The original inhabitants of the islands lived in the forests on hunting and fishing. There are four Negrito tribes, viz., the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinalese in the Andaman group of islands and two Mongoloid Sentinalese are still hostile. They are still keeping a separate entity and have not yet learnt the concept of covering their bodies.
The modern history of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands begins with the establishment of a settlement by East India Company in 1789. However, in 1796 this settlement was abandoned. Following the first war of Indian Independence in 1857, the British India Government founded the penal settlement in these islands in 1858, primarily known as Kalapani, for the deportation of freedom fighters from the mainland India, which continued till the second World War. During the Second World War, the Japanese forces occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1942. Further following the surrender of the Japanese forces in the Second World War, the British India Government reoccupied these islands in 1945 and continued their administration till the Independence of the country in 1947.
The modern history of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands begins with the establishment of a settlement by East India Company in 1789. However, in 1796 this settlement was abandoned. Following the first war of Indian Independence in 1857, the British India Government founded the penal settlement in these islands in 1858, primarily known as Kalapani, for the deportation of freedom fighters from the mainland India, which continued till the second World War. During the Second World War, the Japanese forces occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1942. Further following the surrender of the Japanese forces in the Second World War, the British India Government reoccupied these islands in 1945 and continued their administration till the Independence of the country in 1947.
LAND
Area :8249sq.km
Capital :Port Blair
Languages :Bengali, Hindi, Nicobarese, Telegu, Tamil, Malayalam
Districts :2
Population :3,56,265
Males :1,92,985
Females :1,63,280
Literacy :81.18%
The Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is known throughout the country as 'Kalapani' because of their having been a penal settlement under the British Rule. The islands lie in a long and narrow broken chain, approximately north-south sprawling like an arc. Andaman group of islands and the Nicobar group of islands, have entirely different population and problems. The dreaded 10o channel which is about 145 km wide and 400 fathoms deep, separates the two groups.
This territory comprises islands some of which are large such as North Andaman, Middle Andaman, South Andaman, Baratang, Little Andaman in the Andaman group and Car Nicobar. Situated in the Bay of Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar islands constitute one of the most important union territories. This is a group of big and small picturesque islands forming a narrow broken chain in the form of a north-south arc and are situated at 16oN and 14oN latitude and 92oE and 94oE longitude. Geologically the islands appear to have been part of the land mass of South east Asia comprising North East India, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Port Blair, the head quarters of the islands is 1255kms from Calcutta (by sea), 1191kms from Madras and 580kms from Yangon (Rangoon).
This territory consists of two distinct groups of islands-Andaman and Nicobar. There are more than 3000 islands, islets and rocks in the archipelago while only about 300 of them are of appreciable size. Of these only 39 islands are inhabited. The northern most point is Landfall island which is 901kms away from the mouth of Hoogly River and about 190kms from Burma. The southern-most island is Great Nicobar, the southern-most tip of which Pygmalian Point now Indira Point is about 150kms away from Sumatra (Indonesia).
The terrain
The terrain is generally mountainous with long ranges of hills enclosing narrow valleys. The configuration of the land clearly points to these islands being the visible ridges and summits of sunken ranges of mountains, Saddle Peak in North Andaman at a height of 732 metres above sea level is the highest point in these islands. There are no great elevations and the slopes are moderate to steep and rugged. They are susceptible to heavy soil erosion. Flat lands are comparatively scarce. The villages in Betapur and Diglipur constitute the main flat lands in the Andaman group.
The islands in the Nicobar group are surrounded by coral reef and shallow seas. Long narrow stretches of sandy beaches are a salient feature of the topography here. Car Nicobar and Katchal are almost flat while the others have hilly terrain. In Little Nicobar and Great Nicobar in the Nicobar group, the land surface is very irregular, cut up by steep hills and valleys.
Climate
The climate of the islands is generally described as tropical and warm but the temperature is pleasant by sea breeze. The islands are exposed to both the monsoons and to north-easterly gale from November to December and south-westerly gale from May to October. The weather is calm only from January to April and to some extend in October. The average annual rainfall is 318cms. Rough weather prevails at the beginning of south-west monsoon and at the change of monsoon. The average temperature ranges between 22.5o and 29.9o.
Forestry
Forests cover 7.171 sq.m of the total area of the islands. The forests come under the general equatorial belt of tropical rain. The main type are the tropical evergreen, moist deciduous and mangrove forests. There are about 200 species but only 44 are harvested, of which only 29 are used for industrial purposes. The most important Andaman timber is the deciduous type which dominate but none of these are available in Nicobar. A few more other important species among hardwoods are, Badam , white Chuglam, Taungpeinne, Lal Bombeive, Nabbe, Red Dhup, Pyinma, Sea Mohwa and Koko. Among soft woods are white Dhup, Bakota, Didu or Semul , Papita, Lambapathi, Thitpok. Among ornamental woods are silver-gray, Satinwood, Marble wood and Chool.
The Forest Department started functioning in 1883. Isolation and remoteness from the mainland has been the main constraints. There has been thus no large-scale forest operation in the Nicobar Islands.
Raising Of Plantations Of Commercial Crops
The Corporation has taken up a project for cultivation of Red Oil Palm on an area of about 2,400 hectare in Little Andaman Island under a Central Sector scheme. This corporation has raised plantation in an area of 640 hectare including 160 hectare raised by Forest Department. This corporation has also produced about 25 Kilo Litres. Palm oil during 1982-83.
Forest Department
The chief conservator of Forests is the Head of the Department. There are three conservators of Forests under the chief Conservator of Forests with their Headquarters at Port Blair. The Forest Department has been divided into 13 divisions i.e. five Territorial Divisions and eight functional divisions.
Management Of Forests
The main functions of the Forest Department are :
Management of the Forests of these islands in a scientific and systematic manner progressively increasing production and sale of industrial wood, firewood and other forest produce. Raising of plantation of economically important species like teak, padauk, soft wood, bamboos and canes. Regeneration of forest areas and improvement of the Forests cover in the interest of soil and water conservation regulation of stream flow and checking of erosion, conservation and Development of wild life.
It also runs two departmental Saw Mills; one at Chathan and the other at Betapur continue to function satisfactorily. The sawn timber was sold locally to Government departments and the public for constructional and other purposes and also shipped to the mainland depots at Madras and Howrah for sale by auction /negotiation.
In 1982-83, the total outturn of sawn timber was 10,503 cum from chathem and Batapur saw mills as against 10,756 cum. during the previous year.
There are research nurseries at Nayashahar, Kalatang, Wimberlygung, Parnashalla and Long Island and the Crocodile breeding is being maintained at Hadoo with an object to rehabilitate their wild habitat.
The forest Department maintained the Mini Zoo at Port Blair with addition of locally available animals and birds. Total number of animals /birds in the zoo is over 300.
There is a forest Training School at Wimberlygung where nearly thirty Forest guards are trained annually.
The Corporation has taken up a project for cultivation of Red Oil Palm on an area of about 2,400 hectare in Little Andaman Island under a Central Sector scheme. This corporation has raised plantation in an area of 640 hectare including 160 hectare raised by Forest Department. This corporation has also produced about 25 Kilo Litres. Palm oil during 1982-83.
Forest Department
The chief conservator of Forests is the Head of the Department. There are three conservators of Forests under the chief Conservator of Forests with their Headquarters at Port Blair. The Forest Department has been divided into 13 divisions i.e. five Territorial Divisions and eight functional divisions.
Management Of Forests
The main functions of the Forest Department are :
Management of the Forests of these islands in a scientific and systematic manner progressively increasing production and sale of industrial wood, firewood and other forest produce. Raising of plantation of economically important species like teak, padauk, soft wood, bamboos and canes. Regeneration of forest areas and improvement of the Forests cover in the interest of soil and water conservation regulation of stream flow and checking of erosion, conservation and Development of wild life.
It also runs two departmental Saw Mills; one at Chathan and the other at Betapur continue to function satisfactorily. The sawn timber was sold locally to Government departments and the public for constructional and other purposes and also shipped to the mainland depots at Madras and Howrah for sale by auction /negotiation.
In 1982-83, the total outturn of sawn timber was 10,503 cum from chathem and Batapur saw mills as against 10,756 cum. during the previous year.
There are research nurseries at Nayashahar, Kalatang, Wimberlygung, Parnashalla and Long Island and the Crocodile breeding is being maintained at Hadoo with an object to rehabilitate their wild habitat.
The forest Department maintained the Mini Zoo at Port Blair with addition of locally available animals and birds. Total number of animals /birds in the zoo is over 300.
There is a forest Training School at Wimberlygung where nearly thirty Forest guards are trained annually.
Andamans
The islands forming Andaman group consist of North, Middle and South Andaman popularly known as Great Andaman. These islands are separated from one another by narrow straits. The four straits which divide the great Andaman's are Austen strait, Homfray's strait, Middle or Andaman strait and Macpherson's strait. On the extreme north away from North Andaman lies Landfall Island; the Labyrinth islands are off the south-west coast of South Andaman, off the east coast of the same island lies Ritchie's Archipelago also known as Archipelago islands.
Baratang, lies between, somewhat to the east of the Middle and South Andaman, and Rutland island near the southern end of South Andaman. At the southern end of the southern group of Andaman islands lie, Little Andaman island. This island which is completely flat is separated
from Rutland island by Duncan Passage in which lies, Cinque Island and a few other tiny islets.
The islands are a mass of hills enclosing very narrow valleys. The whole area is covered by an exceedingly dense tropical jungle. The hill rise especially on the east coast to a considerable elevation. The prominent heights are Saddle Peak in the north Andaman which is 732 metres, Mount Diavolo which is 511m behind Cuthbert Bay in the middle Andaman, Koiob which is 459m, Mount Harriett which is 364 m and the Cholunga Range which is 324m in the South Andaman and Ford's peak in Rutland Island which is 434m.
On the east of Great Andaman lie two volcanic islands namely Nariondam and Barren. Nariondom Island is like a high and lofty flat peak rising out of the deep waters of the sea. Barren Island is the crater of a volcano rising abruptly out of the sea. It lies 114kms (71 miles) to the north-east of Port Blair. Its diameter is about two miles and the ground all round, slopes gently from the sea.
The coasts of the Andamans are deeply indented forming a number of safe harbors and tidal creeks which are surrounded by mangrove swamps. The chief harbors on the east coast are Port Meadows, Colebrook Passage, Elphinstone Harbour (Homfray's strait), Stewart sound and Port Cornwallis. The chief harbors on the west coast are Temple sound, Interview Passage, Port Anson or Kwangtung Harbour, Port Cambell, Port Mouat and Macpherson's strait. Many other safe anchorages for sea-going vessels lie along the coasts. They are Shoal Bay and Kotara Anchorage in the South Andaman, Cadell Bay and the Turtle Islands in the North Andaman and Outram Harbour and Kwangtung strait in the Archipelago.
The islands are formed by the summits of a submarine range connected with the Arakan Yoma of Burma, stretching a curve to which the Meridian 92o E forms a tangent between cape Negrais and Sumatra. The extreme north point of the Nicobars lies in 13o34'3" N and the extreme south point of the Nicobars in 6o45'N.
This curved line of submarine hills extends for 700 geographical miles and encloses the Andaman Sea bounded to the east by the coasts of Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra and communicating with the outer ocean by seven broad channels or openings, six from the Bay of Bengal on the west and one from the Gulf of Siam on the east.
The scenery of Andamans is beautiful and breadth takingly impressive. The multiple range of hills and the sea glistening on some of the coral beds in the innumerable bays are a prominent feature of the colourful landscape. The coastline is heavily indented, providing many natural harbors.
The Nicobar Group lying south of the Andamans extends from 6 to 100 north latitude. The northern-most island is Car Nicobar which lies about 120km to the south of Little Andaman and the southernmost island is Great Nicobar barely 150km from Sumatra. Pygmalion Point also known as Parsons Point which has since been renamed as "Indira Point" is the southernmost tip of India.
The important islands in this group are Great Nicobar, Car Nicobar, Chowra , Teressa, Bomoka, Katchal, Camrota, Trinkat, Pulo Milow and the Little Nicobar. The biggest is the Great Nicobar followed by Little Nicobar, Camorta and Car Nicobar.
Car Nicobar is hilly compared to other islands. These islands came under the British in 1869 and a penal settlement subordinate to that in Andamans was established but it was withdrawn in 1888. Since Independence it has become a Union Territory
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