Nagarathar Sangam UK (NASA UK) is an organisation representing a group of people who originally come from the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India.
This group, henceforth called ‘Nagarathars’, were predominantly merchants. However in the last 50 years they have diversified with the changing economic scene in India. Although many Nagarathars continue to be in the financial sectors there are also many doctors, engineers, lawyers and literary scholars among them.
As a group they have contributed significantly to the development of religion (Hinduism), Tamil language and education. There are two large Universities in India which were founded by the Nagarathars (Annamalai University in Chidambaram and Alagappa University in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India). In addition there are many schools run by the Nagarathars throughout Tamil Nadu in India. The Nagarathars migrated to other countries to do business, with many migrating to eastern countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Burma and Vietnam. Once they settled in these countries they continued their charitable works. In the latter half of the 20th century many also migrated to the USA, UK and Australia.
The people settling in the western countries are predominantly of a professional background.