Andaman Islands

Andaman Islands
[[Image:|250px| ]]
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.

A penal settlement existed for a short time in the 1790s but was abandoned due to disease. However, in 1858, after the Indian Mutiny, the penal settlement was re-established to deal effectively with native Indian troops who had recently rebelled. By the late 19th century the independence movement had picked up momentum. As a result, the number of prisoners being sent to the Andaman Islands started growing and the need for a high-security prison was felt. The construction of the Andaman Cellular Jail started in 1896 and was completed in 1906. Most of the prisoners were Indian political prisoners who were housed at the jail until 1937. The penal settlement was closed in 1945.

1st Superintendent
2nd Superintendent

The Japanese occupied the Andaman Islands from 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War.

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
• George Weber’s Lonely Islands, now an archived website, including
  • The Andamanese including
    • The Murder of Lord Mayo 1872
  • Nicobarese including
    • The Nicobar Islands The British in the Nicobars by Dr. Simron Jit Singh.
• History of Ross Island, pdf version as.and.nic.in
• History andamantourism.in
• History of Andaman Cellular Jail andamancellularjail.org, now an archived website.
• The remote Andaman Islands flickr.com Interesting photos showing jail, ruined church and cemetery.
• Charles Tegart of the Indian Police: an unpublished biography by Lady Tegart is available at the British Library with European Manuscripts catalogue entry Mss Eur C235 1881-1946
• "Medical Officer in Cellular Jail", page 32 Doctor Diwan Singh Kalepani by N. Iqbal Singh, Sahitya Akademi Google Books
• In memory of an unsung martyr: Dr Diwan Singh Kalepani The Tribune Chandigarh Monday, 20 November 2000
• The Arracan Expedition, Andaman Islands 1867 A detachment of 3 officers and 100 men of the 24th Regiment of Foot was dispatched from Rangoon on the steamship Arracan to rescue crew members of the ship Assam Valley who had been captured. As a result 5 Victoria Cross awards were made. readinggivesmewings.wordpress.com
• The British leave prior to the Japanese conquest in 1942, page 48 Doctor Diwan Singh Kalepani by N. Iqbal Singh, Sahitya Akademi Google Books
• Japanese occupation of the Andaman Islands Wikipedia
• Details of a film held at the Imperial War Museum: Reoccupation of the Andaman Islands (7/10/1945) The Japanese surrender. colonialfilm.org.uk
• Penal System in Andaman by R.V.R. Murthy Dialogue January - March, 2009 , Volume 10 No. 3 Dialogue (A quarterly journal of Astha Bharati)
• 'The search for Black Rock" by Professor Clare Anderson. Discusses letters in the India Office archives of the British Library dated 1874-77 written by the Reverend Thomas L.J. Warneford

Part I 20 February 2012, Part II 23 February 2012 British Library Blog: Untold Lives: Sharing stories from the past.

• "Come to Ozymandias" [Ross Island] by Lakshmi Krupa June 21, 2013 The Hindu

Historical books online

• A History of our Relations with the Andamanese by M V Portman, Officer in charge of the Andamanese 1899. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org.
• "Port Blair, Andamans" page 68 Reports on mountain and marine sanitaria; medical and statistical observations on civil stations and military cantonments, jails - dispensaries - regiments - barracks, &c. within the Presidency of Madras, the Straits of Malacca, the Andaman Islands, and British Burmah from January 1858 to January 1862 by Inspector General of Hospitals Duncan Macpherson. 1862 Archive.org. Part of the series Selections from the Records of the Madras Government.
• Lists of Officers in Survey and Forest Departments, and in Port Blair on 1st Oct 1872. Pdf download from Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.
• Page 240 Travels of Doctor and Madame Helfer in Syria, Mesopotamia, Burmah and other lands, Volume II, 1878 Archive.org. Dr Helfer travels to the Andaman Islands in 1840 and is killed.
• "Notes on the Andamans" by Lieutenant TM Philbrick HM Indian Navy. Read before the Society 15th March 1860, page 110 Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society Volume 15, May 1858- May 1860 Google Books
• Inspection report on the penal settlement of Port Blair by H N Davies 1867 Archive.org, mirror from Central Secretariat Library, Government of India. Catalogued title includes penel
• Selections from the Government of India Home Department No. LXXVII: Papers Relating to the Nicobar Islands 1870 Google Books
• "A Prisoner in Paradise" page 137 The other way: respectfully dedicated to all good housewives by Ernest Forbes 1899 Archive.org
• "The Andaman Islands" page 148 Oriental Prisons: Prisons and Crime in India, The Andaman Islands, Burmah- China-Japan-Egypt Turkey by Major Arthur Griffiths, late Inspector of Prisons in Great Britain. C 1900. Archive.org. Volume XII in the series The history and romance of crime from the earliest time to the present day. Published by the Grolier Society.
• The Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Local Gazetteer 1908 Archive.org
• Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series: Andaman and Nicobar Islands 1909. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org mirror version
• "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
• And that reminds me 
being incidents of a life spent at sea, and in the Andaman Islands, Burma, Australia, and India, page 48 
by Stanley W. Coxon 1915 Archive.org. The author, probably born c late 1850s was temporarily appointed to the Royal Indian Marine early/mid 1880s and proceeded to the Andaman Islands
• Port Blair 1885 page 62 and in 1886 page 68 Memoirs, with a Full Account of the Great Malaria Problem and its Solution by Ronald Ross 1923 Archive.org. The author was in the Madras Medical Service.
• History of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1756-1966) by L P Mathur 1968. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
• Fiction
  • Death in the Andamans by M M Kaye 1985 Archive.org Lending Library. Originally published as Night on the island 1960.