Ancient Hindu Refugees

Documentation of Baghdad Culture spans a period from 1800 to the present, one-and-three-quarter centuries of changing conditions described by several dozen Western observers, none of them trained anthropologists. The Badagas of modern times are also observers, sometimes very astute ones, of their own changing culture; but they too know little about the way of life pursued by their ancestors before 1800.

The present work tried to answer certain questions about change in this South Indian community, drawing on three sources of data: namely what modern Badagas believe about their society, what outside observers have written, and what I have myself seen and heard while living among the Badagas during the past sixteen years. It must be stressed that these sources are distinct and cannot be expected to yield precisely the same conclusions; in part therefore the answers to my questions may vary depending on the source of the evidence.