Question

why did the author Verrier Elwin say that he was an unconventional visitor?

Answer 1

Verrier Elwin (29 August 1902 – 22 February 1964)[1] was a British self-trained anthropologist, ethnologist and tribal activist, who began his career in India as a Christian missionary. He was a controversial figure who first abandoned the clergy, to work with Mohandas Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, then converted to Hinduism in 1935 after staying in a Gandhian ashram,[2] and split with the nationalists over what he felt was an overhasty process of transformationand assimilation for the tribals. Elwin is best known for his early work with the Baigas and Gonds of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh in central India, and he married a member of one of the communities he studied there. He later also worked on the tribals of several North East Indian states especially North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and settled in Shillong, the hill capital of Meghalaya