People from the Stone Age. Real negritos live in the Andaman Islands! sections on this page. Neighborhoods of Port Blair and South Andaman

And all because of the local tribe, whose members do not have a very good reputation - they are very hostile to anyone who tries to land on North Sentinel Island.

Anyone who approaches the island will be attacked by representatives of a local, little-studied tribe that has rejected any contact with the outside world.

In 2006, representatives of the tribe killed two fishermen who fished illegally in those places. Sentinelese have been known to shoot arrows and stones. Sometimes they shoot low-flying aircraft or helicopters trying to explore the island.

An ancient tribe in the Andaman Islands of India

It is worth noting that the island is located in the Bay of Bengal. Its area is 72 sq. km and officially it is under the control of India, being part of the united territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is assumed that the island has been inhabited for 60,000 years.

Very little is known about the tribe living on the island, the language they use and the rituals they perform on the island.

Eat just a few photos taken from afar and almost no video showing local residents.

Everything you can find is pretty poor quality. Also, little is known about the number of representatives of the tribe. According to one estimate, a couple of dozen people live on the island, according to others, several hundred.

It is not known how it affected 2004 tsunami to the island, but the Sentinelese managed to survive. Moreover, one of its representatives, who was being photographed after the devastating tsunami, fired a bow at an Indian Coast Guard helicopter.

Although the island is under Indian administration, the government of the country decided not to interfere in the affairs of the tribe. Previously, the government tried to establish at least some contact with the locals, but all attempts were in vain.

For security reasons, it was decided prohibit tourists and locals from coming closer than 5 km to the island.

Wild tribe of the island

Since the tribe does not leave the island, they eat only what the land gives them and sea animals.

And yet the waters surrounding the island are increasingly filled illegal fishermen. One of the fishermen reported that he managed to set foot on the island and get very close to the representatives of the tribe and escape alive and unharmed.

According to representatives of the non-governmental organization Survival International, which monitors the observance of the rights in relation to the tribal peoples, the Sentinelese are "the most vulnerable people on the planet", since they have no protection against common diseases such as colds and rubella (measles).

The purpose of this work is, first of all, to give an idea of ​​the most characteristic features of the traditional culture of the tribes, a culture so bright and original that its description cannot be generalized. Each, even the smallest tribe, has its own iconic symbols in a costume, its own interweaving of consanguineous and communal principles, its own methods of worshiping numerous local spirits and gods, its own rules for marriage, etc. Let's try to enter this wonderful world, to see the infinite variety of these human communities hidden for millennia, lost in the mountain forests, which are rapidly losing their priceless treasures for the ethnographer, and we will understand that the population of India is not only Bengalis, Rajasthani, Tamils ​​and other multi-million peoples whose language and literature are now studied at universities all over the world, but also a whole host of small forest ethnic groups, striking with the uniqueness of their cultural traditions which should be, if not saved (this is not always possible in our rapidly changing world), then at least studied.

The main arrays of the tribal population, as already noted, are located in mountainous areas India. We will name the main ones, although individual representatives of Adivasis can be found outside their territories. First of all, this is Central India, where the largest tribal population lives. The main languages ​​spoken there by representatives of local tribes are Munda and Dravidian. Adivasi Central India make up about 75% of the total tribal population. The largest among these peoples are the Gonds, Santals, Munda, Oraons, Ho and some others. Another tribal complex is the North-East. Here, after the formation of independent India, a number of tribal states and union territories (Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal, Mizoram, etc.) arose, in which the Adivasis constitute the absolute majority of the population. They speak mainly in Tibeto-Burmese languages, with the exception of one people - the Khasi, the main (along with the Tibeto-Burmese garo) subject of the state of Meghalaya. The Khasi speak one of the Monkhmer languages ​​of Austroasiatic language family. The specificity of the northeastern ethnic region is that, due to its border position, it is a kind of bridge between Indian civilization and culture. South-East Asia. Finally, the third tribal region belongs to the mountains of South India (mountains Nilgiri, Annamalai, etc.), the Dravidian-speaking tribes of this region are at the earliest level of development (some are still at the pre-agricultural stage). Individual tribes can be found in different corners India, in particular, Andaman Islands, whose natives - the remnants of the once numerous Negro race - deserve special attention.

We want to emphasize once again that although Adivasis in government documents act as a whole, in life they are extremely diverse - both in languages ​​and in race (anthropological types related to the Negro-Australoid and South Mongoloid races predominate), and in religious affiliation (tribal cults are often combined with elements of popular Hinduism, many Adivasis are Christianized), and by level of development.

We would like to start with pre-agricultural hunter-gatherers. These include, as already noted, the Andaman aborigines and a number of tribes of South India. Such groups, as a rule, are very small, preserved only in certain areas. the globe. In addition, in recent decades there has been a rapid transformation and, one must admit, degradation. Some peoples (Andamanese) are on the verge of extinction. It is all the more important to describe, as far as possible, the still surviving groups that have come down to us from distant primitive times.

So, India is not only the world of large ethnic groups, but also the land of numerous tribes, whose habitats also serve as markers on the map of India. The Bhotiya, Rajas, Lepchas, Rabhas, and Zaskaris live in the region near the Himalayas. In Central India - gonds, oraons, santals, saora, in south india- Toda, Badaga, Kuramba, Kota, in the west of India - Bhils, Sahariya, Rabari, in the northeast - Garo, Naga, Mizo and others, on the islands in the Bay of Bengal - Onga, etc. About many of these and some other tribes and will be discussed in this book.

Chapter 1

We begin our story with the earliest tribes, the Andamanese, the indigenous people of the Andaman Islands, who are usually regarded as the remnants of one of the oldest human communities. They were able to convey to our time (naturally, not completely in its original form) the earliest forms social organization and cultures recorded by the sources. Andamans were opened to the eyes of amazed observers and scientists, in fact, only in the middle of the 19th century, when, after the Sepoy uprising, the English masters of India turned to these no man's islands in search of a place to organize hard labor.

The Andaman archipelago includes a number of islands, which are combined into two large inhabited complexes - the Big and Small Andamans. The islands turned out to be inhabited - about 5 thousand islanders, among whom scientists identified the boundaries of twelve tribes, were found in the forests of the two main islands. "Great Andamans" - under this name the tribes of Great Andaman were known (these are about ten tribes). Alas, they were, because at present they have already ceased to exist. On Little Andaman, except onge, the natives of this island, whose representatives are still preserved, live jarawa And Sentinelese. Andaman aborigines- onge - negritos, the remnant of the ancient negritos race, which in antiquity, before separation island world from the Asian mainland, was distributed over the vast territory of Southeast Asia, and in modern times was represented only by small groups - Malay semangs and Filipino and this.

It is clear what a sensation it was to discover on the Andamans another group of the once great race, moreover, the least exposed to extraneous influences due not only to the geographical isolation of their islands from the rest of the world, but also to the complex of fear that generations of sailors had in relation to the natives, as well as non-entry islands into the political framework of any country. Andamanese are very dark in skin color, curly-haired, extremely undersized (men - 145 cm, women - 138 cm), with infantile, as anthropologists note, facial features, with steatopygia clearly manifested in women. The purely Asian character of their anthropological appearance is emphasized. The researchers are of particular interest in the fact that no mixtures almost violated the purity of their appearance - this is a truly unique case.

In addition, it is necessary (primarily for the ecologist) to note their organic incorporation into their natural environment - for thousands of years they lived exclusively on what nature itself "prepared" for them, without disturbing the balance with this environment and bringing the same methods to our time. ensuring its existence. This is an amazing example of a long and complete preservation of the balance between nature and man, which is explained by the vastness and richness of the forest expanses of the islands with a small number and small population growth.

Ultimate adaptation to their environment is the main condition for the survival of aborigines in difficult conditions of separation from the civilized world. This adaptation is physiological (skin elasticity, immunity to malaria, amazing visual acuity), psychological (complete accommodation to the gloomy forest wilds that inspire fear in all aliens) and, most importantly, economic. The depth of the latter is indicated, in particular, by the presence of two main groups - forest ( eremtag) and coastal ( ariotto) Andamanese. The knowledge of the sea Andamanese in the field of sea hunting, fish species, their ability to swim and dive, make boats and various fishing gear are amazing. The forest inhabitants are just as remarkable for their excellent knowledge of zoology and botany, the ability to understand the habits of animals and the properties of plants. All Andamanese are well aware of what season to hunt for giant tortoises or wild boars, when which plant blooms and what it has medicinal properties, which gives the most juicy and tasty fruits. Yes, these forest isolates, standing at the level of development of people of the Stone Age, live in their own special natural world in which they feel confident and which for millennia was their only ecological environment, since they had no other types of ecological environment (such as social, ethnic) until their encounter with the new settlers who destroyed their established world.

So, the main occupations of the Andamanese are the gathering of finished forest products, hunting, catching fish and marine animals - what is commonly defined as a "non-productive economy". The fact that the Andamanese never made the transition to a settled productive economy - forestry farming, is due in no small part to the exceptional natural generosity of the islands, which did not create incentives for technological development. I would like to mention one more important point: Andamanese did not go beyond their local geography, collecting everything necessary for life exclusively in their tribal territory. By the way, it was this very moment, after a collision with the outside world, that did them a disservice, preventing them from settling down in new areas of the same forest where they were pushed back by the settlers.

Among lovers beach holiday only one word is associated with India - "". What can I say, we spent almost a month in India, after that most of our friends, acquaintances and strangers, asked us only about Goa. But we will talk far from Goa, we will talk about the "Indian Maldives" - the Andaman Islands. This archipelago is not at all as hyped as the Maldives, Seychelles, etc., but this is only a plus - here you will not find Ukrainian or Russian " beach tourists". To be honest, here is how we made our choice to fly to the Andamans:

• We saw that there are cheap tickets from India to the Andaman Islands (at that time we had already purchased tickets from Warsaw to).
• Typed "Andaman Islands" in Google search, selected "Search by photo".
• Bought tickets.

Just repeat the second point and you will understand why we chose the Andaman Islands, which we have never regretted. The Andaman Islands were ours last place destination in India, this is where we were going to spend our last 3.5 days in India. And that was the biggest mistake. You can live there for months and that's not enough! But this was not the worst, the worst thing was that the airlines shifted flights not in our favor and 3.5 days turned into 2.5 days! A month has passed, and we still scold ourselves for this mistake. So spontaneously we did the itinerary in India that after all the bookings we noticed how little time we had set aside for Andaman. Don't repeat our mistakes!

How to get to the Andaman Islands?

1. Ferry from Chennai or Kolkata
2. Spicejet, Jet Airways, Air India

The ferry is intended for local residents who are ready to spend several days in the water in terrible conditions, along with mice and cockroaches, so for tourists and travelers, the only option is air. You can fly from anywhere in India, but, in any case, you will have to transfer or stop in Chennai or Calcutta.

If you check now the prices for flights from Mumbai or New Delhi to Port Blair (the only airport on the Andamans), you will be pleasantly surprised. We gave a little over 100 euros for the air flight New Delhi - Port Blair - Mumbai. And all thanks to the fact that the airline Spicejet held a sale, in which we were lucky. Therefore, our advice is to always keep an eye on the sales of various airlines.

It is in Port Blair that the only airport is located that accepts all tourists. The airport is only open from morning to afternoon, when all flights take place. Upon arrival, you need to obtain a permit (permit) to stay on the Andamans. It's simple - immediately after getting off the plane you will be invited to a special counter, where you will fill out a form and receive your permit and a stamp in your passport (when you leave Andaman, you will also be given an exit stamp). This permit is required for buying ferry tickets, booking accommodation, etc., do not lose it under any circumstances.

There is nothing to do in Port Blair itself, there is neither to swim nor to relax. Port Blair is waypoint to Havelock Island. Everyone rests there, of course, there are also other islands - for example, the Nile, but all tourists choose Havelock. We met with the Poles who were on the Nile Island, and so, they said that the coast there is rocky, you can’t swim much.

After arriving in Port Blair, everyone immediately goes to the ferry to Havelock. The last ferry departs at 2 or 3 pm, so if you miss it, you will have to spend the night in a guest house and take the ferry to Havelock in the morning. Prices for guest houses in Port Blair range from 400 to 700 rupees.

How to get to Havelock Island?

1. Helicopter. Unfortunately, we do not have information on prices, but this method is 100% possible, since it was offered to us.
2. Ferry. We, like other vacationers, traveled by ferry. There is a state ferry and there are private traders. It is problematic to buy tickets for the state ferry - all locals use it, so tickets must be bought at least a day before departure (in our time, everything was sold out in the next 2 days). Tickets are sold immediately at the station. A state ferry ticket costs about 400 rupees, the conditions, as you can deduct from the Internet, are not very good.
   The best situation with private traders, we sailed with Makruzz. Ticket price - 900 rupees, 5 hours on the road, good conditions. You can only buy a ticket at their office, so immediately after leaving the airport, take a taxi or tuk-tuk to their office (all drivers know where it is). For reference, a taxi at the airport ticket office to the station costs 110 rupees.

There are also other private traders, we don’t remember their names, but at the airport information center they will tell you everything and tell you.

Havelock Island

Here we are finally in heaven. Immediately from the station we take a tuk-tuk and ask him to take us to a good / cheap (it all depends on what interests you) bungalow. We lived in the off season (end of April) and paid 500 rupees per night in a bungalow, although at first the owner wanted 1000 rupees. Do not forget - this is India, you should always bargain here. Even in season, 700-800 rupees is considered an adequate price, but by no means 1000.

There are seven beaches on Havelock, everyone lives on gorgeous beaches(1-6) with luxurious palm trees, white sand and clear water, and go swimming on beach number 7. You can get to it on a rented bike or by bus. The bus schedule can be found in any cafe. Personally, we liked the beach where we lived more - although it was very shallow there, it was possible to enjoy all the delights of the sea climate here. On island number 7, although there is Better conditions for swimming, but the beach itself is not so beautiful.

Prices are about the same as in Goa. The problem with the Internet is from the mob. operators only AirTel works here, free wi-fi does not exist here, there are special cafes where an hour of Internet costs $ 5.

You can eat anywhere: everywhere is tasty and cheap, fruits are also extremely cheap. But the best thing about Havelock is Elephanta Beach. It is not difficult to get to it - first you need to take a bus (or bike) that goes to beach number 7 and ask the driver to stop at Elephant Beach. From the stop you have to go through the forest to the beach, the time is about 20-30 minutes, it is impossible to get lost, the whole road is marked. They say that it is here that you can meet elephants that bathe. Unfortunately, we did not manage to see them, but we liked the beach itself.

Yet again - White sand, palm trees and crystal pure water. Perhaps this perfect place for swimming - the water level changes gradually, there is no rapid descent, the water is so clear that you can see absolutely the entire bottom, many go diving there - besides the crystal water, it is also quite interesting sea ​​world, cute little fish swim near the shore. If you are in Havelock, this beach is a must-see!

You know, I'm not surprised that no one has heard of this cartoon. Don't even try to look for it on the internet, it's not on the internet. As, however, on other media, except for a couple of old cassettes on, it seems, one of the Ukrainian television studios.

Personally, I saw Aboriginal Island when I was five or so. I quickly forgot about him. And many years later, having stumbled on a topic with a very familiar name on one of the forums, I began to recall individual episodes of this nightmarish work of domestic animation.

For those who do not know, I will explain what kind of cartoon it is: "Aboriginal Island" is an animated film about twenty minutes long, released around the eighties and nineties. Unfortunately, I can not remember any of the names of the creators of this "masterpiece". And even if you remembered, it is unlikely that you would be able to find anything about them.

The cartoon starts with the huge name "Aboriginal Island", lined with painted bones. The plot tells us about the old captain Lips and his cabin boy Jack. The captain looks rather depressed, constantly looking somewhere to the side and is silent. Jack, on the contrary, is quite active, jokes a lot, talks about his life before joining the captain's team. To be honest, I never managed to understand what team they were talking about, because there was no one on the ship except Lips and Jack. It's strange, but despite all the talk of the yoongi, from the very first minutes of the cartoon you begin to feel anxiety. The music playing in the background is almost inaudible, although I'm pretty sure I could make out some of the words amidst the incomprehensible thumping of the piano keys. After a while, a storm begins. The ship rocks from side to side. Eventually the screen dims and fades. Jack and the Captain are taken to the island. Indistinct music is replaced by noise, sometimes turning into ringing. Lips looks even more depressed than before, but the cabin boy, having screwed up, has become even more cheerful, apparently not taking everything that is happening seriously. After long wanderings, the team stumbles upon an Aboriginal settlement. This is where the fun begins, all the savages are completely naked! In the children's Soviet cartoon - naked people! When I was five, I got a little scared because it felt like I was watching something meant for adults. However, this did not stop me, and a sense of curiosity took over from embarrassment. Travelers are invited to a special hut where the leader and several sailors sit. Everyone is having fun, eating meat and fruits, drinking, dancing with young girls (despite the lack of music). It's getting dark. The captain suddenly notices that the cabin boy has disappeared somewhere and goes to look for him. It seems that no one lives in the village, the surroundings are empty, the fires do not burn, only a dull thud is heard somewhere far away in the jungle. The captain looks into one of the huts and falls in horror. We see the captain's face distorted with horror. Every crease, every wrinkle of his face, drawn with unique attention to detail. We are shown a hut filled with naked, rotting corpses. Flies crawl over the bodies, severed heads with open mouths and eyes are lying somewhere. I remember what horror this episode produced for me, I wanted to turn off the TV. Goosebumps ran through my body, I wanted to cry. What happened next left me completely shocked. The captain continues to open the doors of the dark, spooky huts. And every time the picture gets worse and worse. Until, finally, the captain notices a small yellow light in the distance. Lips approaches him. The noise grows louder, and a terrible picture appears before us. All the inhabitants of the village are sitting around a small fire, and not far from them lies a legless cabin boy, suffering from unbearable pain. His feet are roasted on the fire. Then the leader comes, says something, and suddenly the music starts playing. The same tune from the beginning of the cartoon. All the aborigines take turns approaching the cabin boy and cut off pieces from him with blunt bone knives. Screams of pain interrupt the music. The captain is watching all this from the bushes, he is sobbing. With nothing left of Jack but a few bones, the captain runs. He runs to the seashore and hears the cries of cannibals behind him...

ALL PHOTOS

The last tribes of the Paleolithic, as it turned out last night, escaped from the earthquake in Asia - fears that they were completely exterminated by the raging tsunami have subsided.

Officials in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands announced that all five primitive tribes had been discovered. Some of them migrated to higher parts of the archipelagos, writes The Times of London (translation on the site Inopressa.ru).

"The great Andamanese tribes are in perfect order," Lieutenant Governor Ram Kapse said, "there are no casualties."

It is believed that less than a thousand representatives of various tribes live in forests with lush tropical vegetation and on the coral coast of the islands, among which are 100 people from the Onge tribe, 250 people from the hostile Sentinel tribe, 48 people from the almost extinct "great Andaman" tribe, 350 representatives of the tribe jarawa and 250 shompen hunter-gatherers.

Indian coast guard ships delivered food to the tribes on the islands affected by the tsunami. At the same time, from the helicopters, other groups of aborigines were noticed hiding in the depths of the forests. The worst fears, fortunately, turned out to be groundless.

Late on Thursday evening, three Navy patrol boats combed the area for signs of life in the Nicobar Islands, home to shompenis. Semi-nomadic hunting tribes fishing and gathering, live in a cautious neighborhood with Indian settlers, 1600 km from the very big island archipelago inhabited by Indians. Now some members of the Shompen tribe have established relationships with the Indian authorities and supply the beads, honey, coconuts and betels that they collect, and the Indian government sells all this on their behalf.

Eyewitnesses were shocked by the destruction of the islanders' zone, which begins at the 35th kilometer, where the demarcation line is located between the mangrove forests inhabited by the natives and the territory occupied by Indian settlers.

"Beyond the 35th kilometer, bridges and dams were washed away, houses were razed to the ground. We saw bodies scattered along the streets," says Rajendra Zhamwal, head of the Navy in Camppell Bay.

Some members of the Shompen tribe, who resemble in Mongoloid features members of the larger Nicobar tribes living to the north, have been completely cut off from the outside world since their ancestors first arrived here about 60 thousand years ago.

A Coast Guard helicopter pilot spotted Sentinel tribes from the air on northern Sentinel Island. When the pilot tried to drop food bags on them, the islanders, he says, started throwing rocks at the helicopter.

"There are disputes about whether to leave them to themselves or try to assimilate," said in an interview. The Times Deputy Chief of Police in Port Blair Vasudeva Rao - but they are believed to be very aggressive."

Members of the Great andaman tribe- the first islanders who fought the British when they arrived in the Andaman Islands in the 19th century to build a prison - are also safe.

Wayne Harrigan, a 46-year-old traveler from Australia, returned from the small Andaman Islands and raised optimism about the fate of the Onge tribe, who were isolated on the island's high ground until Indian Navy and Coast Guard vessels arrived to rescue them.

Dr. Pronob Sarkar, an Aboriginal tribal expert based in Port Blair who works for the island's indigenous relief organization, says Indian authorities care little about Aboriginal people, whose primitive tribal identity places them at the bottom of the caste system.

According to the Dean of the Faculty of Anthropology at the University of Delhi Kalla, among the tribes settled in the Andaman Islands, there are Negrito people who are considered the most ancient inhabitants of the planet. Negrito is a generalized designation for people of the Negrito type of the Melanesian race, Asian and Australian pygmies, their average height- less than 150 cm. Negritos, which means "little blacks", the Spaniards called them.

It is believed that blacks have a unique innate ability to dowsing - they can, at a considerable distance, like a radar, accurately determine where an animal is located. Perhaps this innate ability helped them to feel the panic among the animals, which, at the approach of the tsunami, rushed away from the coast, and escape themselves.