Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a group of 200 islands in the northeastern Indian Ocean, about 130 km southwest of Myanmar. They form a maritime boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. Most of these islands belong to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a special area governed directly by India, while a few smaller islands belong to Myanmar.

The Andaman Islands are home to special groups of indigenous people, such as the Jarawa and Sentinelese. Some islands can be visited with special permission, but others, like North Sentinel Island, are protected by law. The people there choose to stay separate from the rest of the world, and the government keeps visitors far away to respect their wishes and privacy.

History

Etymology

In the 1300s, the name Andaman appeared in old Chinese writing as ʔˠan^H dɑ mˠan (晏陀蠻), meaning "yàntuómán". This comes from a book called Zhu Fan Zhi by a writer named Zhao Rukuo. Later, in the 1400s, the islands were called "Andeman Mountain" during trips led by a sailor named Zheng He.

Early inhabitants

People have lived on the Andaman Islands since very ancient times, maybe as far back as 1,000 years BC. The local groups, like the Andamanese peoples, have lived there for thousands of years. They are very different from most other people in Asia.

Chola empire

A leader named Rajendra I took control of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He used them as a base for his navy to attack another place called the Sriwijaya Empire. The islands were called Ma-Nakkavaram, meaning "great open land".

British colonial era

In 1789, the British set up a small base on an island called Chatham Island. Later, they moved to another place and named it Port Cornwallis. But many people got very sick, and the base was closed in 1796.

In the 1800s, ships that crashed nearby were sometimes attacked by local people. The British wanted to set up another base, and in 1857, they started building a prison called the Cellular Jail in Port Blair. This prison was used to hold many important prisoners, including leaders who fought for India’s freedom.

Japanese occupation

During World War II, Japan took control of the islands. A leader named Subhas Chandra Bose, who worked with Japan, visited and renamed the islands. He raised the flag of Indian independence there in 1943.

Post-World War II

After the war, the British closed the prison in 1947 when India became free. The islands became part of India in 1950.

Late 20th Century – 21st century

Outside visits

In 1998, a group of surfers visited the islands for the first time. They surfed at places like Jarawa Point and Kumari Point.

In 2018, a man named John Allen Chau visited North Sentinel Island without permission. This island is protected, and people are not allowed to go there. Sadly, he was reported to have been killed.

Natural disasters

In 2004, a very big earthquake caused a huge wave, called a tsunami, that hurt many people on the islands. Many homes were destroyed, and thousands of people lost their parents or were left without a home. The waves were as high as 10 metres (about 33 feet). Luckily, old stories from the islands told people to move inland after an earthquake, and this helped save many lives.

Geography and geology

The Andaman Islands stretch out from the Arakan Yoma range in the north and connect to the Indonesian Archipelago in the south. They have 325 islands covering 6,408 km² (2,474 sq mi), with the Andaman Sea to the east. North Andaman Island lies 285 kilometres (177 mi) south of Burma, and some smaller islands, like the three Coco Islands, are even closer.

The highest point is Saddle Peak on North Andaman Island, standing at 732 m (2,402 ft). The islands have a mix of old rock types from the Late Jurassic to Early Eocene periods, shaped by deep cracks and shifts in the earth. There are also at least 11 mud volcanoes, and two volcanic islands: Narcondam Island and Barren Island. Barren Island is the only active volcano in the Indian sub-continent, with its most recent eruption reported in December 2022.

Climate

The Andaman Islands have a warm climate, like other tropical islands close to the equator. The weather is always warm, helped by sea breezes. Rain does not come regularly. It is usually dry when the north-east monsoons blow, but very rainy during the south-west monsoons.

Flora

The Andaman Islands are home to rich, natural tropical forests. You can find tall evergreen trees and mangroves along the coasts. Some areas have forests that lose their leaves during dry seasons. These forests are mostly still wild, even though some trees have been cut down.

Scientists have found special plants here, like a new kind of green algae named Acetabularia jalakanyakae. The islands also have many types of wood used for making furniture and other items.

Fauna

The Andaman Islands are home to many interesting animals, and quite a few of them are found nowhere else in the world. These islands have about 10% of all the animal species in India, even though they make up only a tiny part of the country's land.

The islands have special mammals like the Andaman spiny shrew, Andaman shrew, Jenkins's shrew, Andaman horseshoe bat, and Andaman rat. There are also animals such as the banded pig, spotted deer, Indian muntjac, and sambar, though some of these were brought to the islands later. Interview Island, the largest wildlife sanctuary, has a group of elephants that were once used for forest work.

The islands are also home to unique birds, including the Spilornis elgini serpent-eagle, Rallina canningi crake, Columba palumboides wood-pigeon, and several others like the Narcondam hornbill and various owls and woodpeckers. Many caves, like those at Chalis Ek, are important nesting places for swiftlets, whose nests are valued for special foods.

Reptiles and amphibians on the islands include the Andaman cobra, South Andaman krait, and Andaman water monitor. There is a sanctuary for saltwater crocodiles, which can be found in mangrove areas. It's important to stay away from these areas to stay safe.

Demographics

As of 2011, the Andaman Islands had a population of 343,125 people, up from 50,000 in 1960. Most of these people are families who moved to the islands during the time when different countries controlled the area. They come from places such as Bengali, Hindustani, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam areas.

A smaller group of people are the Andamanese, the original families who lived on the islands long ago. When people from outside areas first arrived in the 1850s, there were about 7,000 Andamanese, split into different groups such as the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Jangil, Onge, and the Sentinelese. Over time, many Andamanese faced health problems from new diseases, lost their land, and had conflicts with new settlers. Today, only a few hundred Andamanese remain. Some groups, like the Jarawa and Sentinelese, still live apart from others and prefer not to meet outside visitors. Their special languages show how different they are from other people nearby.

Religion

Most tribal people in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands believe in a special kind of religion where they think one god, called Puluga, is in charge of everything on Earth. They believe Puluga lives on Saddle Peak and they try very hard not to do anything that might upset him. They also believe in spirits and pay close attention to their dreams, letting dreams guide their choices.

Besides this, people in the islands also follow other religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, and the Baháʼí Faith.

Government

Port Blair is the main town on the islands and serves as the administrative centre of the Union Territory. The Andaman Islands form one administrative district within the Union Territory, known as the Andaman district, while the Nicobar Islands became a separate district called the Nicobar district in 1974.

Transportation

The main airport on the Andaman Islands is Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair, which is managed by the Indian Navy. Before 2016, only daytime flights were allowed, but now there are also nighttime flights. There is a smaller airstrip near Diglipur on North Andaman.

Passengers can also travel to the islands by ship from cities such as Chennai, Visakhapatnam, and Kolkata.

Cultural references

Literature

The Andaman Islands appear in many books. One famous story is The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle, which features Sherlock Holmes. Other books set in the islands include Death in the Andamans by M. M. Kaye and John Dollar by Marianne Wiggins. These stories show different times and events in the islands' history.

Film and television

Some movies and TV shows have used the Andaman Islands as a setting. A 1996 film called Kaalapani tells about India's struggle for freedom and life in a special jail. In 2023, a Netflix series named Kaala Paani imagined a disease outbreak in the islands in the year 2027.