Badagas

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The Badagas are an indigenous people inhabiting the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, southern India. They form the largest indigenous community in the Nilgiri region, with a population of approximately 150,000 encompassing some 370-odd villages and smaller settlements1999 estimate by anthropologist Paul Hockings, see [UCLA study]. Under the Indian government's Scheduled Castes and Tribes system, they are not as yet formally recognised as a Scheduled Tribe (Adivasi), although the people themselves have agitated for this recognition. They are registered as a Backward Caste, (now referred to as other backward caste(OBC) caste).

Their aspirations to be recognised as a tribe, rather than a caste, is complicated by their historical and contemporary social relations with other Nilgiri peoples, from whom they have asserted some differences and even a social precedence. For example, the Badagas have traditionally hired musicians from other Nilgiri groups (such as the Kota and Irula) to play at their social functions, which is symbolic of submission and control in that regionIbid.. However, they are also known to have paid tribute in grain to other groups, such as the Todas. In general, neither stereotype of caste or tribe can be readily applied.

They are most likely Dravidian by descent, though they are by religion Hindus of the Saiva sect. Research has indicated they migrated to the Nilgiris from the Mysore region, sometime around 1600 after the break-up of the kingdom of VijayanagaraIbid..

They are an agricultural people and far the most numerous and wealthy of the hill tribes. Many have relocated to towns and cities of the region, and earn income from urban-style employment.

Their language is Badaga, a dialect of Kannada.

Badagas

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