The Badagas are an ethno-linguistic community living in the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu, India.

'According to the Badaga oral tradition, their ancestors were presumed to be Vokkaligas who migrated from the plains of Mysore to avoid Muslim persecution.

They killed the Todas, and the inhabitants of the village at the time claimed descent from the Bayalurus and Badaga daughters.

[citation needed] Thundu (a white piece of cloth) and Seeley forms an integral part of the attire of the Badugu women.

LACITO in Paris houses numerous varieties of Badaga stories and songs collected over the past two decades.

Akkamma Devi, was the first Badaga woman to graduate from college and represented the Nilgiris Lok Sabha constituency from 1962 to 1967.

[citation needed] There is a long-standing demand to restore the status of the Badagas in the list of Scheduled Tribes under the Indian Constitution.