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