R ANANDHAN

The Animistic Architecture of Nī-āla-giri: Deconstructing Friction Ignition, Material Vessels, and Sacred Forestry Shrines of the Primordial Baḍugaru

For over a century, ethnographic paradigms tracking the Nilgiri Massif have localized prehistoric high-altitude animism and sacred ritual networks almost exclusively within the Toda (Tōtst) community, while positioning the Baḍuga (Baḍugu) majority within an imported, post-1565 CE...

The Pastoral Architecture of Nī-āla-giri: Reconstructing the Primordial Agro-Pastoral Stratum of the Baḍugu Language and Ecosystem

For over a century, the dominant paradigm in Nilgiri historical linguistics and ethnography—largely codified by Murray B. Emeneau and Thomas Burrow—has localized prehistoric pastoral institutions exclusively within the Toda (Tōtst) community, while characterizing the Baḍuga major...

The Pastoral Architecture of Nī-āla-giri: Reconstructing the Primordial Agro-Pastoral Stratum of the Baḍugu Language and Ecosystem

For over a century, the dominant paradigm in Nilgiri historical linguistics and ethnography—largely codified by Murray B. Emeneau and Thomas Burrow—has localized prehistoric pastoral institutions exclusively within the Toda (Tōtst) community, while characterizing the Baḍuga major...

Paradigm Shift on the Altiplano: How Classical Baḍugu Rewrites South Dravidian Historical Linguistics

For more than a century, mainstream Dravidian comparative philology has operated under a restrictive, plains-centric model that miscategorises Baḍugu as a modern, post-medieval dialect or a subordinate offshoot of Kannada or Tamil. This paper fundamentally deconstructs that assum...

Paradigm Shift on the Altiplano: How Classical Baḍugu Rewrites South Dravidian Historical Linguistics

For more than a century, mainstream Dravidian comparative philology has operated under a restrictive, plains-centric model that miscategorises Baḍugu as a modern, post-medieval dialect or a subordinate offshoot of Kannada or Tamil. This paper fundamentally deconstructs that assum...