Daniel was born in Judah.
King Nebuchadnezzar sieged Jerusalem and his army carried away people and goodies back to Babylon.
While in Babylon, the king decides to use people of the royal families of Israel (and perhaps others nation's he conquered) into his service. He gives them a period of a few years of educate to learn the Babylonian language as well as their literature.
The story focuses on four people, of which Daniel is the principal. Presumably, there were others as well.
They are given the king's choice food and wine. Daniel rejects it. The text refers to the king's food as defiling food. Daniel asks for him and his three friends to be given a vegetarian diet for ten days and after this time, they are healthier than those eating the king's food.
Here we have the first stage of the Babylonian captivity. The central question is how to remain a Jewish identity while in Babylon. The first big issue is food. We know about all the rules from Leviticus. Well, there were no prohibitions about eating vegetables in contrast to all the meat rules. So, the answer proposed in Daniel 1 about how to remain Jewish - go vegetarian.
Other parts of acclimating are acceptable. For instance, each of the three other men are given local Babylonian names and they are forever more commonly known by their Babylonian names - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Likewise, the whole introduction focuses on their future role within the Babylonian empire. They learn the language, get a local education, and will be administrators within this country. These are acceptable ways to acclimating to the local area.
After several years, Daniel and his three friends surpass the other pupils.
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