Asian highland societies: in anthropological perspective

In many parts of the world mountain. regions have served as refuge areas where ethnic groups persisting in archaic culture patterns have found shelter from the onslaughts of materially more advanced populations. The harshness. of their environment which offered little attraction to newcomers and the difficulty of communications enabled them to maintain traditional customs and social values.

In the present volume a number of anthropologists with first-hand experience of Asian highland societies describe social and cultural configurations which have grown up in various parts of the Himalayas and some other hill-regions within the South Asian subcontinent. Their analyses range from such subjects as the trans-Himalayan trading system to the intricate kinship organization of high altitude dwellers on the borders of Nepal and Tibet. Indigenous curing systems and problems of public health are discussed with a view to the changes brought about by recent development activities, and the effect of tourism, partly beneficial and partly disruptive, is assessed in studies of Himalayan communities that have emerged only recently from their age old exclusiveness. A study of aspects of traditional Nepalese law reveals the conservative nature of a legal system which retains up to our days. features traceable to ancient Hindun scriptures.

Recent developments and changes in life-style facing many Himalayan societies are very much in the minds of the authors, some of whom have been able to observe social and economic trends over a number of years.