The Toda are based in the Nilgiri Hills in southern India, and number around 1,700. While the tribe's men own property and work in agriculture, the women are renowned for their skills and embroidery. They are not allowed near the tribe's tall temples.
But growing numbers are rejecting their tribal traditions and its highly patriarchal society.
"When a girl is very young, they decide who she is to marry," Jaikumari Piljane, a Toda woman who got married outside the tribe - to a Tamil film star - told BBC World Service's Everywoman programme.
"They exchange buffalos - that is the tradition. So when she comes of age, she is sent off to the boy's house. They then have babies at a very early age.
"But now it is not like that - the girls want to study."
Wanting to achieve
Ms Piljane has also broken with tradition in a number of other ways - reflecting the experiences of many of the tribe's women.
Her family converted to Christianity two decades ago, and she was educated at a convent school. She now runs a co-operative helping Toda women achieve financial independence.
"They want to achieve something," she said.
| Most of the women's demands are never taken seriously within Toda areas Dr Jakra Patasathi, Tribal Research Centre |
"So they lease out their land to outsiders. Then when they need money, they take out ever-larger loans until they can't cope. When they can't cope with that, they start drinking.
"That's the problem with the boys today, whereas the girls want a different life."
Dr Jakra Patasathi is the director of the Tribal Research Centre in the Nilgiri district and has studied the history of the Todas.
She says the women struggle because the flow of money is only between men.
"Most of the women's demands are never taken seriously within Toda areas."
"A lot of turning points in Toda society are because of this revolt of Toda women, who have felt their men have become an obstacle to their advancement."
But Mutsin, a grandmother within the tribe, said that although her own niece had broken with tradition and chosen not to marry, she would like to "keep the traditions" in some way.
"Women used to sit in the sun, dance and sing," she added.
"But it is still better they come out and get educated.
"The ones who come out can then more easily guide the ones still inside."
You got this from the BBC? Brilliant.
Posted by: Blair Farley | March 23, 2006 at 09:56 PM