A Brief History of Indian Business & The Indian Chamber in Penang

Introduction
• History of Indian Business
• History & Background of The Malaysian Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Penang

HISTORY OF INDIAN BUSINESS

Background
• Contacts with Malaya from pre-Christ era
• Foundation of Penang in 1786 as an entrepot & base was a blow to Malacca
• < 95% of Indian immigrants over the last 2000 years came between 1786 and 1957

The First Millennium
• Frequent movement of traders (Hindu & Buddhist), Adventurers & Priests
• Led to intermarriage and assimilation
• Arts, religions, customs

The Early Second Millennium
• Featured prominently during Malacca Sultanate but lost their former commanding position
• With establishment of Malacca & Temasek (S’pore), focus shifted from the North
• 17th Century – Indians were cultivating crops
• Trade, esp. commodities of low bulk but high value eg spices, pepper, precious metals, textiles
• Most were Indian Muslim merchant & traders
• lndian Muslims, particularly Gujaratis & Tamils, were influential in the Malacca court
• lndian Muslims were the sole Indian shippers in the Archipelago
• The shipping business was gradually taken over by the Europeans
• Conquest of India & Malaya ended significantly the Indian maritime enterprise. Indians ceased to be of
any economic or political significance until the early decades of the 20th Century

The British Era
• lndians at present in Malaysia are either immigrants or descendents of immigrants
• Period of modern immigration dates from the foundation of Penang
• Although Indian influence had waned, some Indians remained in positions of influence in the Malay
Courts at the time the British first arrived
• Restricted Indian shipping
• Subjugation of Malay States ended the era of Indian influence
• There was a continuous stream of small Indian entrepreneurs, businessmen, moneylenders,
merchants, traders, etc.
• They in turn’ brought in assistants & underlings

Indian Business
• With the foundation of Penang, some from the Indian mercantile class migrated to Penang from
the Malay States
• First arrivals from Kedah, Perlis then Prai, Selangor, Acheh, Borneo and India By 1794 – 1300 to 2000
men per year, merchants & others
• Northern Indians were among the first commercial immigrants
• Many South Indians commercial immigrants – Malabar & Coromandel coast Muslims, Chettiar Hindus of
the Puddukkottai & Ramnad districts
• Some Chettiars were agents of ancient trading & financial houses & corporations with
headquarters in Madras
• Until the early years of the 20th Century, Northern Indian commercial immigrants were mainly Bengalis,
Parsis & Gujaratis
• Later on many Sindhis, Sikhs, Marwaris arrived
• Sikh commercial immigrants were mainly from Rawalpindi, Lahore, Ludhiana, Jullundur, Amritsar
– most came direct from India, some from Rangoon & Bangkok
• Sindhis mainly from Karachi & Hyderabad Gujaratis mainly from Ahmedabad & Surat Sindhis & Gujaratis
were either from their home provinces or from Bombay Parsis & Marwaris were mainly from Bombay
& Bikaner.
• Bengalis were mainly from Calcutta, Dacca, Chittagong, Midnapore
• There were also commercial immigrants from Uttar Pradesh
• During the turn of the 20th Century, the Indian mercantile community almost had monopoly for onions,
pulses, spices, betel nuts, rice and textiles
• Before WW2, point of embarkation & disembarkation was Calcutta & Madras
• After WW2, also had Bombay & Karachi
• El Numbers were significant about the Iate 1920s, and in the years before & after WW2
• Immigration cut short by restrictions by the Malayan Govt in 1953 & 1959
• Many were salesmen, peddlers, petty entrepreneurs, traders, shopkeepers, street-side vendors,
medicine-men, stall-holders
• Also merchants, financiers, contractors

Settlement
• lndians in Malaya & S’pore tended to congregate in certain sections. Can be seen in S’pore,
Georgetown & KL
• Usually in double-storied buildings – ground for business, upper for residence

Estate
• Indians have owned estates, mostly rubber
• Almost all by Chettiar Tamils of South India
• Some small amount of Farm settlement, some of which was Govt. sponsored

Fishing
• lndians played a prominent role in the 19th century
• Main middleman & financier
• In Penang, link between Malay fishermen & consumer
• Indian fish-kings
• Later lost their commanding position as financiers & middlemen

Commerce & Finance
• In 1931, 5.6% of gainfully employed Indians were in commerce, in 1947, 10.1%, in 1957, 13.4%
• Considerable number self-owned & operated
• In Penang, the first Chamber of Commerce was formed in the country – in the 1920s
• In 1951, Indian investment in Malaysia was estimated by the then President of the AICCIM to be
$666,000,000 of which 75% was owned by Chettiars
• Large flow of funds also to India
• Large proportion of investment in land, also in wholesale, retail & other smallscale enterprises
• Majority in textile, piece goods, grain, spice, copra, jute, import-export and retail
• Also many Indian salesmen, hawkers & street vendors
• A number of Indians are also in Insurance, banking and moneylending
• Moneylenders mostly are Chettiars
• The E&O Hotel was once owned by Parsis
• Gujarati Bohra families were leading dealers in import/export of textile since 1880s
• Dealt in many commodities lie tea, palm oil, tin, rubber, cocoa, timber, coffee, spices, etc.
• Indians now are in many different sectors: Membership of the Chamber shows that businesses are in
Textile & related, Importers/Exporters, Sarong & Handloom, Insurance, Shipping” Freight Forwarding,
Travel, Industry, Metal traders, General Merchants, Printers, Jewellers, Real Estate, Medical related,
Public Accountants, Legal Profession, etc.
• lndians now are in many different sectors: Membership of the Chamber shows that businesses are in
Textile & related, Importers/Exporters, Sarong & Handloom, Insurance, Shipping” Freight Forwarding,
Travel, Industry, Metal traders, General Merchants, Printers, Jewellers, Real Estate, Medical related,
Public Accountants, Legal Profession, etc.

Limitations
• Statistics are difficult to obtain
• Poor system of recording, compiling and publishing statistics
• Breakdown
• Accuracy
• No separate records of commercial immigrants

HISTORY & BACKGROUND OF THE CHAMBER

History of The Chamber
• Had its origins in the 1920s, circa 1924 []The earliest Indian Chamber in Malaysia Prominent members
mercantile community united to form the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Penang
• Early initiators were Mr. H. A. Tyebkhan of M/S H. A. Tyebkhan & Co and Mr. Purshottamdass Patel, Mr.
Shivashanker Joshi and Mr. Himatlal Bhatt as partners of M/S Purushottamdass & Co.
• The Chamber functioned till the outbreak of the war
• Pre-war records were destroyed during the Japanese Occupation []Due to the war, etc. there was a
period of inactiveness
• Mr. H. E. Tyebkhan, Mr. P.V. Parekh and Mr. Ratilal Narechanial initiated the post war Chamber assisted
by 2 prominent lawyers, Sir H. H. Abdoolcader & Mr. N. Raghavan to draft the Constitution
• Mr. H. E. Tyebkhan, Mr. P.V. Parekh, Mr. Ambalal Patel & Mr. N.T. Assomull were among 18 members of
the Indian Mercantile community who strived to reconstitute the Chamber
• Mr. H. E. Tyebkhan was elected the 1 st President of the post war Chamber The Chamber played an
important role in helping members get supplies & provisions which were disrupted
• From 1946 to 1960, many members were active in the entrepot trade, esp. with Indonesia
• At the National level, the Indian Chamber took an active role in establishing the Associated Indian
Chambers of Commerce of Malaysia in 1950
• In 1963 the Chamber had its own building. The Opening was done by H.E. Governor of Penang Raja Tun
Uda AI-haj Bin Raja Muhammad on 13 Jan 1964

Objectives
• Watch over, assist & protect general interest of trade, commerce & industry
• Collect & impart information to the mercantile community
• Make suitable representation to the appropriate authorities
• To represent the Chamber’s views on matters of trade, commerce & industry

Membership
• Open to all Indians engaged in trade, commerce, industry, business and associated professions
in Penang
• Affiliate membership for Indian trade associations
• Associate membership for others
• Current membership is about 200
• Members of the Chamber are from various sectors, i.e. Textile & related, Importers/Exporters, Sarong &
Handloom, Insurance, Shipping” Freight Forwarding, Travel, Industry, Metal traders, General Merchants,
Printers, Jewellers, Real Estate, Medical related, Public Accountants, Legal Profession, etc.

The Chamber & Government
• Chamber holds frequent discussions with the State & Federal Governments
• Represented on various government & public bodies

Organizational Structure
• General Body
• Management Council consists of President, Deputy President, Vice President, Hon. Secretary, Hon.
Asst. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer, Immediate Past President, 12 elected Council Members and 2
appointed Council Members.

Affiliations
• At the National Level, affiliated to the Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce &
Industry. Apex body of state Indian Chambers in the country.
• At the State level, pioneer member of the Penang joint Chambers of Commerce

Main References
• Sandhu, Kernial Singh (1969), Indians In Malaya: Some Aspects Of Their Immigration And
Settlement (1786-1957), Cambridge University Press, London
• Annual Reports of The Malaysian Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Penang from 1948-2000
• Trade Directories & other publications of the Chamber
• Rev. Sumana Siri (1986), The Gujaratis In The Pearl Of The Orient, Gujarati Sewa Samaj, Penang.

Acknowledgements
• Staff & Members of PHT
• Staff & Members of the Chamber, IPP Dato’ MRJ
• The Organizing committee
• The Press
• All of you

PRESIDENT AND HONORARY SECRETARIES ROLL