Andaman Islands

Andaman Islands, a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal, part of India. Large and small, there are 204 islands. There are five chief islands, known collectively as "the great Andaman." The five islands 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.

Physical Geography

The Andaman Islands lie 120 m. from Cape Negrais in Burma, the nearest point of the mainland. The extreme length of the Andaman group is 219 m. with an extreme width of 32 m. Together with the chief islands are, on the extreme N., Landfall Islands, separated by the navigable Cleugh Passage; Interview Island, separated by the navigable Interview Passage, off the W. coast of the Middle Andaman; the Labyrinth Island off the S.W. coast of the South Andaman, through which is the navigable Elphinstone Passage; Ritchie's (or the Andaman) Archipelago off the E. coast of the South Andaman and Baratang, separated by the wide and safe Diligent Strait and intersected by Kwangtung Strait and the Tadma Juru (Strait). Little Andaman, roughly 26 m. by 16, forms the southern extremity of the whole group and lies 31 m. S. 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. The land area of the Andaman Idands is 2508 sq. m.

Topography

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 (2400 ft.); in the Middle Andaman, Mount Diavolo behind Cuthbert Bay (1678 ft.); in the South Andaman, Koiob (1505 ft.), Mount Harriet (1193 ft.) and the Cholunga range (1063 ft.); and in Rutland Island, Ford's Peak (1422 ft.). Little Andaman is practically flat. There are no rivers and few perennial streams in the islands.

Harbours

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 E. coast: Port Meadows, Colebrooke Passage, Elphinstone Harbour (Homfray's Strait), Stewart Sound and Port Cornwallis. The last three are very large. On the W. 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.

Geology

The Andaman Islands form part of a range of submarine mountains, 700 m. 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. The older rocks are early Tertiary or late Cretaceous. The newer rocks are in Ritchie's Archipelago chiefly and contain radiolarians and foraminifera. There is coral along the coasts everywhere.

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.

Population

Historically there was a native tribal population. The estimated total at a census taken in 1901 was only 2000. There were twelve distinct tribes of the Andamanese. They had neither worship nor propitiation. An anthropomorphic deity, Puluga, was the cause of all things, but it was not necessary to propitiate him.

History

Andaman first appears distinctly in Arab writings of the 9th century. The islands are briefly noticed by Marco Polo, who probably saw without visiting them, under the name Angamanain, with the exaggerated picture of the natives, as dog-faced anthropophagi. The name is probably derived from the Malay Handuman. Later travellers repeat the stories, too well founded, of the ferocious hostility of the people.

In 1788-1789 the government of Bengal sought to establish in the Andamans a penal colony, associated with a harbour of refuge. The settlement was established by Captain Blair, in September 1789, on Chatham Island, in the S.E. 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 N.E. part of Great Andaman, where a naval arsenal was to be established. With the colony the name of Port Cornwallis was also transferred. In 1796 the government put an end to the colony, owing to the great mortality and the expense of maintenance.

In 1824 Port Cornwallis was the rendezvous of the fleet carrying the army to the first Burmese war. In 1844 the troop-ships "Briton" and "Runnymede" were driven ashore. The natives showed their usual hostility, killing all stragglers. Attacks on shipwrecked crews were so rife that the question of occupation was taken up again; and in 1855 a project was formed for such a settlement, embracing a convict establishment. This was interrupted by the Indian Mutiny of 1857, but soon after in November 1857, a commission, headed by Dr F. Mouat, was sent to examine and report.

A new settlement named Port Blair was established in the beginning of 1858. For some time sickness and mortality were excessively high, but the reclamation of swamp and clearance of jungle on an extensive scale had a beneficial effect. For a long time the islands were the final stage in the Indian penal system for life-sentence and a few long-sentence convicts. The number of convicts in 1901 stood at 11,947.

The Andaman islands were later occupied by Japan during World War II. After the end of the war they briefly returned to British control, before becoming part of the newly independent state of India.

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Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed