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{{short description|Archipelago in the Bay of Bengal}}
The '''Andaman Islands''' are a group of ]s in the ], and are part of the ] ] of ]. ] is the chief community on the islands, and the administrative center of the Union Territory. The Andaman Islands and the ] form separate administrative districts within the Union Territory. The population of the Andamans was 314,239 in 2001.
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Verification|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Andaman Islands
| native_name = <!-- or local name to remove the "native name:" prefix -->
| sobriquet = <!-- or nickname -->
| image_name =
| image_size =
| image_caption =
| image_alt =
| image_map = Andaman Islands.PNG
| image_map_caption = Location in the Indian Ocean
| location = ]
| coordinates = {{Coord|12|30|N|92|45|E|region:IN_type:isle|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago = ]
| total_islands = 572
| major_islands = ], ], ], ]
| area_km2 = 6,408
| area_footnotes =
| rank =
| length_km = <!-- or length m -->
| length_footnotes =
| width_km = <!-- or width m -->
| width_footnotes =
| coastline_km = <!-- or coastline m -->
| coastline_footnotes =
| elevation_m = 732
| elevation_footnotes =
| highest_mount = ]
| country = {{IND}}
| country_admin_divisions_title = Union territory
| country_admin_divisions = ]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 =
| country_admin_divisions_1 =
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 =
| country_admin_divisions_2 =
| country_capital = ]
| country_largest_city =
| country_largest_city_population =
| country_leader_title =
| country_leader_name =
| country1 = {{MMR}}
| country1_admin_divisions_title = Administrative region
| country1_admin_divisions = ]
| country1_admin_divisions_title_1 =
| country1_admin_divisions_1 =
| country1_capital_type =
| country1_capital = ]
| demonym =
| population =
| population_as_of = 2011
| density_km2 = 48
| density_footnotes =
| ethnic_groups = ]<br /> ]<br>]<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />]
| timezone1 = ]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| timezone1_DST = {{nowrap|not observed}}
| utc_offset1_DST = +5:30
| website = {{URL|http://www.andaman.nic.in}}
| additional_info =
}}
]


The '''Andaman Islands''' ({{IPAc-en|'|æ|n|d|@|m|@|n}}) are an ], made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern ] about {{cvt|130|km}} southwest off the coasts of ]'s ]. Together with the ] to their south, the Andamans serve as a ] between the ] to the west and the ] to the east. Most of the islands are part of the ], a ] of ], while the ] and ] are part of the ] of ].
==Physical Geography==
There are 204 islands. They are located 950 km from the mouth of the ], 193 km from ] in ], the nearest point of the mainland, and 547 km from the northern extremity of ]. The length of the island chain is 352 km and its greatest width is 51 km. The total land area of the Andamans is 6408 sq km.


The Andaman Islands are home to the ], a group of indigenous people made up of a number of tribes, including the ] and ].<ref name="trained_news.au">{{cite news |title=Police face-off with Sentinelese tribe as they struggle to recover slain missionary's body |url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/police-faceoff-with-sentinelese-tribe-as-they-struggle-to-recover-slain-missionarys-body/news-story/a88d3780059939a5e11ebcfb556327ac |access-date=26 November 2018 |work=News.com.au |date=26 November 2018 |archive-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126034539/https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/police-faceoff-with-sentinelese-tribe-as-they-struggle-to-recover-slain-missionarys-body/news-story/a88d3780059939a5e11ebcfb556327ac |url-status=live }}</ref> While some of the islands can be visited with permits, entry to others, including ], is banned by law. The Sentinelese are generally hostile to visitors and have had ] with any other people. The Indian government and coast guard protect their right to privacy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andaman.gov.in/web/guest/indigenous-tribes|title=Andaman & Nicobar|website=The Internet Archive|publisher=A&N Administration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611075752/http://www.and.nic.in/archives/andaman/tribes.php|archive-date=11 June 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=13 February 2017}}</ref>
The five chief islands over a distance of 251 km, are known collectively as "the great Andaman." These are from north to south: North Andaman, Middle Andaman, South Andaman, Baratang and Rutland Island. Four narrow straits part these islands: Austin Strait, between North and Middle Andaman; Homfray's Strait between Middle Andaman and Baratang, and the north extremity of South Andaman; Middle (or Andaman) Strait between Baratang and South Andaman; and Macpherson Strait between South Andaman and Rutland Island. Of these only the last is navigable by ocean-going vessels.


==History==
Together with the chief islands are, on the extreme North, Landfall Islands, separated by the navigable Cleugh Passage; Interview Island, separated by the navigable Interview Passage, off the West coast of the Middle Andaman; the Labyrinth Island off the southwest coast of the South Andaman, through which is the navigable Elphinstone Passage; Ritchie's (or the Andaman) Archipelago off the East coast of South Andaman and Baratang, separated by the wide and safe Diligent Strait and intersected by ] and the Tadma Juru (Strait). Little Andaman, roughly 42 km. by 26, forms the southern extremity of the whole group and lies 50 km. South of Rutland Island across the Manners Strait, the main shipping route between the Andamans and the Madras coast. Besides these are a great number of islets lying off the shores of the main islands.
]


===Etymology===
The principal outlying islands include the North Sentinel, a dangerous island of about 73 km², lying about 29 km. off the west coast of the South Andaman. About 29 km. west of the Andamans are the dangerous Western Banks and Dalrymple Bank, rising to within a few fathoms of the surface of the sea and forming, with the two Sentinel Islands, the tops of a line of submarine hills parallel to the Andamans.
In the 13th century, the name of Andaman appears in Late ] as ''ʔˠan<sup>H</sup> dɑ mˠan'' ({{lang|zh|晏陀蠻}}, pronounced ''yàntuómán'' in modern ]) in the book '']'' by ].<ref name="ZhuFanZhi">{{cite book |title=Chau Ju-kua: His Work on the Chinese And Arab Trade in the Twelfth And Thirteenth Centuries, Entitled Chu-fan-chï |translator= Friedrich Hirth |translator2= William Woodville Rockhill |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924023289345 |page= | year=1911 | publisher= St. Petersburg, Printing office of the Imperial academy of sciences | quote=When sailing from lan-wu-li to si-lan, if the wind is not fair, ships maybe driven to a place called Yen-to-man. This is a group of two islands in the middle of the sea, one of them being large, the other small; the latter is quite uninhabited. ... The natives on it are of a colour resembling black lacquer; they eat men alive, so that sailors dare not anchor on this coast. }}</ref> In Chapter 38 of the book, ''Countries in the Sea'', Zhao Rukuo specifies that going from Lambri (]) to Ceylan, an unfavourable wind makes ships drift towards the Andaman Islands.<ref name="ZhuFanZhi" /><ref>{{cite book
| title=Ser Marco Polo : notes and addenda to Sir Henry Yule's edition, containing the results of recent research and discovery
| author1=Cordier, Henri
| author2=Yule, Henry
| year=1920
| publisher=London: John Murray
| language=en
| url=https://archive.org/details/sermarcopolonote00cord
| page =
}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2019}} In the 15th century, Andaman was recorded as "Andeman Mountain" (安得蠻山, pronounced ''āndémán shān'' in modern Mandarin Chinese) during the ] in the ] of the ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Wu Bei Zhi Map 17 |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7821rm.gct00058/?sp=17 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=1 August 2019 |archive-date=21 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221105843/https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7821rm.gct00058/?sp=17 |url-status=live }}</ref>


===Early inhabitants===
114 km. northeast of Port Blair we find the remarkable marine volcano, Barren Island (351 m.), which became active again in 1991 after being quiescent for almost two centuries. The equally curious isolated mountain, the extinct volcano of Narcondam, rising 710 m. out of the sea, is 114 km. east of North Andaman. Also some 64 km. to the east is the Invisible Bank, with one rock just awash; and 55 km. southeast of Narcondam is a submarine hill rising to 689 m. below the surface of the sea. Narcondam, Barren Island and the Invisible Bank, a great danger of these seas, are in a line almost parallel to the Andamans inclining towards them from north to south.
The oldest archaeological evidence for the habitation of the islands dates to the ]. Genetic evidence suggests that the indigenous ] share a common origin, and that the islands were settled sometime after 26,000 years ago, possibly at the end of the ], when sea levels were much lower reducing the distance between the Andaman Islands and the Asian mainland,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chaubey |first1=Gyaneshwer |last2=Endicott |first2=Phillip |date=June 2013 |title=The Andaman Islanders in a Regional Genetic Context: Reexamining the Evidence for an Early Peopling of the Archipelago from South Asia |url=https://bioone.org/journals/human-biology/volume-85/issue-1_2f_3/027.085.0307/The-Andaman-Islanders-in-a-Regional-Genetic-Context--Reexamining/10.3378/027.085.0307.full |journal=Human Biology |volume=85 |issue=1/3 |pages=153–172 |doi=10.3378/027.085.0307 |pmid=24297224 |issn=0018-7143}}</ref> with genetic estimates suggesting that the two main linguistic groups diverged around 16,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sitalaximi |first1=T. |last2=Varghese |first2=N. |last3=Kashyap |first3=V.K. |date=February 2023 |title=Genetic differentiation of Andaman Islanders and their relatedness to Nicobar Islanders |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2773044123000074 |journal=Human Gene |language=en |volume=35 |pages=201148 |doi=10.1016/j.humgen.2023.201148}}</ref> Andamanese peoples are a genetically distinct group highly divergent from other Asians.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mondal |first1=Mayukh |last2=Casals |first2=Ferran |last3=Xu |first3=Tina |last4=Dall'Olio |first4=Giovanni M |last5=Pybus |first5=Marc |last6=Netea |first6=Mihai G |last7=Comas |first7=David |last8=Laayouni |first8=Hafid |last9=Li |first9=Qibin |last10=Majumder |first10=Partha P |last11=Bertranpetit |first11=Jaume |date=September 2016 |title=Genomic analysis of Andamanese provides insights into ancient human migration into Asia and adaptation |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.3621 |journal=Nature Genetics |language=en |volume=48 |issue=9 |pages=1066–1070 |doi=10.1038/ng.3621 |pmid=27455350 |hdl=10230/34401 |issn=1061-4036|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jinam |first1=Timothy A. |last2=Phipps |first2=Maude E. |last3=Aghakhanian |first3=Farhang |last4=Majumder |first4=Partha P. |last5=Datar |first5=Francisco |last6=Stoneking |first6=Mark |last7=Sawai |first7=Hiromi |last8=Nishida |first8=Nao |last9=Tokunaga |first9=Katsushi |last10=Kawamura |first10=Shoji |last11=Omoto |first11=Keiichi |last12=Saitou |first12=Naruya |date=August 2017 |title=Discerning the Origins of the Negritos, First Sundaland People: Deep Divergence and Archaic Admixture |url=http://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/9/8/2013/3952725/Discerning-the-Origins-of-the-Negritos-First |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |language=en |volume=9 |issue=8 |pages=2013–2022 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evx118 |issn=1759-6653 |pmc=5597900 |pmid=28854687}}</ref>], who were depicted in a "book of wonders" produced in Paris in the early 15th century.]]


==Topography== ===Chola empire===
] took over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/children/happy-in-havelock/article18376630.ece|title=Happy in Havelock|last=Krishnan|first=Madhuvanti S.|date=4 May 2017|work=The Hindu|access-date=4 November 2019|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222085712/https://www.thehindu.com/children/happy-in-havelock/article18376630.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> He used the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a strategic naval base to launch an expedition against the ]. The ] called the island Ma-Nakkavaram ("great open/naked land"), found in the ] inscription of 1050 ]. European traveller ] (12th–13th century) also referred to this island as 'Necuverann' and a corrupted form of the Tamil name Nakkavaram would have led to the modern name Nicobar during the British colonial period.<ref name="goi1908">{{Cite journal|author=Government of India|year=1908|title=The Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Local Gazetteer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrwBAAAAYAAJ|publisher=Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta|quote=''... In the great Tanjore inscription of 1050 CE, the Andamans are mentioned under a translated name along with the Nicobars, as '''Nakkavaram''' or land of the naked people.''}}</ref>
The islands forming Great Andaman consist of a mass of hills enclosing very narrow valleys, the whole covered by dense tropical jungle. The hills rise, to a considerable elevation:
the chief heights being in the North Andaman, Saddle Peak (732 m.); in the Middle Andaman, Mount Diavolo behind Cuthbert Bay (511 m.); in the South Andaman, Koiob (459 m.), Mount Harriet (364 m.) and the Cholunga range (324 m.); and in Rutland Island, Ford's Peak (433 m.). Little Andaman is practically flat. There are no rivers and few perennial streams in the islands. The whole of the Andamans and the outlying islands were completely surveyed topographically by the Indian Survey Department under Colonel Hobday in ]-], and the surrounding seas were charted by Commander Carpenter in ]-].


===British colonial era===
==Harbours==
In 1789, the ] established a naval base and ] on ] in the southeast bay of ]. The settlement is now known as ] (after the ] lieutenant ] who founded it). After two years, the colony was moved to the northeast part of Great Andaman and was named Port Cornwallis after Admiral ]. However, there was much disease and death in the penal colony and the government ceased operating it in May 1796.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=957–958}}<ref name="olivierblaise">{{Cite journal | title=Andaman Islands, India | author=Blaise, Olivier | publisher=PictureTank | url=http://www.picturetank.com/___/series/ff5d5b4d962b08bc130471b877292c58/en/Andaman_Isl.,_India_(1).html | access-date=16 November 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715083143/http://www.picturetank.com/___/series/ff5d5b4d962b08bc130471b877292c58/en/Andaman_Isl.,_India_(1).html | archive-date=15 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
The coasts of the Andamans are deeply indented, giving existence to a number of safe harbours, which are often surrounded by mangrove swamps. The chief harbours are (starting northwards from Port Blair, the great harbour of South Andaman) on the East coast: Port Meadows, Colebrooke Passage, Elphinstone Harbour (Homfray's Strait), Stewart Sound and Port Cornwallis. The last three are very large. On the West coast: Temple Sound, Interview Passage, Port Anson or Kwangtung Harbour (large), Port Campbell (large), Port Mouat and Macpherson Strait. There are many other safe anchorages about the coast, notably Shoal Bay and Kotara Anchorage in South Andaman; Cadell Bay and the Turtle Islands in North Andaman; and Outram Harbour and Kwangtung Strait in the archipelago.


In 1824, Port Cornwallis was the rendezvous of the fleet carrying the army to the ].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=958}} In the 1830s and 1840s, shipwrecked crews who landed on the Andamans were often attacked and killed by the natives and the islands had a reputation for ]. The loss of the ''Runnymede'' and the ''Briton'' in 1844 during the same storm, while transporting goods and passengers between India and Australia, and the continuous attacks launched by the natives, which the survivors fought off, alarmed the ].<ref>Kingston, W.H.G. (1873) ''Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea''. George Routledge and Sons, London.</ref> In 1855, the government proposed another settlement on the islands, including a ], but the ] forced a delay in its construction. However, because the rebellion led to the British holding a large number of prisoners, it made the new Andaman settlement and prison urgently necessary. Construction began in November 1857 at Port Blair using inmates' labour, avoiding the vicinity of a salt swamp that seemed to have been the source of many of the earlier problems at Port Cornwallis.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}
==Geology==

The Andaman Islands and the ] to the south form part of a range of submarine mountains, 1130 km. long, running from Cape Negrais in the Arakan Yoma range of Burma, to Achin Head in Sumatra. This range separates the Bay of Bengal from the Andaman Sea, and it contains much that is geologically characteristic of the Arakan Yoma,. The older rocks are early Tertiary or late Cretaceous. The newer rocks are in Ritchie's Archipelago chiefly, and contain fossils of radiolarians and foraminifera. There is coral along the coasts everywhere, and the Sentinel Islands are composed of the newer rocks with a superstructure of coral. A theory of a still continuing subsidence of the islands was formed by Kurz in ] and confirmed by Oldham in ]. Signs of its continuance are found on the east coast in several places.
The ] was fought on 17 May 1859 between the ] tribe and the British. Today, a memorial stands in Andaman water sports complex as a tribute to the people who died in the battle. Fearful of British intentions and with help from an escaped convict from ], the Great Andamanese attacked the British settlement, but they were outnumbered and soon suffered heavy casualties. Later, it was identified that an escaped convict named ] had changed sides and informed the British about the tribe's plans.<ref name="Rapidiq">{{cite web|url=https://rapidiq.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/the-rise-and-the-fall-of-the-great-andamanese/|title=The Rise and Fall of the Great Andamanese|work=Confessions of a Linguist!|date=8 April 2012|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217192515/http://rapidiq.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/the-rise-and-the-fall-of-the-great-andamanese/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="One India">{{cite web|url=http://www.oneindia.com/2007/05/17/who-are-heroes-of-battle-of-aberdeen-1179405748.html|title=Who are heroes of Battle of Aberdeen?|work=oneindia.com|date=17 May 2007|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=9 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709165627/http://www.oneindia.com/2007/05/17/who-are-heroes-of-battle-of-aberdeen-1179405748.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Andaman Sheekha">{{cite web|url=http://www.andamansheekha.com/2012/05/16/tribute-at-the-memorial-of-battle-of-aberdeen-today/|title=Tribute at the Memorial of "Battle of Aberdeen" Today|author=sanjib|work=andamansheekha.com|date=15 May 2012|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=10 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710012822/http://www.andamansheekha.com/2012/05/16/tribute-at-the-memorial-of-battle-of-aberdeen-today/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1867, the ] ''Nineveh'' was ] on the reef of North Sentinel Island. The 86 survivors reached the beach in the ship's boats. On the third day, they were attacked with iron-tipped spears by naked islanders. One person from the ship escaped in a boat and the others were later rescued by a ] ship.<ref name="Goodheart">{{cite news | url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-28578579_ITM | work=American Scholar | title=The Last Island of the Savages | date=22 September 2000 | access-date=14 June 2009 | archive-date=22 May 2015 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20150522060225/https://www.questia.com/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

For some time, sickness and mortality were high, but ] and extensive forest clearance continued. The Andaman colony became notorious with the murder of the Viceroy ], on a visit to the settlement (8 February 1872), by a ] from ], ]. In the same year, the two island groups Andaman and ], were united under a chief commissioner residing at Port Blair.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=958}}

]
]
From the time of its development in 1858 under the direction of James Pattison Walker, and in response to the mutiny and rebellion of the previous year, the settlement was first and foremost a repository for ]s. The Cellular Jail at Port Blair, when completed in 1910, included 698 cells designed for solitary confinement; each cell measured {{convert|4.5|by|2.7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} with a single ventilation window {{convert|3|m|ft|0}} above the floor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tyagi |first=Ditriksha |date=2024-09-20 |title=The Cellular Jail, Andaman and Nicobar Islands |url=https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/a13032-the-cellular-jail-andaman-and-nicobar-islands-2/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=RTF {{!}} Rethinking The Future |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Indians imprisoned here referred to the island and its prison as ''Kala Pani'' ("black water"),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andamancellularjail.org/History.htm |title=History of Andaman Cellular Jail |publisher=Andamancellularjail.org |access-date=14 May 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209031136/http://www.andamancellularjail.org/History.htm |archive-date= 9 February 2010 }}</ref> named for ], the Hindu proscription against traveling across the open sea. Incarceration on the Andamans thus threatened prisoners with the loss of their ], and resultant social exclusion;<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bashford |first1=Alison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z72MP1zc4KgC&pg=PA37 |title=Isolation: Places and Practices of Exclusion |last2=Strange |first2=Carolyn |date=2004-06-04 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-40522-2 |language=en}}</ref> a 1996 film set on the island took that term as its title, '']''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0255289/ |title=Kala Pani (1996) |date=12 April 1996 |publisher=Imdb.com |access-date=14 May 2010 |archive-date=12 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112003713/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255289/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The number of prisoners who died in this camp is estimated to be in the thousands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andamancellularjail.org/ListOfRevolutionaries.htm |title=Andaman Islands Political Prisoners |publisher=Andamancellularjail.org |access-date=14 May 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100906201654/http://www.andamancellularjail.org/ListOfRevolutionaries.htm |archive-date= 6 September 2010 }}</ref> Many more died of harsh treatment and the strenuous living and working conditions in this camp.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/21/stories/2005122107881100.htm |title=Opinion / News Analysis: Hundred years of the Andamans Cellular Jail |date= 21 December 2005|access-date=14 May 2010 |location=Chennai, India| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100511175419/http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/21/stories/2005122107881100.htm| archive-date= 11 May 2010 |newspaper=] | url-status= dead}}</ref>

The Viper Chain Gang Jail on ] was reserved for extraordinarily troublesome prisoners and was also the site of hangings. In the 20th century, it became a convenient place to house prominent members of India's independence movement.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=13 April 2023 |orig-date=13 April 2023 is from HTTP Last-Modified header; webpage says "Feb 25" with no year specified anywhere |title=Discover the dark history of Viper Island : Where punishment was harsh and retribution was swift |url=https://www.exploreandaman.co.in/islands/dark-history-of-viper-island-andaman |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016195141/https://www.exploreandaman.co.in/islands/dark-history-of-viper-island-andaman |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=ExploreAndaman |publisher=Explore Andaman |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Viper Chain Gang Jail In Andaman And Nicobar |url=https://www.thomascook.in/places-to-visit/viper-chain-gang-jail-in-andaman-and-nicobar-5563 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203223913/https://www.thomascook.in/places-to-visit/viper-chain-gang-jail-in-andaman-and-nicobar-5563 |archive-date=2023-02-03 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Thomas Cook |department=India Tourism > Andaman And Nicobar Tourism > Places to visit in Andaman And Nicobar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jail at Viper Island |url=https://www.mountainedge.in/Jail-at-viper-island-andman.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016195237/https://www.mountainedge.in/Jail-at-viper-island-andman.php |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Mountain Edge Tours and Holidays Pvt. Ltd.}}</ref>

===Japanese occupation===
]
]
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were ] during ].<ref>{{cite web|first=Klemen|last=L|url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/andaman.html|title=The capture of the Andaman Islands, March 1942|date=1999–2000|work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-date=26 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726181150/https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/andaman.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The islands were nominally put under the authority of the ] (Provisional Government of Free India) headed by ], who visited the islands during the war, and renamed them as ] (Martyr) & Swaraj (Self-rule). On 30 December 1943, during the Japanese occupation, Bose, who was allied with the Japanese, first raised the flag of Indian independence. General ], of the ], was Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which had been annexed to the Provisional Government. According to Werner Gruhl: "Before leaving the islands, the Japanese rounded up and ]."<ref>Gruhl, Werner (2007) '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209011823/https://books.google.com/books?id=ow5Wlmu9MPQC&pg=PA102 |date=9 December 2015 }}'', Transaction Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-7658-0352-8}}. p. 102.</ref>

===Post-World War II===
At the close of World War II, the British government announced its intention to shut down the penal settlement. The government proposed to employ former inmates in an initiative to develop the island's fisheries, timber, and agricultural resources. In exchange, inmates would be granted return passage to the Indian mainland, or the right to settle on the islands. ], one of the Bombay Burma Company's senior officials, was dispatched to perform a timber survey of the islands using convict labor. He recorded his findings in 'The Spotted Deer' (published in 1957 by ]).

The penal colony was eventually closed on 15 August 1947 when India ]. It has since served as a museum to the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/cellular-jail-india-integral-country-fight-freedom-independence-british-colony-andaman-and-nicobar-a7883691.html|title=How India's Cellular Jail was integral in the country's fight for freedom|date=11 August 2017|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=10 November 2019|archive-date=10 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110125549/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/cellular-jail-india-integral-country-fight-freedom-independence-british-colony-andaman-and-nicobar-a7883691.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Most of the Andaman Islands became part of the ] in 1950 and was declared as a ] of the nation in 1956, while the ] and ] became part of the ] of ] in 1948.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Planning Commission of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ujf2N5O4iKgC|title=Andaman and Nicobar Islands Development Report|publisher=Academic Foundation|year=2008|isbn=978-81-7188-652-4|edition=illustrated|series=State Development Report series|access-date=12 March 2011|archive-date=9 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209011823/https://books.google.com/books?id=ujf2N5O4iKgC|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Late 20th Century – 21st century===
====Outside visits====
In April 1998, American photographer John S. Callahan organised the first surfing project in the Andamans, starting from ] in Thailand with the assistance of Southeast Asia Liveaboards (SEAL), a UK owned dive charter company.{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}} With a crew of international professional surfers, they crossed the Andaman Sea on the yacht ''Crescent'' and cleared formalities in Port Blair. The group proceeded to Little Andaman Island, where they spent ten days surfing several spots for the first time, including Jarawa Point near Hut Bay and the long right reef point at the southwest tip of the island, named Kumari Point. The resulting article in ''Surfer Magazine'', "Quest for Fire" by journalist Sam George, put the Andaman Islands on the surfing map for the first time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.surfermag.com/magazine/archivedissues/quest-for-fire |title=Surfer Explores The Andaman Islands |publisher=Surfer Magazine |website=Surfermag.com |date=22 July 2010 |access-date=28 December 2011 |archive-date=19 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819112026/http://www.surfermag.com/magazine/archivedissues/quest-for-fire/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Footage of the waves of the Andaman Islands also appeared in the film ''Thicker than Water'', shot by ]maker ].{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}} Callahan went on to make several more surfing projects in the Andamans, including a trip to the Nicobar Islands in 1999.{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}}

In November 2018, ], an American ], traveled illegally with the help of local fishermen to the ] off the Andaman Islands chain group on several occasions, despite a travel ban to the island. He is reported to have been killed.<ref name="cnn.com">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/25/asia/missionary-john-chau-north-sentinel-island-sentinelese/index.html|title=Indian authorities struggle to retrieve US missionary feared killed on remote island|date=25 November 2018|work=CNN|access-date=25 November 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=25 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125131356/https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/25/asia/missionary-john-chau-north-sentinel-island-sentinelese/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite some relaxation introduced earlier in 2018 to the stringent visit permit system for the islands, North Sentinel Island was still highly protected from outside contact. Special permission to allow researchers and anthropologists to visit could be sought.<ref name="3tier 2018 toi">{{Cite news|last1=Jain|first1=Bharti |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-national-defied-3-tier-curbs-caution-to-reach-island/articleshow/66758172.cms|title=US National Defied 3-tier Curbs & Caution to Reach Island |date=23 November 2018 |work=] |access-date=31 October 2021 |language=en |archive-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126001420/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-national-defied-3-tier-curbs-caution-to-reach-island/articleshow/66758172.cms |url-status=live}}</ref> Chau had no special clearance and knew that his visit was illegal.<ref name="3tier 2018 toi"/><ref name="cnn.com"/>

Although a less restrictive system of approval to visit some of the islands now applies, with non-Indian nationals no longer required to obtain pre-approval with a Restricted Area Permit (RAP), foreign visitors must still show their passport at Immigration at Port Blair Airport and Seaport for verification. Citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan, or other foreign nationals whose origin is any of these countries, {{em|are}} still required to obtain a RAP to visit Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Similarly, citizens of ] who wish to visit ] or ] must also apply for a RAP. In these cases, the permits must be pre-approved prior to arrival in Port Blair.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Andaman and Nicobar Police |title=For Foreign Tourists |url=https://police.andaman.gov.in/index.php/en/2013-10-13-13-21-25/foreigners/for-foreign-tourist.html |website=police.andaman.gov.in |access-date=30 October 2021 |date=29 June 2018 |quote=... no RAP is required by foreigners to visit these islands, till 31.12.2022 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

====Natural disasters====
On 26 December 2004, the coast of the Andaman Islands was devastated by a {{convert|10|m|ft|0|adj=mid|-high}} tsunami following the ], which is the longest recorded earthquake, lasting for between 500 and 600 seconds.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Guinness Book of World Records 2014|last=Glenday|first=Craig|publisher=The Jim Pattison Group|year=2013|isbn=978-1-908843-15-9|pages=|url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/015}}</ref> Strong oral traditions in the area warned of the importance of moving inland after a quake and is credited with saving many lives.<ref name="folklore">{{cite news |last1=Bhaumik |first1=Subir |title=Tsunami folklore 'saved islanders' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4181855.stm |access-date=1 June 2024 |agency=BBC News |date=20 January 2005}}</ref> In the aftermath, more than 2,000 people were confirmed dead and more than 4,000 children were orphaned or had lost one parent. At least 40,000 residents were rendered homeless and were moved to relief camps.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sumatra-Andaman Islands Earthquake and Tsunami of December 26, 2004|year=2007|publisher=ASCE, Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering|location=Reston, VA|isbn=9780784409510|url=http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147486137&productid=5511|editor1=Strand, Carl|editor2=Masek, John|access-date=12 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024115815/http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147486137&productid=5511|archive-date=24 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 11 August 2009, a magnitude 7 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands, causing a tsunami warning to go into effect. On 30 March 2010, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands.

==Geography and Geology==
The Andaman Archipelago is an oceanic continuation of the Burmese ] in the north and of the ] in the south. It has 325 islands which cover an area of {{convert|6408|km2|0|abbr=on}},<ref name="Planning Commission Report"/> with the ] to the east between the islands and the coast of Burma.<ref name="olivierblaise" /> ] is {{convert|285|km}} south of Burma, although a few smaller Burmese islands are closer, including the three Coco Islands.

The ] separates the Andamans from the ] to the south. The highest point is located in North Andaman Island (] at {{convert|732|m|abbr=on}}).<ref name="Planning Commission Report">{{cite book|title=Andaman and Nicobar Islands Development Report|series=State Development Report series|author=Planning Commission of India|edition=illustrated|publisher=Academic Foundation|year=2008|isbn=978-81-7188-652-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ujf2N5O4iKgC|access-date=15 November 2015|archive-date=9 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209011823/https://books.google.com/books?id=ujf2N5O4iKgC|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|33}}

The geology of the Andaman islands consists essentially of ] to ] ]s and ]s (] and algal ]s), deformed by numerous deep ] and ]s with ] ] ]s.<ref name="tsu"/> There are at least 11 ]es on the islands.<ref name="tsu">Chakrabarti, P.; Nag, A.; Dutta, S. B.; Dasgupta, S. and Gupta, N. (2006) '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209011823/https://books.google.com/books?id=5gEBfvCBclUC&pg=PA42 |date=9 December 2015 }}'', page 43. Chapter 5 in S. M. Ramasamy et al. (eds.), ''Geomatics in Tsunami'', New India Publishing. {{ISBN|81-89422-31-6}}</ref> There are two volcanic islands, ] and ], which have produced ] and ]. Barren Island is the only active volcano in the ], with the latest eruption reported in December 2022, leading to the potential for ].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.andamantourism.gov.in/capital.php| title=Andaman Tourism – Science Centre| access-date=1 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=260010| title=Global Volcanism Program – Barren Island| access-date=1 May 2023}}</ref>


==Climate== ==Climate==
The climate of the Andamans themselves may be described as normal for tropical islands of similar latitude. It is warm always, but with sea-breezes; very hot when the sun is northing; irregular rainfall, but usually dry during the north-east, and very wet during the south-west monsoon. Not only does the rainfall at one place vary from year to year, but there is an extraordinary difference for places quite close to one another. The Islands are barely affected by the often disastrous cyclones that come up the Bay of Bengala cyclone, though they are within the influence of practically every one. The Andamans thus were once of great importance for monitoring weather in the region for the benefit of the Indian mainland and ships at sea in the Indian Ocean. The climate is typical of tropical islands of similar latitude. It is always warm, but with sea breezes. Rainfall is irregular, usually dry during the north-east monsoons, and very wet during the south-west monsoons.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=956}}
To this end a well-appointed meteorological station was established at Port Blair in ].


==Flora== ==Flora==
]
A section of the Forest Department of India was established in the Andamans in ], and in the neighbourhood of Port Blair 400 km² were set apart for regular forest operations to be carried on by convict labour. The chief timber of indigenous growth is ] ''(Pterocarpus dalbergioides'') used for buildings, boats, furniture, fine joinery and all purposes to which teak, mahogany, hickory, oak and ash are applied. This tree was widespread and formed a valuable export to European markets. Other first-class timbers are koko (''Albizzia lebbek''), white chuglam ''Terminalia bialata''), black chugiam (''Myristica irya''), marble or zebra wood (''Diospyros kurzii'') and satin-wood (''Murraya exotica''), which differs from the satin-wood of Ceylon (''Chloroxylon swietenia''.) All of these timbers are used for furniture and similar fine purposes, but many are now endangered. In addition there are a number of second- and third-class timbers, which are used locally and for export to Calcutta. Gangaw (''Messua ferrea'') the Assam iron-wood, is suitable for railway sleepers; and didu (''Bombax insigne'') is used for tea-boxes and packing-cases.
]


The Middle Andamans harbour mostly moist ]. North Andamans is characterised by the wet evergreen type, with plenty of woody climbers.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}
Among the introduced flora are tea, Siberian coffee, cocoa, Ceará rubber (which has not done well), Manila hemp, teak, cocoanut and a number of ornamental trees, fruit-trees, vegetables and garden plants. Tea is grown in considerable quantities and the cultivation was once under a department of the penal settlement. The general character of the forests is Burmese with an admixture of Malay types. Great mangrove swamps supply unlimited fire-wood of the best quality. The great peculiarity of Andaman flora is that, with the exception of the Cocos islands, no cocoanut palms are found in the archipelago.


The natural vegetation of the Andamans is tropical forest, with ]s on the coast. The rainforests are similar in composition to those of the west coast of Burma. Most of the forests are evergreen, but there are areas of deciduous forest on North Andaman, ], ] and parts of ]. The South Andaman forests have a profuse growth of ] vegetation, mostly ferns and orchids.
==Fauna==
Animal life is generally deficient throughout the Andamans, especially as regards mammalia, of which there are only nineteen separate species in all, twelve of these being peculiar to the islands. There is a small pig (''Sus andamanensis''), important to the food of the people, and a wild ] (''Paradoxurus tytleri''); but the bats (sixteen species) and rats (thirteen species) constitute nearly three-fourths of the known mammals. This paucity of animal life seems inconsistent with the theory that the islands were once connected with the mainland.


The Andaman forests are largely unspoiled, despite logging and the demands of the fast-growing population driven by immigration from the Indian mainland. There are protected areas on ], ], North Andaman and South Andaman, but these are mainly aimed at preserving the coast and the marine wildlife rather than the rainforests.<ref>{{WWF ecoregion|id=im0101 |name=Andaman Islands rain forests|access-date=28 December 2011}}</ref> Threats to wildlife come from introduced species including rats, dogs, cats and the elephants of ] and North Andaman.
Most of the birds also are derived from the distant Indian region, while the Indo-Burmese and Indo-Malayan regions are represented to a far less degree. Rasorial birds, such as peafowl, junglefowl, pheasants and partridges, though well represented in the Arakan hills, are rare in the islands; while a third of the different species found are peculiar to the Andamans. Moreover, the Andaman species differ from those of the adjacent Nicobar Islands. Each group has its distinct
harrier-eagle, red-cheeked paroquet, oriole, sun-bird and bulbul.


Scientists discovered a new species of green algae species in the Andaman archipelago, naming it ''Acetabularia jalakanyakae''. "Jalakanyaka" is a Sanskrit word that means "mermaid".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mermaid-plant-india-andamans-archipelago-b1903845.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817145707/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mermaid-plant-india-andamans-archipelago-b1903845.html |archive-date=2021-08-17 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Indian scientists discover new 'mermaid' plant species in Andamans archipelago|date=17 August 2021|website=The Independent}}</ref>
Fish are very numerous and many species are peculiar to the Andaman seas. Turtles are abundant and supply the Calcutta market. Of imported animals, cattle, goats, asses and dogs thrive well, ponies and horses indifferently, and sheep badly, though some success has been achieved in breeding them.


==History== ===Timber===
]
It is uncertain whether any of the names of the islands given by ] ought to be attached to the Andamans; yet it is probable that his name itself is traceable in the Alexandrian geographer. Andaman first appears distinctly in the Arab notices of the ], already quoted. But it seems possible that the tradition of marine nomenclature had never perished; that the ''Agathou daimonos nesos'' was really a misunderstanding of some form like ''Agdaman'', while ''Nesoi Baroussai'' survived as ''Lanka Balus'', the name applied by the Arabs to the ]. The islands are briefly noticed by ], who may have seen them without visiting, under the name ''Angamanain'', seemingly an Arabic dual, "the two Angamans," with the exaggerated picture of the natives as dog-faced ].
Andaman forests contain 200 or more timber producing species of trees, out of which about 30 varieties are considered to be commercial. Major commercial timber species are Gurjan ('']'' spp.) and ] ('']''). The following ornamental woods are noted for their pronounced grain formation:
* Marble wood ('']'')
* Padauk ('']'')
* Silver grey (a special formation of wood in white ])
* Chooi ('']'')
* Kokko ('']'')


Padauk wood is sturdier than teak and is widely used for furniture making.
Another notice occurs in the story of ] (c. 1440), who explains the name to mean ''Island of Gold'', and speaks of a lake with peculiar virtues as existing in it. The name is probably derived from the Malay ''Handuman'', coming from the ancient ''Hanuman'' (monkey). Later travellers repeat the stories, too well founded, of the "ferocious hostility" of the people; of whom we may instance ] (]), whose narrative is given in ''Ramusio'', vol. iii. (only in the later editions), and in ''Purchas''. A good deal is also told of them in the vulgar and gossiping but useful work of ] (]).


There are ] and ] formations in Andaman Padauk. The largest piece of buttress known from Andaman was a dining table of {{convert|13|x|7|ft|abbr=on}}. The largest piece of burr wood was made into a dining table for eight.
In ]-] the government of Bengal sought to establish in the Andamans a penal colony, associated with a harbour of refuge. Two officers, Colebrooke of the Bengal Engineers, and Blair of the sea service, were sent to survey and report. In the sequel the settlement was established by Captain Blair, in September ], on Chatham Island, in the southeast bay of the Great Andaman, now called Port Blair, but then Port Cornwallis. There was much sickness, and after two years, urged by Admiral Cornwallis, the government transferred the colony to the northeast part of Great Andaman, where a naval arsenal was to be established. With the colony the name also of Port Cornwallis was transferred to this new locality. The scheme did ill; and in ] the government put an end to it, owing to the great mortality and the embarrassments of maintenance. The settlers were finally removed in May ].


The ] (''Elaeocarps sphaericus'') and aromatic Dhoop-resin trees also are found here.
In ] Port Cornwallis was the ''rendez-vous'' of the fleet carrying the army to the first Burmese war. In ], Dr Helfer, a German savant employed by the Indian government, having landed in the islands, was attacked and killed. In ] the troop-ships <i>Briton</i> and <i>Runnymede</i> were driven ashore here, almost close together. The natives showed hostility, killing all stragglers. Outrages on shipwrecked crews continued so rife that the question of occupation had to be taken up again; and in ] a project was formed for such a settlement, embracing a convict establishment. This was interrupted by the ], but as soon as the neck of that revolt was broken, it became more urgent than ever to provide such a resource, on account of the great number of prisoners falling into British hands. Lord Canning, therefore, in November ], sent a commission, headed by Dr F. Mouat, to examine and report. The commission reported favourably, selecting as a site Blair's original Port Cornwallis, but pointing out and avoiding the vicinity of a salt swamp which seemed to have been pernicious to the old colony. To avoid confusion, the name of Port Blair was given to the new settlement.


==Fauna==
For some time sickness and mortality were excessively large, but the ] and clearance of jungle on an extensive scale by Colonel Henry Man when in charge (]-]), had a most beneficial effect, and the health of the settlement has since been notable. The Andaman colony obtained a tragical notoriety from the murder of the viceroy, the earl of Mayo, by a Muslim convict, when on a visit to the settlement on ], ]. In the same year the two groups, Andaman and Nicobar, the occupation of the latter also having been forced on the British government (in ]) by the continuance of outrage upon vessels, were united under a chief commissioner residing at Port Blair.
]


The Andaman Islands are home to a number of animals, many of them endemic. Andaman & Nicobar islands are home to 10% of all Indian fauna species.<ref name="Singh">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/andaman-nicobar-islands-home-to-a-tenth-of-indias-fauna-species/article25592134.ece|title=Andaman & Nicobar Islands: home to a tenth of India's fauna species|last=Singh|first=Shiv Sahay|date=25 November 2018|work=The Hindu|access-date=10 November 2019|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218190850/https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/andaman-nicobar-islands-home-to-a-tenth-of-indias-fauna-species/article25592134.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> The islands are only 0.25% of the country's geographical area, but has 11,009 species, according to a publication by the ].<ref name="Singh"/>
The Andaman islands were later occupied by Japan during ]. After the end of the war they briefly returned to British control, before becoming part of the newly independent state of India.

===Mammals===
The island's endemic mammals include
* ] (''Crocidura hispida'')
* ] (''Crocidura andamanensis'')
* ] (''Crocidura jenkinsi'')
* ] (''Rhinolophus cognatus'')
* ] (''Rattus stoicus'')

The ] (''Sus scrofa vittatus''), also known as the Andaman wild boar and once thought to be an endemic subspecies,<ref name="SrinivasuluSrinivasulu2012">{{Cite book | title = South Asian Mammals: Their Diversity, Distribution, and Status | last1 = Srinivasulu | first1 = C. | last2 = Srinivasulu | first2 = B. | publisher = Springer | year = 2012 | page = 353 | isbn = 9781461434498}}</ref> is protected by the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 (Sch I). The ] (''Axis axis''), the ] (''Muntiacus muntjak'') and the ] (''Rusa unicolor'') were all introduced to the Andaman islands, though the sambar did not survive.

] (the largest wildlife sanctuary in the territory) in Middle Andaman holds a population of feral ], which were brought in for forest work by a timber company and released when the company went bankrupt. This population has been subject to research studies.

===Birds===
Endemic or near endemic birds include
* '']'', a serpent-eagle
* '']'', a crake (endemic; data-deficient per IUCN 2000)
* '']'', a wood-pigeon
* '']'', a cuckoo dove
* '']'', a subspecies of brown coucal (endemic)
* '']'', a scops owl
* '']'', a hawk-owl
* '']'', the Narcondam hornbill
* '']'', a woodpecker
* '']'', a drongo
* '']'', a treepie
* '']'', the white-headed starling
* '']'', the plume-toed swiftlet
* '']'', the edible-nest swiftlet
The islands' many ]s, such as those at ] are nesting grounds for the edible-nest ], whose nests are prized in China for ].<ref name="soup">Sankaran, R. (1998), '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704194845/http://www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_birds8.pdf |date=4 July 2010 }}''. Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, India.</ref>

===Reptiles and amphibians===
The islands also have a number of endemic ]s, ]s and ]s, such as the ] (''Naja sagittifera''), South Andaman krait ('']'') and Andaman water monitor (''Varanus salvator andamanensis'').

There is a sanctuary {{convert|45|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} from ] for ]s. Over the past 25 years there have been 24 crocodile attacks with four fatalities, including the death of American tourist Lauren Failla. The government has been criticised for failing to inform tourists of the crocodile sanctuary and danger, while simultaneously promoting tourism.<ref>{{cite news|author=Sacks, Ethan|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/nj-woman-killed-crocodile-attack-snorkeling-indian-coast-article-1.445025|title=NJ woman killed by crocodile attack while snorkeling off Indian coast|newspaper=NY Daily News|date=6 May 2010|access-date=26 April 2017|archive-date=26 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426151615/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/nj-woman-killed-crocodile-attack-snorkeling-indian-coast-article-1.445025|url-status=live}}</ref> Crocodiles are not only found within the sanctuary, but throughout the island chain in varying densities. They are habitat restricted, so the population is stable but not large. Populations occur throughout available mangrove habitat on all major islands, including a few creeks on Havelock. The species uses the ocean as a means of travel between different rivers and estuaries, thus they are not as commonly observed in open ocean. It is best to avoid swimming near mangrove areas or the mouths of creeks; swimming in the open ocean should be safe, but it is best to have a spotter around.


==Demographics== ==Demographics==
]
The population of the Andaman Islands has increased rapidly, from roughly 2000 in 1901 to 157,821 in 1981, 241,453 in 1991, and 314,239 in 2001. These increases are mostly attributable to migration from the Indian mainland. It is estimated that less than ten percent of the population of the Andaman Islands is indigenous Andamanese.
] island in 2006]]
{{As of|2011}}, the population of the Andaman was 343,125,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://india.gov.in/knowindia/ut_andaman.php |access-date=3 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619045535/http://www.india.gov.in/knowindia/ut_andaman.php|publisher=india.gov.in|title=Andaman & Nicobar Islands |archive-date=19 June 2010 }}</ref> having grown from 50,000 in 1960. The bulk of the population originates from immigrants who came to the island since the colonial times, mainly of ], ], ],<ref></ref> ] backgrounds.<ref name="distadmin">{{cite web|url=http://andamandt.nic.in/profile.htm |title=Andaman & Nicobar Islands at a glance |publisher=Andamandt.nic.in |access-date=14 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213201339/http://andamandt.nic.in/profile.htm |archive-date=13 December 2011 }}</ref>
]

A small minority of the population are the ] — the ] (]) of the islands. When they first came into sustained contact with outside groups in the 1850s, there were an estimated 7,000 Andamanese, divided into the ], ], ] (or ''Rutland Jarawa''), ], and the ]. The Great Andamanese formed 10 tribes of 5,000 people total. As the numbers of settlers from the mainland increased (at first mostly prisoners and involuntary ]ers, later purposely recruited farmers), the Andamanese suffered a population decline due to the introduction of outside ], land encroachment from settlers and conflict.


The Andaman Islands are home to the ], an ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Everything We Know About The Isolated Sentinelese People Of North Sentinel Island |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2018/11/30/everything-we-know-about-the-isolated-sentinelese-people-of-north-sentinel-island/ |work=Forbes |date=30 November 2018}}</ref>
==The Andamanese==
A century ago, the indigenous Andamanese lived mostly by hunting, gathering, fishing, and some agriculture, which are still the primary way of life of the Jarawa, Önge, and Sentinelese peoples of the southern part of the archipelago. The indigenous Andamanese are slightly built, dark-skinned, with tightly-curled hair, and physically resemble the ] of the ] and the ] of the ]. The Andamanese, Semang, and Aeta are probably descendants of a people who were more widespread in Southeast Asia before they were displaced or assimilated by the ancestors of today's ]-speakers.


Due to their isolated island location, the Andaman people have mostly avoided contact with the outside world. Their languages are a great reflection of this, with distinct linguistics that have strong ] – root words, prefix, suffixes – with very little relation to surrounding geographic regions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Endicott |first1=Phillip |last2=Gilbert |first2=M. Thomas P. |last3=Stringer |first3=Chris |last4=Lalueza-Fox |first4=Carles |last5=Willerslev |first5=Eske |last6=Hansen |first6=Anders J. |last7=Cooper |first7=Alan |date=January 2003 |title=The Genetic Origins of the Andaman Islanders |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/345487 |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=178–184 |doi=10.1086/345487 |pmid=12478481 |issn=0002-9297|pmc=378623 }}</ref>
Their antiquity is attested by the remains found in their kitchen-]s. These are of great age, and rise sometimes to a height exceeding 5 metres. The fossil shells, pottery and primitive stone implements, found alike at the base and at the surface of these middens, show that the habits of the islanders have varied little since the remote past, and lead to the belief that the Andamans were settled by their present inhabitants some time during the ] period, and certainly no later than the ] age. The Andamans may have been linked to Myanmar by a land bridge during the ]s, and it is possible that the ancestors of the Andamanese reached the islands without crossing the sea.


Figures from the end of the 20th century estimate there remain only approximately 400–450 ethnic Andamanese still on the island, and as few as 50 speakers The Jangil are extinct. Most of the Great Andamanese tribes are extinct, and the survivors, now just 52, speak mostly ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Malekar |first=Anosh |date=April 2010 |title=The case for a linguistic survey |work=InfoChange News & Features |publication-place=India |url=http://infochangeindia.org/Media/Languages-of-India/The-case-for-a-linguistic-survey.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927215058/http://infochangeindia.org/Media/Languages-of-India/The-case-for-a-linguistic-survey.html |archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> The Onge are reduced to less than 100 people. Only the Jarawa and Sentinelese still maintain a steadfast independence and refuse most attempts at contact; their numbers are uncertain but estimated to be in the low hundreds.
The indigenous Andamanese spoke several related languages, the ], a distinct ] unrelated to languages found outside the islands. Of the 13 languages spoken at the beginning of the century, nine are now extinct. The extinct languages were spoken on Great Andaman, and the Great Andamanese now mostly speak ]. The ], ], and ] mostly speak their own languages, and limit their contact with outsiders.


The indigenous languages are collectively referred to as the ], but they make up at least two independent families, and the dozen or so attested languages are either extinct or endangered.
The earliest European notice of the Andaman Islanders is in a remarkable collection of early Arab notes on India and China from the year ] which influenced the view of this people until modern times. The traditional charge of ] has been very persistent; but it is entirely denied by the islanders themselves, and is now and probably always has been untrue. Of their massacres of shipwrecked crews, there is no doubt, but that the policy of conciliation has secured a friendly reception for shipwrecked crews at any port of the islands.


==Religion==
The historic population of the islands is difficult to estimate, but it has probably always been small. The estimated total at a census taken in ] was only 2,000. Though all descended from one stock, there are twelve distinct tribes of the Andamanese, each with its own clearly-defined locality, its own distinct variety of the one fundamental language and to a certain extent its own separate habits. Every tribe is divided into fairly well defined septs. The tribal feeling may be expressed as friendly within the tribe, courteous to other Andamanese if known, hostile to every stranger, Andamanese or other.
Most of the tribal people in Andaman and Nicobar Islands believe in a religion that can be described as a form of ] ]. The tribal people of these islands believe that ] is the only deity and is responsible for everything happening on Earth.<ref>{{cite book|author=Radcliffe-Brown, A. R.|title=The Andaman Islanders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRJaAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|date=14 November 2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-62556-3|page=161|access-date=15 November 2015|archive-date=26 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426152135/https://books.google.com/books?id=iRJaAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|url-status=live}}</ref> The faith of the Andamanese teaches that Paluga resides on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' ]. People try to avoid any action that might displease Paluga. People belonging to this religion believe in the presence of souls, ghosts, and spirits. They put a lot of emphasis on dreams. They let dreams decide different courses of action in their lives.<ref>{{Cite web|title = People of Andaman and Nicobar Islands|url = http://www.webindia123.com/territories/andaman/people/intro.htm|website = Webindia123.com|access-date = 31 January 2016|archive-date = 1 June 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160601155012/http://www.webindia123.com/Territories/ANDAMAN/People/intro.htm|url-status = live}}</ref>


Andamanese mythology held that human males emerged from split bamboo, whereas women were fashioned from clay.<ref>Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred Reginald. The Andaman Islanders: A study in social anthropology . 2nd printing (enlarged). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933 . p. 192</ref> One version found by ] held that the first man died and went to heaven, a pleasurable world, but this blissful period ended due to breaking a food taboo, specifically eating the forbidden vegetables in the Puluga's garden.<ref>Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred Reginald. The Andaman Islanders: A study in social anthropology . 2nd printing (enlarged). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933 . p. 220</ref> Thus catastrophe ensued, and eventually the people grew overpopulated and didn't follow Puluga's laws,. Hence, there was a ] that left four survivors, who lost their fire.<ref>Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred Reginald. The Andaman Islanders: A study in social anthropology . 2nd printing (enlarged). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933 . p. 216</ref><ref>Witzel, Michael E.J. (2012). The Origin of The World's Mythologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 309-312</ref>
The Andaman languages are extremely interesting from the philological standpoint. They are ] in nature, show hardly any signs of syntactical growth though every indication of long etymological growth, give expression to only the most direct and the simplest thought, and are purely colloquial and wanting in the modifications always necessary for communication by writing. The sense is largely eked out by manner and action. Mincopie is the first word in Colebrooke's vocabulary for "Andaman Island, or native country," and the term - though probably a mishearing on Colebrooke's part for Mongebe ("I am an Onge," i.e. a member of the Onge tribe) - has thus become a persistent book-name for the people.


Other religions practiced in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are, in order of size, ], ], ], ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm|title=Population by religious communities|publisher=censusindia.gov.in|access-date=21 September 2016|archive-date=6 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106014425/http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bahai.org/national-communities/andaman-and-nicobar-islands|title=Baháʼí Community of Andaman and Nicobar Islands|last=Baháʼí|website=Baháʼí Community|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=17 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817163632/http://www.bahai.org/national-communities/andaman-and-nicobar-islands|url-status=live}}</ref>
Another division of the natives is into ] or long-shore-men, and the ] or jungle-dwellers. The habits and capacities of these two differ, owing to surroundings, irrespectively of tribe. Yet again the Andamanese can be grouped according to certain salient characteristics: the forms of the bows and arrows, of the canoes, of ornaments and utensils, of ]ing and of language.


==Government==
The average height of males is 149 cm; of females, 137cm. The only artificial deformity is a depression of the skull, chiefly among one of the southern tribes, caused by the pressure of a strap used for carrying loads.
]
] is the chief community on the islands, and the administrative centre of the Union Territory. The Andaman Islands form a single administrative district within the Union Territory, the ] (the Nicobar Islands were separated and established as the new ] in 1974).


==Transportation==
The women's heads are shaved entirely and the men's into fantastic patterns. Yellow and ] mixed with grease are coarsely smeared over the bodies, grey in coarse patterns and white in fine patterns resembling tattoo marks. Tattooing is of two distinct varieties. In the south the body is slightly cut by women with small flakes of glass or quartz in zigzag or lineal patterns downwards. In the north it is deeply cut by men with pig-arrows in lines across the body.
The only commercial airport is ] in Port Blair, which has scheduled services to ], ], ], ], ] and ]. The airport is under the control of the ]. Prior to 2016 only daylight operations were allowed; however, since 2016 night flights have also operated.<ref>{{cite news|editor1=Roy, Sanjib Kumar|editor2=Sheekha, Andaman|title=Maiden night flight arrives in Isles|url=http://www.andamansheekha.com/2016/01/21/maiden-night-flight-arrives-in-isles-goair-flight-with-155-tourists-lands-at-vsi-airport-to-operate-chartered-flight-between-bengaluru-port-blair/|access-date=21 January 2016|work=Andaman Sheekha|date=21 January 2016|archive-date=2 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002092304/http://www.andamansheekha.com/2016/01/21/maiden-night-flight-arrives-in-isles-goair-flight-with-155-tourists-lands-at-vsi-airport-to-operate-chartered-flight-between-bengaluru-port-blair/|url-status=live}}</ref> A small airstrip, about {{convert|1000|m|ft}} long, is located near the eastern shore of North Andaman near ].


Due to the length of the routes and the small number of airlines flying to the islands, fares have historically been relatively expensive, although cheaper for locals than visitors. Fares are high during the peak seasons of spring and winter, although fares have decreased over time due to the expansion of the civil aviation industry in India. Private flights are also allowed to land in Port Blair airport with prior permission.
The male is said to reach adulthood when about fifteen years of age, typically marries when about twenty-six, and lives onto sixty or sixty-five if he reaches old age. Except as to the marrying age, these figures fairly apply to women. Before marriage, free intercourse between the sexes is the rule, though certain conventional precautions are taken to prevent it. Marriages rarely produce more than three children and often none at all. Divorce is rare, unfaithfulness after marriage uncommon and incest virtually unknown.


There is also a ship service from Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata. The journey requires three days and two nights, and depends on weather.
By preference the Andamanese are exogamous as regards sept and endogamous as regards tribe.


==Cultural references==
There is no idea of government, but in each sept there is a head, who has attained that position by degrees on account of some tacitly admitted superiority and commands a limited respect and some obedience. The young are deferential to their elders. Offences are punished by the aggrieved party. Property is communal and theft is only recognized as to things of absolute necessity, such as arrows, pigs' flesh and fire. Fire is the one thing they are really careful about, not knowing how to renew it. A very rude barter exists between tribes of the same group in regard to articles not locally obtainable.
{{Refimprove section|date=April 2024}}
The islands are prominently featured in ]'s ] 1890 mystery '']''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LitCharts |url=https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-sign-of-the-four/summary |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=LitCharts |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chatterjee |first=Arup K. |journal=Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures |title=The Science of the Andamans and the Sign of the Four: The distorted racial hierarchy of British imperial anthropology |date=11 February 2019|volume=14 |issue=2 |doi=10.21463/SHIMA.14.2.14 |s2cid=224924041 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The magistrate in ]'s play '']'' had formerly served in the islands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gregory |first=Lady |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RkE2AQAAMAAJ |title=Spreading the News |date=1909 |publisher=Putnam |language=en}}</ref>


]'s 1985 novel ''Death in the Andamans''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaye |first=M. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IADkCgAAQBAJ |title=Death in the Andamans |date=2015-12-01 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-250-08926-7 |language=en}}</ref> and ]' 1989 novel ''John Dollar'' are set in the islands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wiggins |first=Marianne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LC7HfgbTFaQC |title=John Dollar |date=1990 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-091655-8 |language=en}}</ref> The latter begins with an expedition from Burma to celebrate King George's birthday, but turns into a grim survival story after an earthquake and tsunami.
The religion consists of beliefs in spirits of the wood, the sea, disease and ancestors, and of avoidance of acts traditionally displeasing to them. There is neither worship nor propitiation. An anthropomorphic deity, ], is the cause of all things, but it is not necessary to propitiate him. There is an idea that the "soul" will go somewhere after death, but there is no heaven nor hell, nor idea of a corporeal resurrection. There is much faith in dreams, and in the utterances of certain "wise men," who practise an embryonic magic and witchcraft.


]'s 1996 film '']'' (Malayalam; '']'' in Tamil) depicts the Indian freedom struggle and the lives of prisoners in the ] in Port Blair.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1995-06-15 |title=Kaala Paani, a Malayalam film banks on lavish budget, freedom movement and multilingual cast |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19950615-kaala-paani-a-malayalam-film-banks-on-lavish-budget-freedom-movement-and-multilingual-cast-806763-1995-06-14 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref>
The great amusement of the Andamanese is a formal night dance, but they are also fond of games. The bows differ altogether with each group, but the same two kinds of arrows are in general use: (1) long and ordinary for fishing and other purposes; (2) short with a detachable head fastened to the shaft by a thong, which quickly brings pigs up short when shot in the thick jungle. Bark provides material for string, while baskets and mats are neatly and stoutly made from canes and buckets out of bamboo and wood.


''Island's End'' is a 2011 novel by ] about the training of an indigenous shaman. A principal character in the novel '']'' by ] is from the Andaman Islands. ''The Last Wave'' (2014) by Pankaj Sekhsaria is set in the islands. Brodie Moncur, the main protagonist of ] 2018 novel ''Love is Blind'', spends time in the Andaman Islands in the early years of the 20th century. The Andaman Islands in the period before, during and just after the Second World War are the setting for Uzma Aslan Khan's 'The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali'. In 2023, Andaman islands were featured in a netflix series named Kaala Paani based on a fictional disease outbreak in 2027.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}
None of the tribes ever ventures out of sight of land, and they have no idea of steering by sun or stars. Their canoes are simply hollowed out of trunks with the adze and in no other way, and it is the smaller ones which are outrigged; they do not last long and are not good sea-boats. The story of raids on Car Nicobar, out of sight across a stormy and sea-rippled channel, must be discredited.


==See also==
Honour is shown to an adult when he dies, by wrapping him in a cloth and placing him on a platform in a tree instead of burying him. At such a time the encampment is deserted for three months.
<!-- Please keep entries in alphabetical order & add a short description ] -->
* ]
* ]
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* ]


==References==
==Penal Settlement==
'''Notes'''
The point of enduring interest as regards the Andamans is the penal system, the object of which is to turn the life-sentence and few long-sentence convicts, who alone are sent to the settlement, into honest, self-respecting men and women, by leading them along a continuous course of practice in self-help and self-restraint, and by offering them every inducement to take advantage of that practice. After ten years' graduated labour the convict is given a ticket-of-leave and becomes self-supporting. He can farm, keep cattle, and marry or send for his family, but he cannot leave the settlement or be idle. With approved conduct, however, he may be absolutely released after twenty to twenty-five years in the settlement; and throughout that time, though possessing no civil rights, a quasi-judicial procedure controls all punishments inflicted upon him, and he is as secure of obtaining justice as if free. There is an unlimited variety of work for the labouring convicts, and some of the establishments are on a large scale. Very few experts are employed in supervision; practically everything is directed by the officials, who themselves have first to learn each trade. Under the chief commissioner, who is the supreme head of the settlement, are a deputy and a staff of assistant superintendents and overseers, almost all Europeans, and sub-overseers, who are natives of India. All the petty supervising establishments are composed of convicts.
{{Reflist}}


'''Sources'''
The garrison consists of 140 British and 300 Indian troops, with a few local European volunteers. The police are organized as a military battalion 643 strong. The number of convicts has somewhat diminished of late years and in ] stood at 11,947. The total population of the settlement, consisting of convicts, their guards, the supervising, clerical and departmental staff, with the families of the latter, also a certain number of ex-convicts and trading settlers and their families, numbered 16,106. The labouring convicts are distributed among four jails and nineteen stations; the self-supporters in thirty-eight villages. The elementary education of the convicts' children is compulsory. There are four hospitals, each under a resident medical officer, under the general supervision of a senior officer of the Indian medical service, and medical aid is given free to the whole population. The net annual cost of the settlement to the government is about six pounds per convict. The harbour of Port Blair is well supplied with buoys and harbour lights, and is crossed by ferries at fixed intervals, while there are several launches for hauling local traffic. On Ross Island there is a lighthouse visible for 19 miles. A complete system of signalling by night and day on the Morse system is worked by the police. Local posts are frequent, but there is no telegraph and the mails are irregular.
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Andaman Islands|volume=1|pages=955–958}}
*
* {{cite web |first= Klemen |last= L |date= 2000 |title= Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url= https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html |access-date= 30 March 2021 |archive-date= 26 July 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110726053035/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/index.html |url-status= dead }}
* {{cite book|author=India Home Dept|title=The Andaman Islands: With Notes on Barren Island|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0xFAAAAYAAJ|year=1859|publisher=C.B. Lewis, Baptist Mission Press}}
* {{cite book|author=Suresh Vaidya|title=Islands of the Marigold Sun|year=1960|publisher=Robert Hale}}
* {{cite book|author=Raleigh Trevelyan|author-link=Raleigh Trevelyan|title=The Golden Oriole: Childhood, Family and Friends in India|year=1987|publisher=Secker & Warburg}}


==External links==
The above accounts, written while Britain still controlled India, may leave the impression that these settlements were a model of progressive penal reform. Indian accounts, however, paint a different picture. From the time of its development in 1858 under the direction of ], and in response to the mutiny and rebellion of the previous year, the settlement was first and foremost a repository for political prisoners. The Cellular Jail at Port Blair when copleted in 1910 included 698 cells designed to better accommodate solitary confinement; each cell measured 4.5 by 2.7 metres with a single ventilation window 3 metres above the floor. The Viper Chain Gang Jail on Viper Island was reserved for troublemakers, and was also the site of hangings. In the 20th century it became a convenient place to house India's freedom fighters, and it was here that on ], ] during Japanese occupation, that ] first raised the flag of Indian independence. The penal colony was closed on ], ] when India gained its freedom. It has since served as a museum to the freedom fighters.
{{Commons category}}
*
* {{citation|last=Sorenson|first=E. Richard|title=Sensuality and Consciousness:Psychosexual Transformation in the Eastern Andaman|journal=Anthropology of Consciousness|volume=4|issue=4|year=1993|doi=10.1525/ac.1993.4.4.1|pages=1–9}}
* {{citation|last=Sen|first=Satadru|title=Savage Bodies, Civilized Pleasures: M. V. Portman and the Andamanese|journal=American Ethnologist|volume=36|issue=2|year=2009|doi=10.1111/j.1548-1425.2009.01140.x |pages=364–379}}


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{{Portal bar|Islands|India}}


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''Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia. Please update as needed.''


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Revision as of 15:15, 27 December 2024

Archipelago in the Bay of Bengal

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Andaman Islands
Location in the Indian Ocean
Geography
LocationBay of Bengal
Coordinates12°30′N 92°45′E / 12.500°N 92.750°E / 12.500; 92.750
ArchipelagoAndaman and Nicobar Islands
Total islands572
Major islandsNorth Andaman Island, Little Andaman, Middle Andaman Island, South Andaman Island
Area6,408 km (2,474 sq mi)
Highest elevation732 m (2402 ft)
Highest pointSaddle Peak
Administration
 India
Union territoryAndaman and Nicobar Islands
Capital cityPort Blair
 Myanmar
Administrative regionYangon Region
CapitalYangon
Demographics
Population343,125 (2011)
Pop. density48/km (124/sq mi)
Ethnic groupsBamar
Indic
Dravidian
Jarawa
Onge
Sentinelese
Great Andamanese
Additional information
Time zone
 • Summer (DST)
Official websitewww.andaman.nic.in
Detailed map
of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Andaman Islands (/ˈændəmən/) are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about 130 km (81 mi) southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. Most of the islands are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India, while the Coco Islands and Preparis Island are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar.

The Andaman Islands are home to the Andamanese, a group of indigenous people made up of a number of tribes, including the Jarawa and Sentinelese. While some of the islands can be visited with permits, entry to others, including North Sentinel Island, is banned by law. The Sentinelese are generally hostile to visitors and have had little contact with any other people. The Indian government and coast guard protect their right to privacy.

History

Comparative distributions of Andamanese indigenous peoples, pre-18th century vs present-day

Etymology

In the 13th century, the name of Andaman appears in Late Middle Chinese as ʔˠan dɑ mˠan (晏陀蠻, pronounced yàntuómán in modern Mandarin Chinese) in the book Zhu Fan Zhi by Zhao Rukuo. In Chapter 38 of the book, Countries in the Sea, Zhao Rukuo specifies that going from Lambri (Sumatra) to Ceylan, an unfavourable wind makes ships drift towards the Andaman Islands. In the 15th century, Andaman was recorded as "Andeman Mountain" (安得蠻山, pronounced āndémán shān in modern Mandarin Chinese) during the voyages of Zheng He in the Mao Kun map of the Wu Bei Zhi.

Early inhabitants

The oldest archaeological evidence for the habitation of the islands dates to the 1st millennium BC. Genetic evidence suggests that the indigenous Andamanese peoples share a common origin, and that the islands were settled sometime after 26,000 years ago, possibly at the end of the Last Glacial Period, when sea levels were much lower reducing the distance between the Andaman Islands and the Asian mainland, with genetic estimates suggesting that the two main linguistic groups diverged around 16,000 years ago. Andamanese peoples are a genetically distinct group highly divergent from other Asians.

The Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal were said to be inhabited by wolf-headed people, who were depicted in a "book of wonders" produced in Paris in the early 15th century.

Chola empire

Rajendra I took over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He used the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a strategic naval base to launch an expedition against the Sriwijaya Empire. The Cholas called the island Ma-Nakkavaram ("great open/naked land"), found in the Thanjavur inscription of 1050 CE. European traveller Marco Polo (12th–13th century) also referred to this island as 'Necuverann' and a corrupted form of the Tamil name Nakkavaram would have led to the modern name Nicobar during the British colonial period.

British colonial era

In 1789, the Bengal Presidency established a naval base and penal colony on Chatham Island in the southeast bay of Great Andaman. The settlement is now known as Port Blair (after the Bombay Marine lieutenant Archibald Blair who founded it). After two years, the colony was moved to the northeast part of Great Andaman and was named Port Cornwallis after Admiral William Cornwallis. However, there was much disease and death in the penal colony and the government ceased operating it in May 1796.

In 1824, Port Cornwallis was the rendezvous of the fleet carrying the army to the First Burmese War. In the 1830s and 1840s, shipwrecked crews who landed on the Andamans were often attacked and killed by the natives and the islands had a reputation for cannibalism. The loss of the Runnymede and the Briton in 1844 during the same storm, while transporting goods and passengers between India and Australia, and the continuous attacks launched by the natives, which the survivors fought off, alarmed the British government. In 1855, the government proposed another settlement on the islands, including a convict establishment, but the Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced a delay in its construction. However, because the rebellion led to the British holding a large number of prisoners, it made the new Andaman settlement and prison urgently necessary. Construction began in November 1857 at Port Blair using inmates' labour, avoiding the vicinity of a salt swamp that seemed to have been the source of many of the earlier problems at Port Cornwallis.

The Battle of Aberdeen was fought on 17 May 1859 between the Great Andamanese tribe and the British. Today, a memorial stands in Andaman water sports complex as a tribute to the people who died in the battle. Fearful of British intentions and with help from an escaped convict from Cellular Jail, the Great Andamanese attacked the British settlement, but they were outnumbered and soon suffered heavy casualties. Later, it was identified that an escaped convict named Dudhnath Tewari had changed sides and informed the British about the tribe's plans.

In 1867, the merchantman Nineveh was wrecked on the reef of North Sentinel Island. The 86 survivors reached the beach in the ship's boats. On the third day, they were attacked with iron-tipped spears by naked islanders. One person from the ship escaped in a boat and the others were later rescued by a British Royal Navy ship.

For some time, sickness and mortality were high, but swamp reclamation and extensive forest clearance continued. The Andaman colony became notorious with the murder of the Viceroy Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, on a visit to the settlement (8 February 1872), by a Pathan from Afghanistan, Sher Ali Afridi. In the same year, the two island groups Andaman and Nicobar, were united under a chief commissioner residing at Port Blair.

The Ross Island prison headquarters, 1872
Great Andamanese men, women and children, 1876

From the time of its development in 1858 under the direction of James Pattison Walker, and in response to the mutiny and rebellion of the previous year, the settlement was first and foremost a repository for political prisoners. The Cellular Jail at Port Blair, when completed in 1910, included 698 cells designed for solitary confinement; each cell measured 4.5 by 2.7 m (15 by 9 ft) with a single ventilation window 3 metres (10 ft) above the floor.

The Indians imprisoned here referred to the island and its prison as Kala Pani ("black water"), named for kala pani, the Hindu proscription against traveling across the open sea. Incarceration on the Andamans thus threatened prisoners with the loss of their caste, and resultant social exclusion; a 1996 film set on the island took that term as its title, Kaalapani. The number of prisoners who died in this camp is estimated to be in the thousands. Many more died of harsh treatment and the strenuous living and working conditions in this camp.

The Viper Chain Gang Jail on Viper Island was reserved for extraordinarily troublesome prisoners and was also the site of hangings. In the 20th century, it became a convenient place to house prominent members of India's independence movement.

Japanese occupation

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island in 2004
Andaman Islands

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were occupied by Japan during World War II. The islands were nominally put under the authority of the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (Provisional Government of Free India) headed by Subhas Chandra Bose, who visited the islands during the war, and renamed them as Shaheed (Martyr) & Swaraj (Self-rule). On 30 December 1943, during the Japanese occupation, Bose, who was allied with the Japanese, first raised the flag of Indian independence. General Loganathan, of the Indian National Army, was Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which had been annexed to the Provisional Government. According to Werner Gruhl: "Before leaving the islands, the Japanese rounded up and executed 750 innocents."

Post-World War II

At the close of World War II, the British government announced its intention to shut down the penal settlement. The government proposed to employ former inmates in an initiative to develop the island's fisheries, timber, and agricultural resources. In exchange, inmates would be granted return passage to the Indian mainland, or the right to settle on the islands. J H Williams, one of the Bombay Burma Company's senior officials, was dispatched to perform a timber survey of the islands using convict labor. He recorded his findings in 'The Spotted Deer' (published in 1957 by Rupert Hart-Davis).

The penal colony was eventually closed on 15 August 1947 when India gained independence. It has since served as a museum to the independence movement.

Most of the Andaman Islands became part of the Republic of India in 1950 and was declared as a union territory of the nation in 1956, while the Preparis Island and Coco Islands became part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar in 1948.

Late 20th Century – 21st century

Outside visits

In April 1998, American photographer John S. Callahan organised the first surfing project in the Andamans, starting from Phuket in Thailand with the assistance of Southeast Asia Liveaboards (SEAL), a UK owned dive charter company. With a crew of international professional surfers, they crossed the Andaman Sea on the yacht Crescent and cleared formalities in Port Blair. The group proceeded to Little Andaman Island, where they spent ten days surfing several spots for the first time, including Jarawa Point near Hut Bay and the long right reef point at the southwest tip of the island, named Kumari Point. The resulting article in Surfer Magazine, "Quest for Fire" by journalist Sam George, put the Andaman Islands on the surfing map for the first time. Footage of the waves of the Andaman Islands also appeared in the film Thicker than Water, shot by documentary filmmaker Jack Johnson. Callahan went on to make several more surfing projects in the Andamans, including a trip to the Nicobar Islands in 1999.

In November 2018, John Allen Chau, an American missionary, traveled illegally with the help of local fishermen to the North Sentinel Island off the Andaman Islands chain group on several occasions, despite a travel ban to the island. He is reported to have been killed. Despite some relaxation introduced earlier in 2018 to the stringent visit permit system for the islands, North Sentinel Island was still highly protected from outside contact. Special permission to allow researchers and anthropologists to visit could be sought. Chau had no special clearance and knew that his visit was illegal.

Although a less restrictive system of approval to visit some of the islands now applies, with non-Indian nationals no longer required to obtain pre-approval with a Restricted Area Permit (RAP), foreign visitors must still show their passport at Immigration at Port Blair Airport and Seaport for verification. Citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan, or other foreign nationals whose origin is any of these countries, are still required to obtain a RAP to visit Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Similarly, citizens of Myanmar who wish to visit Mayabunder or Diglipur must also apply for a RAP. In these cases, the permits must be pre-approved prior to arrival in Port Blair.

Natural disasters

On 26 December 2004, the coast of the Andaman Islands was devastated by a 10-metre-high (33 ft) tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which is the longest recorded earthquake, lasting for between 500 and 600 seconds. Strong oral traditions in the area warned of the importance of moving inland after a quake and is credited with saving many lives. In the aftermath, more than 2,000 people were confirmed dead and more than 4,000 children were orphaned or had lost one parent. At least 40,000 residents were rendered homeless and were moved to relief camps. On 11 August 2009, a magnitude 7 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands, causing a tsunami warning to go into effect. On 30 March 2010, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands.

Geography and Geology

The Andaman Archipelago is an oceanic continuation of the Burmese Arakan Yoma range in the north and of the Indonesian Archipelago in the south. It has 325 islands which cover an area of 6,408 km (2,474 sq mi), with the Andaman Sea to the east between the islands and the coast of Burma. North Andaman Island is 285 kilometres (177 mi) south of Burma, although a few smaller Burmese islands are closer, including the three Coco Islands.

The Ten Degree Channel separates the Andamans from the Nicobar Islands to the south. The highest point is located in North Andaman Island (Saddle Peak at 732 m (2,402 ft)).

The geology of the Andaman islands consists essentially of Late Jurassic to Early Eocene ophiolites and sedimentary rocks (argillaceous and algal limestones), deformed by numerous deep faults and thrusts with ultramafic igneous intrusions. There are at least 11 mud volcanoes on the islands. There are two volcanic islands, Narcondam Island and Barren Island, which have produced basalt and andesite. Barren Island is the only active volcano in the Indian sub-continent, with the latest eruption reported in December 2022, leading to the potential for geotourism.

Climate

The climate is typical of tropical islands of similar latitude. It is always warm, but with sea breezes. Rainfall is irregular, usually dry during the north-east monsoons, and very wet during the south-west monsoons.

Flora

Tropical forest, Shaheed Island
Mangrove trees on the beach, Havelock Island

The Middle Andamans harbour mostly moist deciduous forests. North Andamans is characterised by the wet evergreen type, with plenty of woody climbers.

The natural vegetation of the Andamans is tropical forest, with mangroves on the coast. The rainforests are similar in composition to those of the west coast of Burma. Most of the forests are evergreen, but there are areas of deciduous forest on North Andaman, Middle Andaman, Baratang and parts of South Andaman Island. The South Andaman forests have a profuse growth of epiphytic vegetation, mostly ferns and orchids.

The Andaman forests are largely unspoiled, despite logging and the demands of the fast-growing population driven by immigration from the Indian mainland. There are protected areas on Little Andaman, Narcondam, North Andaman and South Andaman, but these are mainly aimed at preserving the coast and the marine wildlife rather than the rainforests. Threats to wildlife come from introduced species including rats, dogs, cats and the elephants of Interview Island and North Andaman.

Scientists discovered a new species of green algae species in the Andaman archipelago, naming it Acetabularia jalakanyakae. "Jalakanyaka" is a Sanskrit word that means "mermaid".

Timber

Stilt houses in an Andamanese timber operation

Andaman forests contain 200 or more timber producing species of trees, out of which about 30 varieties are considered to be commercial. Major commercial timber species are Gurjan (Dipterocarpus spp.) and Padauk (Pterocarpus dalbergioides). The following ornamental woods are noted for their pronounced grain formation:

Padauk wood is sturdier than teak and is widely used for furniture making.

There are burr wood and buttress root formations in Andaman Padauk. The largest piece of buttress known from Andaman was a dining table of 13 ft × 7 ft (4.0 m × 2.1 m). The largest piece of burr wood was made into a dining table for eight.

The Rudraksha (Elaeocarps sphaericus) and aromatic Dhoop-resin trees also are found here.

Fauna

The coral reef at Havelock in Andaman

The Andaman Islands are home to a number of animals, many of them endemic. Andaman & Nicobar islands are home to 10% of all Indian fauna species. The islands are only 0.25% of the country's geographical area, but has 11,009 species, according to a publication by the Zoological Survey of India.

Mammals

The island's endemic mammals include

The banded pig (Sus scrofa vittatus), also known as the Andaman wild boar and once thought to be an endemic subspecies, is protected by the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 (Sch I). The spotted deer (Axis axis), the Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) and the sambar (Rusa unicolor) were all introduced to the Andaman islands, though the sambar did not survive.

Interview Island (the largest wildlife sanctuary in the territory) in Middle Andaman holds a population of feral elephants, which were brought in for forest work by a timber company and released when the company went bankrupt. This population has been subject to research studies.

Birds

Endemic or near endemic birds include

The islands' many caves, such as those at Chalis Ek are nesting grounds for the edible-nest swiftlet, whose nests are prized in China for bird's nest soup.

Reptiles and amphibians

The islands also have a number of endemic reptiles, toads and frogs, such as the Andaman cobra (Naja sagittifera), South Andaman krait (Bungarus andamanensis) and Andaman water monitor (Varanus salvator andamanensis).

There is a sanctuary 72 km (45 mi) from Havelock Island for saltwater crocodiles. Over the past 25 years there have been 24 crocodile attacks with four fatalities, including the death of American tourist Lauren Failla. The government has been criticised for failing to inform tourists of the crocodile sanctuary and danger, while simultaneously promoting tourism. Crocodiles are not only found within the sanctuary, but throughout the island chain in varying densities. They are habitat restricted, so the population is stable but not large. Populations occur throughout available mangrove habitat on all major islands, including a few creeks on Havelock. The species uses the ocean as a means of travel between different rivers and estuaries, thus they are not as commonly observed in open ocean. It is best to avoid swimming near mangrove areas or the mouths of creeks; swimming in the open ocean should be safe, but it is best to have a spotter around.

Demographics

The von Eickstedts in the Andamans 1926
An Andamanese family on the Great Andaman island in 2006

As of 2011, the population of the Andaman was 343,125, having grown from 50,000 in 1960. The bulk of the population originates from immigrants who came to the island since the colonial times, mainly of Bengali, Hindustani, Telugu, Tamil backgrounds.

Tribes of Andaman

A small minority of the population are the Andamanese — the aboriginal inhabitants (adivasi) of the islands. When they first came into sustained contact with outside groups in the 1850s, there were an estimated 7,000 Andamanese, divided into the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Jangil (or Rutland Jarawa), Onge, and the Sentinelese. The Great Andamanese formed 10 tribes of 5,000 people total. As the numbers of settlers from the mainland increased (at first mostly prisoners and involuntary indentured labourers, later purposely recruited farmers), the Andamanese suffered a population decline due to the introduction of outside infectious diseases, land encroachment from settlers and conflict.

The Andaman Islands are home to the Sentinelese people, an uncontacted tribe.

Due to their isolated island location, the Andaman people have mostly avoided contact with the outside world. Their languages are a great reflection of this, with distinct linguistics that have strong morphological features – root words, prefix, suffixes – with very little relation to surrounding geographic regions.

Figures from the end of the 20th century estimate there remain only approximately 400–450 ethnic Andamanese still on the island, and as few as 50 speakers The Jangil are extinct. Most of the Great Andamanese tribes are extinct, and the survivors, now just 52, speak mostly Hindi. The Onge are reduced to less than 100 people. Only the Jarawa and Sentinelese still maintain a steadfast independence and refuse most attempts at contact; their numbers are uncertain but estimated to be in the low hundreds.

The indigenous languages are collectively referred to as the Andamanese languages, but they make up at least two independent families, and the dozen or so attested languages are either extinct or endangered.

Religion

Most of the tribal people in Andaman and Nicobar Islands believe in a religion that can be described as a form of monotheistic animism. The tribal people of these islands believe that Puluga is the only deity and is responsible for everything happening on Earth. The faith of the Andamanese teaches that Paluga resides on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' Saddle Peak. People try to avoid any action that might displease Paluga. People belonging to this religion believe in the presence of souls, ghosts, and spirits. They put a lot of emphasis on dreams. They let dreams decide different courses of action in their lives.

Andamanese mythology held that human males emerged from split bamboo, whereas women were fashioned from clay. One version found by Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown held that the first man died and went to heaven, a pleasurable world, but this blissful period ended due to breaking a food taboo, specifically eating the forbidden vegetables in the Puluga's garden. Thus catastrophe ensued, and eventually the people grew overpopulated and didn't follow Puluga's laws,. Hence, there was a Great Flood that left four survivors, who lost their fire.

Other religions practiced in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are, in order of size, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and Baháʼí Faith.

Government

The capital city of the Andaman Islands, Port Blair

Port Blair is the chief community on the islands, and the administrative centre of the Union Territory. The Andaman Islands form a single administrative district within the Union Territory, the Andaman district (the Nicobar Islands were separated and established as the new Nicobar district in 1974).

Transportation

The only commercial airport is Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair, which has scheduled services to Kolkata, Chennai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. The airport is under the control of the Indian Navy. Prior to 2016 only daylight operations were allowed; however, since 2016 night flights have also operated. A small airstrip, about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) long, is located near the eastern shore of North Andaman near Diglipur.

Due to the length of the routes and the small number of airlines flying to the islands, fares have historically been relatively expensive, although cheaper for locals than visitors. Fares are high during the peak seasons of spring and winter, although fares have decreased over time due to the expansion of the civil aviation industry in India. Private flights are also allowed to land in Port Blair airport with prior permission.

There is also a ship service from Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata. The journey requires three days and two nights, and depends on weather.

Cultural references

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The islands are prominently featured in Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes 1890 mystery The Sign of the Four. The magistrate in Lady Gregory's play Spreading the News had formerly served in the islands.

M. M. Kaye's 1985 novel Death in the Andamans and Marianne Wiggins' 1989 novel John Dollar are set in the islands. The latter begins with an expedition from Burma to celebrate King George's birthday, but turns into a grim survival story after an earthquake and tsunami.

Priyadarshan's 1996 film Kaalapani (Malayalam; Sirai Chaalai in Tamil) depicts the Indian freedom struggle and the lives of prisoners in the Cellular Jail in Port Blair.

Island's End is a 2011 novel by Padma Venkatraman about the training of an indigenous shaman. A principal character in the novel Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup is from the Andaman Islands. The Last Wave (2014) by Pankaj Sekhsaria is set in the islands. Brodie Moncur, the main protagonist of William Boyd's 2018 novel Love is Blind, spends time in the Andaman Islands in the early years of the 20th century. The Andaman Islands in the period before, during and just after the Second World War are the setting for Uzma Aslan Khan's 'The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali'. In 2023, Andaman islands were featured in a netflix series named Kaala Paani based on a fictional disease outbreak in 2027.

See also

References

Notes

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