagiri hill to divide their property; but however they arranged it, it always divided itself into twelve shares instead of eleven. The god of Ratnagiri then appeared, and asked them to give him one share in exchange for a part of his car. They did so, and they now call themselves the twelfth Chettis from the number of the shares, and at their marriages they carry the bridegroom round in a car. They are said to be common in Coimbatore district." *[1]
At the census, 1871, some of the less fortunate traders returned themselves as "bankrupt Chettis."
The following castes and tribes are recorded as having assumed the title Chetti, or its equivalent Setti: —
- Balija. Telugu trading caste.
- Bant. Tulu cultivating caste.
- Bilimagga, Dēvānga, Patnūlkaran, Sāliyan, Sēdan, Seniyan. All weaving classes.
- Dhōbi. Oriya washermen.
- Gāniga. Oil pressers.
- Gamalla. Telugu toddy-drawers.
- Cauda. Canarese cultivators.
- Gudigar. Canarese wood-carvers.
- Jain.
- Janappan. Said to have been originally a section of the Balijas, and manufacturers of gunny-bags.
- Kavarai. Tamil equivalent of Balija.
- Kōmati. Telugu traders.
- Koracha. A nomad tribe.
- Kudumi. A Travancore caste, which does service in the houses of Konkani Brāhmans.
- Mandādan Chetti.
- Mēdara. Telugu cane splitters and mat makers.
- ↑ * Gazetteer of the Trichinopoly district.
