The Fall and The 'Rise' Of The Great Andamanese

It is said that the demon does not strike only once, it comes back.
1858 was that fateful year when the self-sufficient and non-interfering Great Andamanese came in contact with the real outsiders. Though they had occasional encounters with outsiders in their territory like Jarawas, another negrito tribe of south Andaman and the weather weary sailors of the shipwrecked ships. But it was not that fatal as it was 1858 onwards. This was the year when British imperialists arrived in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to extend their colonial tentacles.
In the same year, the British started the building of the vast penal settlement at Port Blair and also the administrative seat at Ross Island, near Port Blair.


The Great Andamanese had never seen such significantly different outsiders as the British colonizers.
The year passed with lot of blood shed and the 10 different tribes of Great Andmanese community resolved their differences and planned a major attack on the intruders in their territory.
In 1859 they attacked the British Police Post at Aberdeen Bazaar at Port Blair in full force but their attack was foiled and the Great Andamanese were mercilessly killed by the barrage of bullets. This battle later went down in history as the 'Battle of Aberdeen'. Their distrust in outsiders became more strong when they came to know, that the escaped Indian convict from the cellular jail, to whom they had become friends, had switched sides before the battle and informed his colonial masters about the impending battle.
In the years to come British colonizers led many punitive expeditions in which a number of Andamanese were killed.


Finally in front of this indomitable enemy, they lowered their arms and extended their hands of goodwill. But by that time also the number of Great Andamanese had decreased considerably.
Their total population, which was more than 7000 before the outsiders arrived, dwindled to 3500 by the time of friendly contact with the colonizers.


This friendly contact which was more favorable to colonizers than the Great Andamanese, also brought new types of enemies in the guise of epidemics and addiction.


The ranks of the colonial force developed sexual liaisons with the Great Andamanese women, who eventually contracted venereal diseases like Syphilis. This resulted in various deaths among the Andamanese men and women.
The extent of the epidemic was so deadly that even the colonizers wanted to fight it by sending the Great Andamanese back to the forest.

But it was too late by that time, the Great Andamanese had also developed addiction of vices like opium, marijuana, liquor etc from the company of Indian and Burmese laborers. This led to further decline in their population from the outbreak of diseases like tuberculosis and cholera.
Their increasing reliance on foreign food also led to further decline in their health and immunity.
By the end of the 19th century their population has reached the bottoms and when in 1930, a head count was conducted they were less than 20 Great Andamanese left.

After India's independence they were camped at Bluff Island (1949) by the forest department which led to certain stability in their population.
In 1969 they were finally settled at Strait Island (1969) and their population was around two dozens at that time.
Someone aptly named Strait Island as 'Government Breeding Center', as the gradual increase in population began from there.

Today in 2006 the total Great Andamanese population counts more than 50, thanks to the 'efforts' of the tribal welfare and police department.
Almost every Great Andamanese women of reproductive age has more than 6 children and when you inquire this from the Great Andamanese men, they mostly deny their complicity about it.

It is startling but sad revelation that, except the few almost all Great Andamanese children today are from non-Andamanese fathers. In fact the Andaman administration has taken pride in showing that due to their 'efforts' the Great Andamanese population has achieved a momentum.
As a matter of fact, it also necessary for their existence cause who will they cater to if there are no Great Andamanese left.


They say that that children are sent by God's hand.
Yes it is true here too only that the God has changed name here: the outsiders.
God or the Demon again?