Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands are an archipelago located at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, primarily governed as a union territory of India. This chain consists of approximately 306 islands and 260 islets, with only 24 being permanently inhabited. The islands are home to a diverse population exceeding 434,000 people, which includes both indigenous groups and a significant South Asian demographic. Historically, the indigenous people of the Andaman Islands have faced severe population decline due to external influences and colonization, particularly during British rule when they were subjected to harsh conditions and disease. The islands are geologically significant, formed by the collision of tectonic plates, and host unique ecosystems along with several indigenous tribes, including the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, and the largely uncontacted Sentinelese. The Indian government has imposed strict protections for these tribes and their territories, especially for the Sentinelese who inhabit North Sentinel Island and resist outside contact. Despite their cultural and ecological importance, the islands face growing threats from tourism, overdevelopment, and climate change, which challenge their fragile environment and indigenous cultures.
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Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands are a collection of islands located at the intersection of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The name Andaman is believed to derive from the Malay word for the Hindu god Hanuman. The seven northernmost Coco Islands—cumulatively constituting only eight square miles (twenty square kilometers) of land—belong to Myanmar. The remaining islands of the chain are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory, an administrative region of India. Due to their shared political, geological, and geographical connections, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands are often linked; however, they are separate chains divided by the ninety-three-mile (one hundred and fifty-kilometer) Ten Degree Channel. The Andaman Islands consist of approximately 306 islands and 260 islets, although only twenty four are permanently inhabited. The population in 2019 was estimated at just above 434,000 people. The population is a mix of South Asians—primarily of Indian origin—and the islands' indigenous people. The native population has declined greatly in the last two hundred years and numbers less than a thousand people in the twenty-first century. Into the 2020s, the islands' native ecosystems, which are home to a variety of unique species, are under growing pressure from population increases, overdevelopment, and limited environmental protections.
History
Archaeological evidence suggests that humans have lived on the Andaman Islands since at least 800 BCE, although they have likely occupied this area for longer. The indigenous residents lived as hunter-gatherers and sustained only limited contact with outside cultures. The Malay people who gave them their name used the islands as bases for pirating passing boats. They captured and sold many Andamanese tribespeople as slaves.
The islands and their residents are mentioned in the historical records of other cultures only occasionally. In 1290, Italian explorer Marco Polo passed through the islands on his way to China. He described the residents as uncultured and cruel. He also suggested that the Andamanese had heads similar to dogs. Arab and Chinese explorers also are known to have traveled through the Andaman Islands.
In the mid-eleventh century, the Tamil king Rajendra Chola II conquered the islands and used them as a base in his war against the Srivijaya Empire in Indonesia. In the seventeenth century, the Maratha Empire of India annexed the islands. Beyond a few documented encounters with outside cultures, little is known about the history of the Andaman Islands and their indigenous peoples, as they had no native written languages.
An attempt to colonize the islands by the British at the end of the eighteenth century failed due to malarial outbreaks and the hostilities of the Andamanese. In 1857, after the Indian Rebellion, the British again sought to colonize the islands, this time as a penal colony for prisoners from the Indian Rebellion. A prison was built in Port Blair, the contemporary capital of the Andaman Islands and its largest city. Conflicts between the British and the indigenous population had a negative impact on the various Andamanese cultures. In addition, problems with disease, harsh conditions in the British penal colony, and routine executions of prisoners led to the deaths of thousands of prisoners in the penal colony.
During World War II (1939–1945), the Japanese occupied the islands. After the end of the war and the subsequent independence of India from Britain in 1947, the Andaman Islands officially became part of India. In 2004, the Andaman Islands saw devastation again after a 9.1 earthquake caused tsunami waves that reached as high as thirty-three feet (ten meters). The aftermath of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami claimed the lives of thousands of people.
Overview
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands form a landmass called the Andaman Archipelago that is geologically part of Asia. The Andaman Islands are located between 10° and 14° latitude north and 90° and 92° longitude east. Collectively, they form an area of 2,509 square miles (6,498 square kilometers). The collision of the Burmese and Indian geological plates formed the island chains, and the Andaman Islands are the peaks of a set of underwater mountains resulting from this event. They are part of a massive geologic formation stretching south from the Arakan Mountains of Myanmar to the islands of Indonesia. The three major islands of the chain are North Andaman Island, Middle Andaman Island, and South Andaman Island, which together form Great Andaman Island. Other large islands include Havelock Island, North Sentinel Island, Rutland Island, Little Andaman Island, and Interview Island. Despite their political affiliation to India—lying 850 miles (1350 kilometers) to the west—the Andaman Islands are geographically closer to Myanmar.
The islands are home to several indigenous cultures such as the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, and Sentinelese. The origins of these tribes remain uncertain, but they are genetically different from the indigenous tribes of the Nicobar Islands. They are part of a group of Southeast Asian cultures collectively referred to by anthropologists as Negritos. Although they share certain physical characteristics with some of the Pygmy tribes of Africa, genetic studies suggest that they are more closely related to other Southeast Asian peoples. A 2016 study of members of the Jarawa and Onge tribes found traces of an unidentified human ancestor distinct from other known hominid species such as Homo sapiens, Neanderthal, or Denosivan. No other humans have been discovered to share this ancestry. It is unknown whether this unknown human ancestor was from a distinct race that remains undiscovered or merely the genetic remains of the single common ancestor to all human species.
Among the most famous indigenous tribes in the Andaman Islands are the Sentinelese. Virtually nothing is known about this tribe, including the tribe's official name. The tribe continues to live in isolation on North Sentinel Island by decree of the Indian government. All previous attempts to interact with the tribe were met with hostility, and only a few documented interactions have been documented between the tribe and other groups. The tribe is regarded as one of the few uncontacted tribes in the world. It is believed that the Sentinelese have a population between one hundred and three hundred people.
Most of the Andaman Islands are off-limits to nonresidents because of the highly sensitive military outposts stationed there. Despite this, the Indian government has sought to promote increased tourism in the islands and is looking to develop the islands more. However, this increased economic development has introduced diseases and pests that have placed a great strain on the islands' natural resources into the 2020s. The threat and effects of climate change have also placed enormous pressure on the islands.
Bibliography
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Bandopadhyay, P.C., and A. Carter, editors. "Geological Framework of the Andaman–Nicobar Islands." The Andaman–Nicobar Accretionary Ridge: Geology, Tectonics and Hazards. Geological Society Publishing, 2017, pp. 75–93.
Cooper, Zarine. Archaeology and History: Early Settlements in the Andaman Islands. Oxford UP, 2002.
Endicott, Phillip, et al. "The Genetic Origins of the Andaman Islanders." American Journal of Human Genetics, vol. 72, no. 1, 2002, pp. 178–184.
Hetter, Katia, and Marnie Hunter. "Five Things to Know about India's Andaman Islands." CNN, 14 Mar. 2014, www.cnn.com/2014/03/14/travel/andaman-islands-india-five-things. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
"India - Andaman Islanders." World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, minorityrights.org/minorities/andaman-islanders. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
Lay, Thorne, et al. "The Great Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake of 26 December 2004." Science, vol. 308, no. 5725, 2005, pp. 1127–1133.
Murthy, R.V.R. Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Development and Decentralization. Mittal Publications, 2005.
Sarkar, Sohel. “India’s Plans to ‘Develop’ Great Nicobar Island Threatens Its Unique Wildlife and Indigenous Peoples.” The Revelator, 4 Nov. 2024, therevelator.org/great-nicobar-island/. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
Schuster, Ruth. "Genetic Study of Andaman Islanders Uncovers New Human Ancestor." Haaretz, 1 Aug. 2016, www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.734451. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.