Editing Andaman Islands (section)

===British colonial era===
In 1789, the [[Bengal Presidency]] established a naval base and [[penal colony]] on [[Chatham Island (Andaman)|Chatham Island]] in the southeast bay of [[South Andaman Island|Great Andaman]]. The settlement is now known as [[Port Blair]] (after the [[Bombay Marine]] lieutenant [[Archibald Blair]] who founded it). After two years, the colony was moved to the northeast part of Great Andaman and was named Port Cornwallis after Admiral [[William Cornwallis]]. However, there was much disease and death in the penal colony and the government ceased operating it in May 1796.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=957–958}}<ref name="olivierblaise">{{Cite journal | title=Andaman Islands, India | author=Blaise, Olivier | publisher=PictureTank | url=http://www.picturetank.com/___/series/ff5d5b4d962b08bc130471b877292c58/en/Andaman_Isl.,_India_(1).html | access-date=16 November 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715083143/http://www.picturetank.com/___/series/ff5d5b4d962b08bc130471b877292c58/en/Andaman_Isl.,_India_(1).html | archive-date=15 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1824, Port Cornwallis was the rendezvous of the fleet carrying the army to the [[First Burmese War]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=958}} In the 1830s and 1840s, shipwrecked crews who landed on the Andamans were often attacked and killed by the natives and the islands had a reputation for [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]]. The loss of the ''Runnymede'' and the ''Briton'' in 1844 during the same storm, while transporting goods and passengers between India and Australia, and the continuous attacks launched by the natives, which the survivors fought off, alarmed the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]].<ref>Kingston, W.H.G. (1873) ''Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea''. George Routledge and Sons, London.</ref> In 1855, the government proposed another settlement on the islands, including a [[Cellular Jail|convict establishment]], but the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] forced a delay in its construction. However, because the rebellion led to the British holding a large number of prisoners, it made the new Andaman settlement and prison urgently necessary. Construction began in November 1857 at Port Blair using inmates' labour, avoiding the vicinity of a salt swamp that seemed to have been the source of many of the earlier problems at Port Cornwallis.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The [[Battle of Aberdeen (Andaman Islands)|Battle of Aberdeen]] was fought on 17 May 1859 between the [[Great Andamanese]] tribe and the British. Today, a memorial stands in Andaman water sports complex as a tribute to the people who died in the battle. Fearful of British intentions and with help from an escaped convict from [[Cellular Jail]], the Great Andamanese attacked the British settlement, but they were outnumbered and soon suffered heavy casualties. Later, it was identified that an escaped convict named [[Dudhnath Tewari]] had changed sides and informed the British about the tribe's plans.<ref name="Rapidiq">{{cite web|url=https://rapidiq.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/the-rise-and-the-fall-of-the-great-andamanese/|title=The Rise and Fall of the Great Andamanese|work=Confessions of a Linguist!|date=8 April 2012|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217192515/http://rapidiq.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/the-rise-and-the-fall-of-the-great-andamanese/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="One India">{{cite web|url=http://www.oneindia.com/2007/05/17/who-are-heroes-of-battle-of-aberdeen-1179405748.html|title=Who are heroes of Battle of Aberdeen?|work=oneindia.com|date=17 May 2007|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=9 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709165627/http://www.oneindia.com/2007/05/17/who-are-heroes-of-battle-of-aberdeen-1179405748.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Andaman Sheekha">{{cite web|url=http://www.andamansheekha.com/2012/05/16/tribute-at-the-memorial-of-battle-of-aberdeen-today/|title=Tribute at the Memorial of "Battle of Aberdeen" Today|author=sanjib|work=andamansheekha.com|date=15 May 2012|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=10 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710012822/http://www.andamansheekha.com/2012/05/16/tribute-at-the-memorial-of-battle-of-aberdeen-today/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1867, the [[Merchant ship|merchantman]] ''Nineveh'' was [[Shipwrecking|wrecked]] on the reef of North Sentinel Island. The 86 survivors reached the beach in the ship's boats. On the third day, they were attacked with iron-tipped spears by naked islanders. One person from the ship escaped in a boat and the others were later rescued by a [[Royal Navy|British Royal Navy]] ship.<ref name="Goodheart">{{cite news | url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-28578579_ITM | work=American Scholar | title=The Last Island of the Savages | date=22 September 2000 | access-date=14 June 2009 | archive-date=22 May 2015 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20150522060225/https://www.questia.com/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

For some time, sickness and mortality were high, but [[Land reclamation|swamp reclamation]] and extensive forest clearance continued. The Andaman colony became notorious with the murder of the Viceroy [[Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo]], on a visit to the settlement (8 February 1872), by a [[Pashtun people|Pathan]] from [[Afghanistan]], [[Sher Ali Afridi]]. In the same year, the two island groups Andaman and [[Nicobar Islands|Nicobar]], were united under a chief commissioner residing at Port Blair.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=958}}

[[File:Port Blair 1872 Ross Island Penal HQ.jpg|thumb|right|The Ross Island prison headquarters, 1872]]
[[File:Great Andamanese women - 1876.jpg|thumb|Great Andamanese women and children, with an occasional man 1876]]
From the time of its development in 1858 under the direction of James Pattison Walker, and in response to the mutiny and rebellion of the previous year, the settlement was first and foremost a repository for [[political prisoner]]s. The Cellular Jail at Port Blair, when completed in 1910, included 698 cells designed for solitary confinement; each cell measured {{convert|4.5|by|2.7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} with a single ventilation window {{convert|3|m|ft|0}} above the floor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tyagi |first=Ditriksha |date=2024-09-20 |title=The Cellular Jail, Andaman and Nicobar Islands |url=https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/a13032-the-cellular-jail-andaman-and-nicobar-islands-2/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=RTF {{!}} Rethinking The Future |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Indians imprisoned here referred to the island and its prison as ''Kala Pani'' ("black water"),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andamancellularjail.org/History.htm |title=History of Andaman Cellular Jail |publisher=Andamancellularjail.org |access-date=14 May 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209031136/http://www.andamancellularjail.org/History.htm |archive-date= 9 February 2010 }}</ref> named for [[Kala pani (taboo)|''kala pani'']], the Hindu proscription against traveling across the open sea. Incarceration on the Andamans thus threatened prisoners with the loss of their [[Caste system in India|caste]], and resultant social exclusion;<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bashford |first1=Alison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z72MP1zc4KgC&pg=PA37 |title=Isolation: Places and Practices of Exclusion |last2=Strange |first2=Carolyn |date=2004-06-04 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-40522-2 |language=en}}</ref> a 1996 film set on the island took that term as its title, ''[[Kaalapani (1996 film)|Kaalapani]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0255289/ |title=Kala Pani (1996) |date=12 April 1996 |publisher=Imdb.com |access-date=14 May 2010 |archive-date=12 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112003713/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255289/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The number of prisoners who died in this camp is estimated to be in the thousands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andamancellularjail.org/ListOfRevolutionaries.htm |title=Andaman Islands Political Prisoners |publisher=Andamancellularjail.org |access-date=14 May 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100906201654/http://www.andamancellularjail.org/ListOfRevolutionaries.htm |archive-date= 6 September 2010 }}</ref> Many more died of harsh treatment and the strenuous living and working conditions in this camp.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/21/stories/2005122107881100.htm |title=Opinion / News Analysis: Hundred years of the Andamans Cellular Jail |date= 21 December 2005|access-date=14 May 2010 |location=Chennai, India| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100511175419/http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/21/stories/2005122107881100.htm| archive-date= 11 May 2010 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] | url-status= dead}}</ref>

The Viper Chain Gang Jail on [[Viper Island]] was reserved for extraordinarily troublesome prisoners and was also the site of hangings. In the 20th century, it became a convenient place to house prominent members of India's independence movement.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=13 April 2023 |orig-date=13 April 2023 is from HTTP Last-Modified header; webpage says "Feb 25" with no year specified anywhere |title=Discover the dark history of Viper Island : Where punishment was harsh and retribution was swift |url=https://www.exploreandaman.co.in/islands/dark-history-of-viper-island-andaman |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016195141/https://www.exploreandaman.co.in/islands/dark-history-of-viper-island-andaman |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=ExploreAndaman |publisher=Explore Andaman |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jail at Viper Island |url=https://www.mountainedge.in/Jail-at-viper-island-andman.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016195237/https://www.mountainedge.in/Jail-at-viper-island-andman.php |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Mountain Edge Tours and Holidays Pvt. Ltd.}}</ref>