ABSTRACT
The management of printing presses issuing Malay, Tamil, and English publications constituted a prominent South Indian Muslim business, even while more 'traditional' occupations such as gem trading or retail trade in cloth continued and were extended to areas of mainland Southeast Asia. The nineteenth century has often been portrayed as one of economic decline for Indian Muslims in Southeast Asia that had engaged in successful mercantile activities during the eighteenth century. Marcel Ner noted in 1941 that South Indian Muslims formed the wealthiest part of the Muslim community in French Indo-China. While Indian Muslims certainly lost their role in transoceanic shipping and the cloth trade, they not only maintained an important role in the retail cloth trade, but also extended their economic activities to other fields. Many Indian Muslims at the time declared their readiness to pay contributions to both organisations, but there was a demand that religion be kept out of Sinda.
