A vivid, historically grounded look at India's hill tribes, their daily lives, and the forces shaping their world.
The book offers a window into several wild tribes of the Southern Indian plateau, from the Todas to the Gipsies. It describes dress, huts, food, religion, and social habits, and it reflects the author’s observations of how these communities fit the mountain landscapes they inhabit. Readings mix careful description with notes on challenges and the broader context of frontier life.
- Profiles of the Todas, Eriligaru, Karubarus, Soligas, Niadis, and Gipsies, including how they live and work
- Details on clothing, dwellings, and daily routines, plus landscape and climate influences
- Descriptions of beliefs, social practices, and family life, including marriage and rituals
- Commentary on the contrasts between hill communities and plains neighbors, and on their interactions with others
Ideal for readers of ethnography and the history of India, offering a compact, ground-level portrait of diverse hill peoples and their worlds.