The Andaman & Nicobar Islands

The Andamans were home for many thousands of years to hunter-gatherer peoples — the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese — whose ancestors are thought to be among the earliest modern humans to settle Asia. The Nicobars were peopled by the Nicobarese and the forest-dwelling Shompen. The islands appear on the edges of ancient trade routes, and an 11th-century Chola inscription names the Nicobars, which Rajendra Chola's fleet used as a base on its way to South-East Asia. The Danish tried to colonise the Nicobars in the 18th and 19th centuries, but disease defeated them, and they sold their claim to Britain in 1868.

After the 1857 rebellion the British founded a penal settlement at Port Blair in 1858 for Indian political prisoners and convicts, with its headquarters on Ross Island. The Cellular Jail, finished in 1906, held freedom fighters in solitary confinement, among them V. D. Savarkar, and "Kala Pani", the black water, became a byword for exile. Contact with the settlement devastated the Great Andamanese, whose numbers fell from thousands to a few dozen. Japan occupied the islands from 1942 to 1945, and Subhas Chandra Bose raised the flag of his Provisional Government of Free India in Port Blair in 1943.

After independence the islands became a union territory, and the government settled refugees from East Bengal and migrants from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and elsewhere. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed thousands, above all in the Nicobars. Recent governments have renamed Havelock, Neil, Ross Island and Port Blair, and a large port, airport and township project on Great Nicobar has drawn criticism over its effect on the forest and the Shompen.

The islands are a mix of settler cultures from across India layered over far older indigenous ones. Hindi serves as the common language, but Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam are spoken widely, and many families trace their roots to the post-Partition resettlement schemes or to descendants of the penal colony, known locally as "local-born". Hindu temples, mosques and churches stand side by side in Port Blair, and the main festivals are those the settlers brought with them — Durga Puja, Diwali, Pongal, Eid and Christmas.

The indigenous peoples live apart under legal protection. The Jarawa inhabit a forest reserve on South and Middle Andaman, the Onge live on Little Andaman, and the Sentinelese of North Sentinel Island reject all contact; the law forbids anyone to approach them. The Nicobarese, who are largely Christian, live in village communities, growing coconuts, pandanus and fruit and raising pigs, and celebrate their own festivals.

The Cellular Jail gives the islands a special place in Indian national memory, and many Indian visitors come as much for this history as for the beaches. Island life is relaxed and quiet, and beachwear is best kept to the beach.

About 380,000 people lived in the territory at the 2011 census, the large majority in the Andamans and more than a quarter in and around Port Blair, the capital, officially renamed Sri Vijaya Puram in 2024. It is a small, hilly harbour town of government offices, markets and ferry jetties. Beyond it the settlements are villages of farmers and fishermen, and places such as Rangat, Mayabunder and Diglipur in the north are market towns.

Government employment, including a large military and coast-guard presence given the islands' position near the Strait of Malacca, is the biggest source of jobs. Tourism has grown fast, especially on Havelock and Neil, and fishing, coconut, areca nut and small-scale farming support rural families. Most goods come by ship from the mainland, and prices, supplies and even the internet — much improved since an undersea cable arrived in 2020 — depend on the link to Chennai.

Days are early and unhurried: the sun rises well before five in summer, shops close early, and ferry schedules shape life on the smaller islands. Current issues include tourist pressure on fresh water and reefs, coral bleaching, the future of the Jarawa reserve road and the Great Nicobar project.

Island cooking is the cooking of the mainland settlers, adapted to a place surrounded by the sea. Fish is at the centre: Bengali-style fish curries with mustard, Tamil and Malayali curries with coconut and tamarind, and fried or grilled fish, prawns, crab and lobster served in Port Blair's restaurants and on Havelock's beach cafés, usually with plain rice. South Indian breakfasts of idli and dosa sit beside Bengali sweets such as rasgulla, soft cheese balls in syrup, in the markets of the capital.

Coconut is everywhere, drunk green from the shell on every beach and grated into curries, and bananas, papaya, pineapple and jackfruit grow on island farms. In the Nicobars, where rice was not a traditional staple, the diet rested on coconuts, pandanus fruit, fish and pork, and pigs remain central to village feasts.

Vegetarian thalis and North Indian dishes are easy to find in Port Blair for the many Indian tourists, and beach resorts cater to international tastes. Alcohol is sold in licensed shops and bars but is less widely available than in Goa, and fresh lime soda and coconut water are the everyday drinks.

Port Blair's great sight is the Cellular Jail, where some wings and the central tower survive, with a museum and an evening light-and-sound show on the prisoners' story. Nearby are the Samudrika naval marine museum, the sunset point of Chidiya Tapu and Corbyn's Cove beach. Boats cross to Ross Island, where the British headquarters' church, bakery and officers' houses are being swallowed by fig roots, and to North Bay for snorkelling. The Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park off Wandoor protects reefs around Jolly Buoy and Red Skin islands.

Havelock Island is the main beach destination: Radhanagar Beach on the west coast, Elephant Beach for snorkelling, and dive sites on reefs and pinnacles around the island. Neil Island is smaller and slower, with Bharatpur and Laxmanpur beaches, tide pools and a natural rock bridge exposed at low tide.

North of Port Blair, the Andaman Trunk Road leads to Baratang's limestone caves and mud volcano, then to Rangat and Diglipur, where Saddle Peak is the islands' highest point and turtles nest on the beaches of Ross and Smith, two islets joined by a sandbar. Barren Island, to the east, is India's only confirmed active volcano, seen from dive boats.

The Nicobar chain, south of the Ten Degree Channel, includes Car Nicobar, Katchal and Great Nicobar, with Campbell Bay and Galathea national parks and Indira Point, India's southernmost point. The Nicobars are closed to tourists, protecting their indigenous communities and forests.