It is uncertain
whether any of the names
of the islands given by
Ptolemy ought to be attached
to the Andaman’s yet it
is probable that the name
itself is traceable to the
Alexandrian geographer.
Andaman first appears distinctly
in the Arab notices of the
9th century, already quoted.
But it seems possible that
the tradition of marine
nomenclature had never perished;
that the Agathou daimonos
was really a misunderstanding
of some form like Andaman,
while Nesoi Baroussai survived
as Lanka Balus, the name
applied by the Arabs to
the Nicobar Islands. Marco
Polo, 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 cannibals, briefly
notices the islands.
Another
notice occurs in the story
of Niccolò Da Conti
(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 god). Later travellers
repeat the stories, too
well founded, of the "ferocious
hostility" of the people;
of whom we may instance
Cesare Federici (1569),
whose narrative is given
in Ramusio, vol. iii. (Only
in the later editions) and
in purchase. A good deal
is also told of them in
the vulgar and gossiping
but useful work of Captain
A. Hamilton (1727).
In 1788-1789
the government of Bengal
sought to establish in the
Andaman’s a penal colony,
associated with a harbor
of refuge. Two officers,
Colebrook of the Bengal
Engineers, and Blair of
the sea service, were sent
to survey and report. Subsequently
the settlement was established
by Captain Blair in September
1789 on Chatham Island in
the southeast bay of Great
Andaman, now called Port
Blair, but then Port Cornwallis.
There was much sickness,
and after two years, urged
by Admiral William 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 the new
locality. The scheme did
not prosper and, in 1796,
the government put an end
to it, owing to the high
mortality rate and the cost
of maintenance. The settlers
were finally removed in
May 1796.
In 1824
Port Cornwallis was the
rendezvous of the fleet
carrying the army to the
First Burmese War. In 1839,
Dr Helfer, a German savant
employed by the Indian government,
having landed in the islands,
was attacked and killed.
In 1844 the troop-ships
Briton and Runnymede were
driven ashore close together.
The natives showed hostility,
killing all stragglers.
Further attacks on shipwrecked
crews were so common that
the question of occupation
had to be reviewed, and
in 1855 a settlement was
proposed, including a convict
establishment. The Indian
Rebellion of 1857 interrupted
this but, as soon as the
back of that revolt was
broken, it became more urgent
to provide such a resource,
on account of the great
number of prisoners falling
into British hands. Lord
Canning, therefore, in November
1857, sent a commission,
headed by Dr F. Mouat, to
examine and report. The
commission reported favorably,
selecting as a site Blair's
original Port Cornwallis,
but avoiding the vicinity
of a salt swamp which seemed
to have been the source
of many of the old colony's
problems. To avoid confusion,
the name of Port Blair was
given to the new settlement.
For some
time sickness and mortality
were excessively high, but
swamp reclamation and extensive
forest clearance by Colonel
Henry Man when in charge
(1868-1870), apparently
had a beneficial effect,
and the settlement has since
been healthy. The Andaman
colony acquired notoriety
following the murder of
the viceroy, the Earl of
Mayo, when on a visit to
the settlement on 8 February
1872, by a Muslim convict.
In the same year the two
island groups, Andaman and
Nicobar, the occupation
of the latter also having
been forced on the British
government (in 1869) by
continuing attacks on vessels,
were united under a chief
commissioner residing at
Port Blair.
The Andaman Islands were
later occupied by Japan
during World War II. The
islands were nominally put
under the authority of the
Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind
(Provisional Government
of Free India) headed by
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
Netaji visited the islands
during the war, and renamed
them as Shaheed (Martyr)
& Swaraj (Self-rule).
General Loganathan of the
Indian National Army was
Governor of the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, which
had been annexed to the
Provisional Government.
After the end of the war
they briefly returned to
British control, before
becoming part of the newly
independent state of India.
"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 1901 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 laboring
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 harbor of Port
Blair is well supplied with
buoys and harbor 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. The police work
a complete system of signaling
by night and day on the
Morse system. Local posts
are frequent, but there
is no telegraph and the
mails are irregular."
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 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 to better accommodate
solitary confinement; each
cell measured 4.5 by 2.7
meters with a single ventilation
window 3 meters above the
floor. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
had been one of the illustrious
prisoners there. 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
prominent members of India's
independence movement, and
it was here that on December
30 1943 during Japanese
occupation, that Subhas
Chandra Bose, whilst controversially
but reluctantly allied with
the Japanese, first raised
the flag of Indian independence.
At the close
of the Second World War
the British government announced
its intention to abolish
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. The penal colony
was eventually closed on
August 15, 1947 when India
gained its independence.
It has since served as a
museum to the independence
movement.
On 26 December
2004 the coast of the Andaman
Islands was devastated by
a 10-meter high tsunami
following the 2004 Indian
Ocean earthquake. On 22nd
July 2006, 35 Explorer Scouts
and leaders from Hertford
shire, England visited the
islands to begin a project
involving the building of
a permanent adventure center
and refuge for 1,000 people
in the event of further
disasters. The site is on
the outskirts of Port Blair.
