Explore History Of The Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands carry one of the longest and most layered histories in the Indian Ocean - from indigenous communities who have lived here for tens of thousands of years, through a British penal settlement, a Japanese occupation and a tsunami, to the Union Territory travellers visit today.

Who lived here first

Six indigenous groups are recognised across the islands: the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese in the Andamans, and the Nicobarese and Shompen in the Nicobars. Five are classified as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups. Their reserves are protected by the A&N (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956 - entering them, interacting with residents or photographing them is illegal.

The first European settlements

Lt Archibald Blair surveyed the islands in 1788-89 and founded a settlement on Chatham Island in 1789, in the harbour that later carried his name. It moved to Port Cornwallis in North Andaman in 1792 and was abandoned in 1796 after disease. Denmark had already colonised the Nicobars from 1 January 1756 and sold its rights to Britain on 16 October 1868; the Danes never ruled the Andamans.

Kala Pani and the penal settlement

After the 1857 uprising the British needed a remote place to exile rebels. Capt. H. Man raised the Union Jack at Port Blair in January 1858, and on 10 March 1858 Dr James Pattison Walker landed with about 200 convicts. The Cellular Jail was built between 1896 and 1906. In May 1859 several hundred Great Andamanese warriors attacked the settlement at Aberdeen and were defeated by firearms, a clash commemorated on 17 May as the Battle of Aberdeen. In 1872 Viceroy Lord Mayo was stabbed by convict Sher Ali Afridi at Hope Town jetty, the only Viceroy of India killed in office.

War, independence and after

Japanese forces landed at Port Blair on 23 March 1942 and held the islands until October 1945. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose visited on 29-31 December 1943 and hoisted the tricolour on 30 December. The islands joined independent India in 1947 and became a Union Territory on 1 November 1956. The Cellular Jail was declared a National Memorial on 11 February 1979. The earthquake and tsunami of 26 December 2004 killed at least 1,310 people officially, with about 5,600 missing, mostly in the Nicobars.

The names on today’s map

On 30 December 2018 Havelock became Swaraj Dweep, Neil became Shaheed Dweep and Ross became Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep. Mount Harriet became Mount Manipur in 2021. Port Blair became Sri Vijaya Puram on 13 September 2024, recalling the Chola naval campaign against Srivijaya. In January 2023 the 21 largest previously unnamed islands were named after India’s 21 Param Vir Chakra recipients. Both old and new names are still in everyday use on tickets and signage.

Where to see this history

Almost all of it is within reach of Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair): the Cellular Jail and its evening light and sound show, Ross Island, Viper Island, Chatham Saw Mill, the Japanese bunkers along the coast, Mount Manipur, and the Samudrika and Anthropological museums in town.