By: *Muthu Pandi

Pre-colonial era

Rajendra Cholan I (1014–1042 CE), one of the greatest kings of the Tamil Chola dynasty, occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to use them as a strategic naval base to launch a naval expedition against the Sriwijaya Empire (a classical Hindu-Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia). The Cholas called the Nicobar Island Nakkavaram, which is inscribed on the Tanjore inscription of 1050 CE. Nakkavaram in Tamil means naked man or land of the naked, which should have evolved into the modern name Nicobar. Marco Polo (12-13th century CE) also referred to this island as Necuveran. The name of the island, Andaman, might have evolved from the Indian monkey god Hanuman. The Islands provided a temporary maritime base for ships of the Marathas in the 17th century. The legendary admiral Kanhoji Angre established naval supremacy with a base in the islands and is credited with attaching those islands to India.

Danish occupation of the Nicobar Islands

The history of organized European colonization on the Islands began with the Danish East India Company in 1754-1756 when they were administrated under the name of Frederik serne from Tranquebar (in continental Danish India); missionaries from the Moravian Church Brethren settlement in Tranquebar attempted a settlement on Nancowry and died in great numbers from disease; the Islands were repeatedly abandoned due to outbreaks of malaria in 1784, 1807-09, 1830-1834 and finally from 1848 gradually for good. Between 1778 and 1783, Austria attempted to establish a colony on the islands on the mistaken assumption that Denmark had abandoned its claims to the islands. Danish involvement ended formally on October 16, 1868, when the Danish rights to the Nicobar Islands were sold to Britain, which made them part of British India by 1869 when the British took possession.

British colonial period

After an initial attempt to set up a colony in the islands by the British was abandoned after only a few years (1789-1796), a second attempt in 1858 proved more permanent. The primary purpose was to set up a penal colony for dissenters and independence fighters from the Indian subcontinent. The British used the islands as an isolated prison for members of the Indian independence movement. The mode of imprisonment was called Kala Pani. The Cellular Jail in Port Blair was regarded as the Siberia of British India. The Islands were administered as a Chief Commissioner Province. The British continued their occupancy until the Japanese invasion and occupation of the Andaman Islands during World War II.

Indian Control

The islands were nominally put under the authority of the Hukumate Azad Hind of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Netaji visited the islands during the war and renamed them Shaheed-dweep (Martyr Island) and Swaraj-dweep (Self-rule Island). General Loganathan of the Indian National Army was made the Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. On February 22, 1944, he and four INA officers—Mansoor Ali Alvi, Sub. Lt. Md. Iqbal, Lt. Suba Singh, and stenographer Srinivasan- arrived at Lambaline Airport in Port Blair. On March 21, 1944, the Headquarters of the Civil Administration was established near the Gurudwara at Aberdeen Bazaar. On October 2, 1944, Col. Loganathan handed over the charge to Maj. Alvi, who left Port Blair, never to return. The Islands were re-occupied by British and Indian troops of the 116th Indian Infantry Brigade on October 7, 1945 to whom the remaining Japanese garrison surrendered.

At the independence of both India (1947) and Burma (1948), the departing British announced their intention to resettle all Anglo- Indians and Anglo-Burmese on the islands to form their nation, although this never materialized. It became part of the Indian Union in 1956. It was declared a union territory in 1956. Throughout the article, I want to make sure that people are aware of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' history.

Muthu Pandi is a Freelance Anthropologist in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He may be contacted over email ID This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.