Andaman Islands

Andaman Islands
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Presidency: Madras
Coordinates:	11.67°N 92.76°E
Altitude:
Present Day Details
Place Name:	Andaman Islands
State/Province:	Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Country:	India
Transport links

The Andaman Islands was the location of a penal colony during the British Raj. Port Blair is the capital.

FIBIS resources

• FIBIS Journal 13 "The Andaman and Nicobar Islands" by Patricia Redmond

India Office Records at the British Library

Church records at the British Library

A number of records appear on the LDS FamilySearch site, refer IGI.

The Church records for the Andaman Islands mainly appear in the Bengal Presidency records, although there are a few in the Madras Presidency records

It appears that from circa 1861 the Andaman Islands were administered by Burma, which in turn was part of the Bengal Presidency. At a later (unknown) date, but by 1893, it was part of the Madras Presidency, as show by this link, page 178 The history of India, revised by Sir Roper Lethbridge 1893.(Archive.org) At a still later date, the Presidency may have again changed, so if you are searching for church records, using the indexes, (either at the British Library, or by using LDS Microfilms) it is suggested you search in both Bengal and Madras Presidency records.

Other records

Records in respect of the Andaman Islands include:

• Proceedings and Consultations of the Government of India and of its Presidencies and Provinces IOR/P includes Port Blair and the Nicobars Proceedings Proceedings of the Superintendent of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands 1876-1921
• Administration Reports: Andaman and Nicobar Islands IOR/V/10/589-628 1872-1940
• Andaman and Nicobars Gazette IOR/V/11/3695-3699 1895-1903
• Histories of Services IOR/V/12 includes Histories of Services: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 1886-1889 IOR/V/12/434
• "The history of the Andaman and Nicobar Police" (anon) Mss Eur F161/26 1858-1960
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Medical Department: Annual sanitary and medical report on the settlement of Port Blair, Andamans, 1869 IOR/V/24/3875
• Coll 5/5(1); Indian Forest Service. Amendments to Cadre in Andaman Islands IOR/L/SG/7/337 11 Jun 1931-1947 Mar 14

External links

• Historical Background Google Books
• Port Blair Wikipedia
• Cellular Jail Wikipedia
• History of Andaman Cellular Jail Andamancellularjail.org
• This India List post is about 'Burials: Port Blair - extracted from returns April 1878 to March 1891'
• This India List post is about government appointments c 1904-1937. There is also reference to the destruction of most of the cemetery at Port Blair due to the tsunami in 2004.
• This review, from The Hindu, of the book Travel Writing and the Empire by Sachidananda Mohanty (Editor), gives details of one of the essays "Colonialism, Surveillance and Memoirs of travel: Tegart's Diaries and the Andaman Cellular Jail", where "Tutun Mukherjee looks at the "Memoir of an Indian Policeman", a compilation made by Tegart's wife of the diaries of Charles Augustus Tegart, British loyalist and Police Commissioner. The Memoir, Mukherjee notes, records a particularly violent chapter in India's colonial history, that of extremism, British repression and brutal colonial incarceration. Travelling to the Cellular Jail in the beautiful Andaman archipelago in 1913, Tegart notes the careful architecture of the prison, recording all the many ways in which the prisoners were kept under control, his eyes ever alert for lapses in vigilance". Available through Amazon.co.uk from the FIBIS Shop

Historical books online

• The Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Local Gazetteer 1908 Archive.org
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands" Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 5, page 350.
• "Port Blair" Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 20, page 191.
• "Act XXVII of 1861. Passed by the Legislative Council of India. An Act to regulate the administration of Port Blair and other settlements in the Andaman Islands, page 31 Hand Book for British Burma compiled by Captain G E Fryer 1867 Google Books
• The Andaman Islands by F A M Dass 1937 Archive.org