There are 500 uninhabitated islands with tropical forests, deserted beaches, exquisite coral and marine life within Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands is likely to come as a pleasant surprise In the popular imagination despite its 3.28 million sq. km landmass and its vast unpeopled rural tracts, contemporary India is a heavily overly-populated country with “teeming millions”. Therefore news that there are 500 virtually uninhabited islands, with dense tropical forests, miles of deserted beaches, unique fauna and exquisite coral and marine life within the territorial jurisdiction of India is likely to come as a pleasant surprise for the footloose and fancy free who are terrified by American and European prices and service quality. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie 1,220 km southeast off the coast of Bengal and 1,450 km east of Chennai (aka Madras). These islands are actually peaks of a vast submerged mountain range which rises from the Indian Ocean within the territorial jurisdiction of the Republic of India and extends two-thirds the way between India and Myanmar (formerly Burma) stretching almost to the northern tip of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. They are linked to the Indian mainland not by the ethnicity of their inhabitants but through complex confluences of colonial history. Discovery of the islands was first reported in the 9th century AD by Arab merchants sailing past to the Straits of Sumatra. With a population of 434,000 the islands’ indigenous tribes have been studied for several centuries because of their manifestly different ethnicity, most famously by anthropologist Radcliffe Brown in his book The Andaman Islanders (1922). The main aboriginal tribe of the islands is the Onges, who live on the Little Andamans. They number only about 100, although at the start of the 20th century their population was an estimated 600. Like the other smaller Andamanese tribes such as the Sentinelese and Jarawas, the Onges are of Negrito descent. They practice food gathering, hunting, honey-collecting and fishing and are the only tribe on the islands who are friendly with the outside world. The Jarawas are the largest tribe and inhabit the west coasts of middle and south Andaman Islands. The estimated 150 Sentinelese live on North Sentinel Island and fiercely resist integration with outsiders. Although the islands seem ideal for travellers looking for seclusion, there are significant restrictions. Access to the Nicobars as well as most of the Andamans is denied to everyone except Indian nationals engaged in research or government business. The official reason cited for restricting access is that the tribes are endangered and require protection. The establishment of an Indian Navy base is never cited as a reason, but is likely to have something to do with the restriction rules. The first westerners to set foot on the islands were Danes who established a settlement in the Nicobars and left in 1768 due to poor health conditions. The British surveyed the Andamans in 1789 and established a penal colony but had to abandon it in 1796 also due to unhealthy living conditions.…
