The Andaman Islands and their small people are the stories of the land. Onji - the last Andaman natives

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 amazing world, see the endless variety of these hidden on millennia, lost in the mountain forests of human communities, 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 being studied at universities around 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 masses of the tribal population, as already noted, are located in the mountainous regions of 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. The Adivasis of 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 the 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 the culture of Southeast 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, the 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 in number and have survived only in certain regions of 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 southern India - toda, badaga, kuramba, kota; in western India - bhils, sakaria, rabari; Bay of Bengal - Onge, etc. Many of these and some other tribes 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 of social organization and culture 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 natives - Onge - Negritos, the remnant of the ancient Negritos race, which in ancient times, before the separation of the 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 time of the year to hunt for giant tortoises or wild boars, when which plant blooms and what medicinal properties it has, 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 note one more important point: the Andamanese did not go beyond their local geography, collecting everything necessary for life exclusively on 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.

The book of the American scientist R. Furle "Erectus wanders between us" is devoted to a discussion of the most controversial and complex issues of modern evolutionary anthropology. Acting as a critic of the position of egalitarianism, R. Förle systematizes and cites in his book numerous scientific data on genetic, anatomical, physiological, psychological, behavioral, and cultural differences between the main races. Being a staunch opponent of the theory of the origin of man from Africa, the author, based on the data he cites from various scientific fields (including physical anthropology, population genetics, psychology, medicine, sociology, criminology), develops the concept of origin modern man from Eurasia.

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“Ancient times in the Congo are almost a completely blank slate, so that we cannot come close to understanding the condition of the Negroes in the past. At the same time, we are unable to find their ancient traces anywhere else. We don't know anything about the Negroes…”

(Howells, 1948, pp. 279, 295, 297).

"In the territory of the Negroes - the main genetic base of peoples completely different from whites and Mongoloids - we find practically no history at all." (Howells, 1959, p. 303)

According to the I-and-A theory, the current Africans evolved to the modern human anthropological type (Hss) in Africa, left Africa 65,000 years ago, migrated to Asia, replacing all then its inhabitants without mixing with them, and then lost their African alleles and acquired completely new Asian alleles. According to the I-and-E theory, Mongoloids and Caucasoids evolved separately for more than 2 million years, but from time to time interbreeding occurred between their lines, but the African line did not evolve so much as acquire signs.

All mankind evolved "up, up and further" from an ape-like ancestor, but Africans did not evolve that far for the simple reason that they remained in the same habitat in which this ape-like ancestor lived (that is, they were close to equilibrium, see . Chapter 4, Rule 10) and were not subjected to rigorous selection under the influence of the northern climate. Moreover, only a small fraction of the evolutionary change in Africans is due to the selection of traits encoded by mutations that originated in Africa. In contrast, Africans predominantly received Eurasian-originated mutations when Eurasian hominids migrated to Africa and interbred with them (Luis, 2004; Garrigan, 2007). If Eurasian hominids had never entered Africa, there would be no members of the genus Homo today.

Primate migrations from Eurasia to Africa may have begun as early as the time of the prosiminae, followed by quadrupedal apes, upright apes, australopithecines, erectus, northern Hs, and finally Hss. Over time, migrations occurred from one part of Eurasia, then from another, then, probably, in the opposite direction, this time more evolutionarily developed hominids migrated. And so on back and forth for millions of years.

Since the intervals between migrations to Africa were not so long that new and old migrants evolved into different species, interbreeding between them, producing viable offspring, was possible and common. As usual, only the hybrids best adapted to African conditions survived. The number of more evolutionarily advanced migrants entering Africa was at all times much smaller than the number of evolutionarily less advanced early migrants with whom they could interbreed. Therefore, new migrants were absorbed and left behind very few fossils; the only evidence for their existence was the presence of their alleles in their hybrid offspring. Thus, for more than a million years, a huge number of alleles of the evolutionarily more advanced inhabitants of Eurasia fell into the genome of African primates, which is why Africans have the greatest genetic diversity (Fig. 19-2) and have no ancestors.

Upon arrival in Africa, the evolutionarily advanced hominids and their hybrid offspring displaced the less advanced hominids from their territories in Northeast Africa. The early more primitive migrants did not die out immediately, but retreated to inferior territories, their numbers dwindling, but they survived for many, many years before disappearing entirely.

In the meantime, let's return to Eurasia, where the alleles formed that allowed hominids to turn into modern humans. There, too, similar processes took place, but hundreds of thousands of years earlier than in Africa. Namely, when a new allele spread in Eurasia, it was adaptive in Eurasian conditions and probably provided better resistance to cold or increased intelligence, which helped to successfully survive harsh winters. In Eurasia, moreover, interbreeding took place between hominids with and without new alleles, producing hybrid offspring, and just as in Africa, only the fittest survived. The difference, however, is that this process took hundreds, if not millions, of years to spread new alleles among the individuals who might have brought them to Africa. Thus, on the path of the formation of modern man, Africa has always been hundreds of thousands of years behind Eurasia.

Now the legitimate question is, "Why didn't these new alleles also arise in Africa?" No doubt some of the African-specific alleles arose there, and others may have arisen over time. But when new alleles emerged in Africa, they spread as single alleles, so that individuals who had them either succeeded or failed because they had only one allele. When alleles were brought to Africa by migrants from Eurasia, they were brought not as single alleles, one for each individual, but as sets of compatible alleles. Those with the entire set of alleles did or did not do well on the basis of the whole set being generally more favorable than a single allele. In addition, the negative effect of a small number of alleles maladaptive in Africa could be offset by the positive effects of the remaining adaptive alleles in the set. Gradually, the maladaptive alleles were to disappear. As discussed above (Chapter 14), the alleles for high intelligence were probably maladaptive in Africa and have been lost since even Africans in Northeast Africa now have very low IQs (Lynn, 2006a).

The migrants brought with them not only their genes, they also brought their culture, and because their culture was more developed, this provided them with a significant advantage. An allele with an African culture could be maladaptive, but an allele with a Eurasian culture could be adaptive even in Africa. For example, the allele that ensures the digestion of milk does not give advantages to peoples who do not keep herds of herbivorous mammals, that is, in Africa, but it is favorable in Eurasia, where herds are kept.

Early primates migrated to Africa from the Eurasian tropics and could easily adapt to African conditions. The hominids that came later migrated from a colder climatic zone, as a result of which they were not adapted to the conditions of the tropics, that is, they were not resistant to tropical diseases, and most of them did not survive for a long time, so very few fossil remains remained from them. Chapter 23 describes some of the early hominids up to the Australopithecus that may have migrated to Africa. The first migrants of the genus Homo may have been the early H. habilis, better adapted to Eurasia than to Africa, but with some advantages, such as better tools and weapons, giving an advantage also in Africa. The remains of Homo georgicus are very similar to the remains of the African H. habilis, H. ergaster and H. erectus, as well as the remains of the Heidelberg man found in Africa.

Eurasian hominids hybridized with tropical disease-resistant native hominids before becoming extinct, producing offspring with various combinations of traits from parental populations. Hybrids, possessing both resistance to tropical diseases and some progressive traits of Eurasian hominins, overcame selection and survived, gradually spreading across Africa, although evolutionarily always remaining hundreds of thousands of years behind the natives of Eurasia. The only trace of all the diverse migrants that came to Africa for more than 2 million years is the wide variety of alleles and the traits they encode, found in today's Africans (Fig. 19-2). The family tree shown in Figure 26-1 shows how, starting with the four-legged great apes, Africans moved forward under the influence of waves of Eurasian hominids migrating there, introducing alleles of more progressive traits into the African gene pool.

Figure 26-1

Figure 26-2

Figure 26-2 shows the settlement areas of some African tribes (Howells, 1948, p. 271). The arrows show three migration routes to Africa (the Isthmus of Suez and the Horn of Africa) and out of Africa (the Strait of Gibraltar). Note that below the African whites zone lies the "Zone of mixture", stretching across the entire continent, including the Horn of Africa and most of South Africa. The Hottentots and Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert are right in the middle of the "Mixing Zone". "Forest negros" (Forest negro) are Kongoids living in and around the Congo and Niger river basins, from where African Americans originate.

The Sahara desert was "an almost insurmountable barrier to the movement of man from North to South", except during the ice ages, when there was a "temperate humid climate" (Howells, 1948, p. 270). Thus, the Sahara desert was inhabited and easily overcome only during the ice ages, which drove the inhabitants of Eurasia to the South, to Africa.

Note that North Africa and what is now Egypt were inhabited by whites, and that whites must have migrated from Africa through the Strait of Gibraltar. If Africans migrated out of Africa, as the I-and-A theory claims, then it is difficult to explain how so many North Africans could turn out to be white. Indeed, the migrating Africans were not supposed to turn white by staying in Ethiopia and Egypt. It can be assumed that all Africans were black, especially in northern Africa, through which they supposedly moved on their way to Eurasia. In reality, the population North Africa was white, and this "whiteness" decreases as one moves south and west into the Congo, which suggests that all migrations were made by whites to Africa, but not by blacks from Africa.

Barring periods of unpredictable droughts, African hominins lived under the stable conditions of a tropical climate that had existed in Africa for millions of years. The more stable the environment, the less the living creatures that live in it evolve (Chapter 4, Rule 6). That is, any new and unusual traits that emerged in Africa were probably not as favorable as the traits that African hominids already had and worked well in Africa for millions of years.

Figure 26-3

Figure 26-3 ("World Book Encyclopedia") shows climatic zones Africa. white population mediterranean coast Africa (Fig. 26-2) could penetrate into Africa through the Strait of Gibraltar or through the Isthmus of Suez, but moving further South was feasible only when the Sahara was not a desert. But for the settlers who penetrated into Africa in the Horn of Africa and in Ethiopia, the movement to the South was possible at any time. Starting in Ethiopia, the settlement of Africa could have gone south along the East Coast to the southern tip of the continent, and then again north along the West Coast.

There are many diverse peoples in Africa, but we will consider only a few of the most diverse from the most diverse countries.

Since the Congoids are the most Simian-like Africans and live in one of the most inaccessible regions of Africa for migrants from Eurasia, they are probably the descendants of the oldest hominids that migrated to Africa. Tropically adaptive Congoid traits, such as dark, hairless skin and short, black curly hair on the head, were most likely brought to Africa by tropically adapted upright apes, possibly a species of Australopithecus. Although the Hs and Hss that migrated south in both Southeast Asia and Africa displaced the more primitive hominids, in Southeast Asia the primitive hominids were driven to the islands and mixed with the newcomers to a lesser extent. In Africa, however, these Hs and Hss did not survive. As a result, a smaller number of alleles of these Hs and Hss got into the African genome, especially in isolated Congoids, which thus retained more features of their ape-like ancestors.

Nigerians are the African tribe most genetically related to chimpanzees (Deka, 1995). Nigeria is located on the West Coast of Africa (Fig. 17-6), which makes it difficult to reach from the Middle East, from where migrants from Eurasia could reach it, either moving through the middle of Africa or south along the coast to the tip of Africa and then back to the North along the East Coast across the equator with the South American Indians than with the Africans of West Africa” (Haywood, 2000, p. 44). Note also (Fig. 7-3) that the Mbuti Pygmies in the Congo are at the greatest genetic distance from the peoples of Eurasia.]. Thus, in comparison with all Africans, Nigerians either received fewer infusions of Homo genes from the natives of Eurasia, or they turned out to be better adapted in this territory and only hybrids that retained more primitive traits could survive. The area where Nigerians live is "the jungle of the Congo and the Slave Coast of the West Coast of Africa" ​​(Howells, 1948, p. 270), home to chimpanzees and gorillas. This suggests that interbreeding between human and chimpanzee lineages described in the literature (Patterson, 2006; Arnold, 2006) occurred in the Congo in the West African lineage. This explains the presence of simian-like features in African Americans, originating from West Africa.

In order to understand the origin of the San and Hottentot peoples, it is necessary to briefly consider some of the inhabitants of Asia. As the number of Asian hominids increased, they spread along the coast of Asia to the West and then to Africa (Olivieri, 2006). One of these populations descended from tropical-adapted australopithecines that lived in India. Today, a small remnant of these people still live in the Andaman Islands (fig. 26-4; Coon, 1962, p. XVIII), a chain of small islands in the Bay of Bengal east of India. About 60,000 years ago, during the first ice age, the Andaman Islands were accessible from the coast of mainland India, and these people probably also lived there. They either increased their numbers and migrated to Africa, or they were forced out there by more advanced northern hominids moving south to escape the glaciation.

Figure 26-4

Although the buttocks of the woman in figure 26-4 are partially hidden, it is obvious that they are huge. Steatopygia (lit. "fat ass") is a very unusual and very primitive sign associated with the buttocks of female great apes and marmosets, swelling and turning bright red, signaling the onset of ovulation to males. Although in our case these are fat reserves, probably to help survive periods of famine, enlarged buttocks could be attractive to males, just as the swollen buttocks of females are to males of other primates. A similar influence on men was the bustle dress worn by English ladies in the Victorian era in the late 1800s. Since enlarged buttocks are associated with great apes, the presence of steatopygia in living humans suggests that the earliest migrants to Africa were apparently tropical-adapted Australopithecus from India.

If the ancestors of the Andaman Islanders came to Africa, then it should be possible to find traces of this population there. The Hottentots (aka the Coy) are a tribe closely related to the Bushmen. Both of them speak a monosyllabic "click" language. Their Y-chromosome haplogroup A is the oldest in the human lineage (Knight, 2003). The Hottentots lived in South Africa near the Cape of Good Hope. Purebred Hottentots no longer exist, some of them died out as a result of a smallpox epidemic, and the rest mixed with other Africans. But at the beginning of the 19th century, descriptions and drawings of the Hottentots were made, and we have not only their bones, as in the case of other extinct populations. Hottentot women looked more unusual than their men. Figure 26-5 shows the most famous Hottentot woman known as the Hottentot Venus.

Figure 26-5

This woman, like the native Andaman Islander (Fig. 26-4), has extremely large buttocks. In addition, this woman had extremely developed labia minora and large areolas with depressed nipples. Her face was flat, similar to a Mongoloid, except for protruding teeth and angled incisors, as in other Africans (Coon, 1962, p. 646). The brain of the Hottentots was small and had a simplified structure.

The Bushmen (or San), a pygmy tribe of hunter-gatherers living in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, are the most primitive people on earth. Figure 26-6 is a photograph of a Bushman man. As you can see, even their men have steatopygia. It is steatopygia that binds together the Andaman Islanders, Hottentots and Bushmen as descendants of one population.

Figure 26-6

Figure 26-7

Now let's look at another bushman (woman) in Figure 26-7 (Coon, 1962, Plate V). Although the Bushmen have some African features (large lips, flat nose, small ears, and curly hair), they also have some neotenic Mongoloid features (Cruciani, 2002), including light, yellowish skin and a flat face; these traits are adaptations to the cold and are common among the neotenic natives of East Asia. Unlike other Africans, Bushmen are monogamous, which is typical for the cold North. Bushmen also have spatulate incisors, and many newborn Bushmen have "Mongolian spots" at the base of the spine. Along with Mongoloid traits, Bushmen's DNA is 56% Middle Eastern. That is, interbreeding probably took place between the steatopygic Andaman Islander lineage with the neotenic East Asian lineage. Interbreeding took place in Asia rather than Africa, since the Bushmen originally lived in North Africa (where the Eurasian natives penetrated into Africa), before being pushed south by newly arrived migrants. Because the Bushmen were less able to fight back against other tribes, they now occupy less habitable territories in the Kalahari Desert. The desert, however, may have helped them escape malaria-carrying mosquitoes and avoid being completely destroyed by later, more advanced migrants.

Bushmen's small size may be because their tropical-adapted Australopithecus ancestors were also small, or long-term calorie restriction, a condition that makes large, energy-hungry brains burdensome. When there is not enough food, then individuals whose bodies require the least amount of energy are more likely to survive, and individuals with smaller brains consume relatively less energy. As a result, the brain size has decreased, which causes the Bushmen to have the lowest IQ (54 points) of all tested populations and the smallest brain-to-body mass ratio (even lower than that of the Southern Islanders). Pacific Ocean).

As the example of the Bushmen shows, it is quite possible to be neotenous (which is not a primitive trait in humans), but to have a small brain. On the contrary, the example of the Neanderthals shows that it is equally possible to have primitive features (powerful brow ridges, sloping forehead) but still have a large brain.

“But originally they [the natives of East Africa] must have belonged to the Upper Paleolithic variety of white people with a large skull. ... People like them lived in the South of Russia in the Mesolithic and, probably, in the Middle East ”(Howells, 1959, p. 313). “To put it simply, if the skull means anything, it is the whites, and not any other aliens, who have been firmly rooted in East Africa since the late Pleistocene” (Ibid., p. 311). Thus, this is consistent with southward migrations of Caucasians to Africa.

Figure 26-8

Cro-Magnons, retreating under the onslaught of ice to the South during the Ice Ages, migrated to Africa and hybridized with the population already living there. Figure 26-8 shows a Somali (who emigrated to Russia) who has a Caucasoid appearance. Although there are Caucasoid traits, the behavior of Northeast Africans remains African, as is their IQ (Ethiopia = 63, Somalia = 68, Kenya = 72; Lynn, 2002a). The existence of Bushmen and Somalis in Africa at the present time proves that Europeans migrated to Africa in antiquity.

Thus, Africans are the descendants of at least three types of tropically adapted australopithecines: (1) Indian australopithecines with steatopygia, for example, the ancestors of the Andaman Islanders, (2) Asiatic australopithecines with neoteny and cold adapted, for example, like the negritos of the islands Pacific Ocean, and (3) more universalized australopithecines, which did not have the specializations of the first two species, but were adapted to the tropics. Some of the lines of the more universalized Africans, which did not undergo significant mixing with Europeans, retained their inherent features of the Simians (Kongoids), while others mixed much more significantly and lost their Simian features (Natives of Northeast Africa) to a greater extent. The last common ancestor (LCA) of these three Australopithecus species, probably most similar to species 3, was also adapted to warm climates, but to a lesser extent to the tropics. Living in the tropics for millions of years, Australopithecus species 3 must have retained Simian prognathism (Figs. 25–10) plus the tropical specializations of their ape-like bipedal ancestors, such as advanced sweat glands, dark hairless skin, and short, curly black head hair. Boskop

Sometimes there are "anomalies" that do not seem to fit into the theory or cannot be explained within its framework. You can view the anomaly as an annoying nuisance that you can sweep under the carpet, hoping that no one will notice, or, on the contrary, as a guiding thread to a deeper understanding of the issue. The boskop is an anomaly that any theory of human origins must decide, although it is not easy to determine which boskop theory is correct.

Figure 26-9

There is little information about the Boskop (otherwise Homo capensis), just a few skull fragments found in the Transvaal, in the northwestern part of South Africa. Figure 26-9 shows a reconstruction of the skull, where the preserved fragments are shown in darker color. Although the skull has been dated to only 30,000 to 10,000 years old, the skull bones are thick and the lower jaw is massive and protruding. It is described as "modern looking" (neotenian) because it has a high forehead and large intracranial volume and looks like a Caucasoid, but the protruding lower jaw makes it similar to African skulls (see Fig. 9-4). Its cranial index (skull width divided by length times 100) is 75.1 according to some sources and 76.19 according to others, slightly higher than the value of modern Africans (< 75, см. таблицу 9–1). Это предполагает некоторую долю европеоидной родословной. Тем не менее его внутричерепной объем определен в 1860 см, что больше значения европейцев (1441 см), намного больше значения африканцев (1338 см) и даже больше значения неандертальцев (1450 см) и люцзяньского человека (1480 см). Более того, Боскоп считается родственным готтентотам и бушменам, имеющим очень небольшой внутричерепной объем. Каким же образом обитавший в Южной Африке Боскоп приобрел такие признаки?

Taking into account some Hottentot-Bushman and some Caucasoid signs of Boskop, it can be assumed that the Cro-Magnons who reached the Horn of Africa and migrated further to the South hybridized along the way with the local population, although this does not explain the large intracranial volume.

We only know that today there are no Africans with big brains. The disappearance of large-brained Africans such as Boskop and Eurasians who contributed their alleles to Bushmen (IQ = 54, Lynn, 2006a, p. 169) and Somalis (IQ = 68, Lynn, 2002a) is evidence that the optimal the level of intelligence in Africa is much lower than in Eurasia (see Chapter 14, section “Intelligence as a Burden”). In North Africa, the lighter-skinned and somewhat more intelligent hybrids adapted best (mean IQ = 84; Lynn, 2006a, p. 80), but south of the Sahara it turned out to be darker-skinned, less intelligent individuals (mean IQ = 67; Lynn , 2006a, p. 225) and retaining more features of erectus. Thus, for all large-brained Caucasians who migrated to Africa, the excess of their brain tissue became an unbearable burden, and they had to disappear, like Boskop.

It is colder today in southern Africa, where Boskop was discovered, but not as cold as in Eurasia. The big brain was not so useful there in view of the absence of such a cold winter, when snow covers the ground for several months. Figure 26-10 shows average monthly temperatures in Bloemfontein, South Africa's coldest city (due to its elevated position), but even there temperatures rarely reach the freezing point of water.

Figure 26-10

However, there were times in the past when the temperature in Africa, at least in the highlands, was lower, and a large brain and high intelligence should have given their owners an advantage. Under such conditions, the optimal brain size in Africa should have been larger, and the large-brained northerners who migrated to Africa from cold Europe could maintain their previous brain size or even increase it. When the climate in Africa warmed up again, large-capacity brains again became a burden, and the individuals who had them died out.

Two skeletons discovered in Italy, in the Grimaldi cave near Menton on the Côte d'Azur mediterranean sea, are another anomaly. They date back to 30,000 BC. e. and look like a Caucasoid-Negroid hybrid, but closer to Caucasoid than Boskop. One of the skeletons belonged to a woman 1.58 m tall, and the other to a teenage boy 1.55 m tall (Fig. 26–11). Negroid features of these skeletons are wide nasal passages, large teeth, forward-tilted incisors, a protruding lower jaw, a small chin and long forearms and legs, while Caucasoid features are a high forehead, features of fusion of the frontal bones, a large intracranial volume (1375 cm in a woman and 1580 cm in a boy) and protruding nasal bones.

Figure 26-11

Above the remains of Grimaldi, a Cro-Magnon skull was buried, and below them were the remains of a Neanderthal, which suggests that Neanderthals previously lived there, then hybrid Grimaldi appeared, and finally Cro-Magnons occupied this territory. A possible explanation is that the Ice Ages pushed the Cro-Magnons to Africa, where they mixed with the Africans to form the Grimaldi hybrid. When the ice receded, the hybrids spread north along the Mediterranean coast. They were later replaced by non-hybridised Cro-Magnons.

Onji are pygmies who by some miracle ended up on the Andaman Islands of the Bay of Bengal, located two hundred kilometers from India. Once upon a time, even pirates did not stick their nose in there, because they were afraid of a warlike tribe. Onji are hunters, fishermen, honey and fruit gatherers. This tribe has never learned how to make fire, so they diligently keep it in the fires, fearing that the flame will go out. There are only a few hundreds of forgotten and abandoned onjis that are on the verge of extinction... A small wooden boat easily glides along the surface of the bay towards the island of Small Andaman, which is actually the largest island in the archipelago. These are the possessions of the onji, one of the four main ethnic Negro groups of the archipelago. There are also tribes of large Andamanese, Zharavas and Santinels living here.
Left behind the capital of the Andaman Islands, Port Blair. The waters of the bay near the capital of the Andaman Islands, the city of Port Blair, are very muddy due to the many streams that carry land into the bay. On the coast of Port Blair, sitting in his boat, a guide named Raju was waiting for us. More recently, the British colonialists exterminated the onju, but the current Indian authorities are loyal to the tribe, and Raju works as a guide. The Andaman Islands are still a virgin paradise. There are almost no strangers here - tourists and other curious people. This is just a fabulous place! Imagine jungle covered hills descending to golden beaches surrounded by coral reefs. And the cleanest, almost transparent sea! For a long time, the presence of warlike tribes on the islands of the archipelago made it a natural reserve. True, quite recently the Indian authorities, in whose subordination the archipelago is located, slightly opened the doors for entrepreneurs: the deforestation of the forest wealth of the islands began, and the first signs of the tourism business appeared. The Indian government has already set up a colony of workers who work in a police-guarded lumber mill. Aborigines, in fact, live on a reservation.
The bow of the boat hit the sandy shore. The natives who met us were completely naked except for a narrow leather loincloth. Dark one and a half meter figures resembled figurines come to life. Onji met us without hostility - after all, we were brought by Raju, who immediately spoke to them about something in a language similar to iridescent birdsong. However, the fact that they all held wooden spears with metal tips in their hands was somewhat alarming.
We already knew that for the Onji and three other tribes of the Andaman archipelago, there is still practically no civilization. They do not even engage in agriculture, preferring to eat only what nature gives them: berries, fruits, fish, game, wild boar meat. Traces of the time when this tribe occupied all the islands of the archipelago were hardly found by scientists and date back to 200 BC. The natives of this piece of land in the Indian Ocean have survived to this day practically the same outwardly, with the same way of life and customs as their distant ancestors had - African tribes that have become Asian. For onji there is no concept of time as such. It is divided into two categories - the rainy season and the non-rainy season. The rest of the time doesn't matter.
An onji approached our group with four huge coconuts in his hands, and everyone set off on their way towards the village. It was pleasant to go, because the climate in these places is warm and humid, with an air temperature of about thirty degrees. Well, why not a resort! The coastal sand, set off by dense lush vegetation, also amazed with its pristine purity. There was an amazing silence, only a slight sound of the surf reminded of the reality of what was happening.
Soon the huts on stilts appeared in our field of view - eight small ones and one larger one - arranged in a circle. All of them were covered with palm leaves. The walls of the huts were made of branches fitted together, fastened with palm ropes. Dogs lay with their tongues out next to the huts. Seeing from afar that our whole honest company does not bring any food, except for four coconuts, smart animals showed no interest in us. Coming closer, we saw that wicker baskets were hanging on the walls of the huts, intended for hunting and fishing trophies, as well as fruits. In the shade of the trees, the women baked cakes, which the onji eat with a stew of edible roots and bulbs seasoned with shellfish and turtle eggs.
At the entrance of one of the huts, a boy was shaving a man with a real razor blade, which appeared here from nowhere. Of course, this razor is more preferable for onji than, for example, a specially sharpened piece of glass. However, onges, like almost all Negroes, generally love everything metal. For the natives, there is nothing more attractive than a saw or a knife. The villagers proudly showed us metal buckets and utensils. All this was donated to them by visiting scientists.
But how did the onji end up in these places? In 1907, the British colonizer Alfred Radcliffe-Brown brought 70 hair samples from the Andaman Islands from the Negroes who lived there. 82 years later, young scientist Erika Nagelberg isolated DNA from them. The result confirmed the morphological similarity of hair to the Pygmies of South Africa. Thus, it was once again proved that the first settlers on the Anda man were Africans. They came here... by land. If you look at the map, you can clearly see the circle formed by the Nicobar and Andaman Islands, which are a logical continuation of Java and Sumatra in the south and Burma in the north with mountain range with a hole in the center. Andamans are located in this "failure". The ocean level was once lower where it is today. Bay of Biscay was the mainland. This is confirmed by similar vegetation on the islands and the current nearby land.
The village began to prepare for tomorrow's hunting and fishing. For hunting, the natives use two-meter wooden spears with metal tips, which are also used as harpoons or spears for fishing from a catamaran. Men put traps on wild pigs - ordinary pits, carefully disguised from above. If game and wild pigs can be hunted all year round, then the most suitable period for catching fish is the period from December to May, when the time of the so-called "earthly" winds comes, and the fish comes very close to the coast. Yes, and the storm is not so strong, although the onji catamarans, made of two hollowed tree trunks, interconnected by two wooden crossbars, can withstand a real storm in the Indian Ocean.
While the hunters and fishermen prepared their gear, the women of the village began to decorate each other. They applied peculiar clay masks to their bodies, which not only made them irresistible, but also protected them from insects.
Suddenly the sky darkened. Raju pointed to a bej - a monsoon cloud - and invited us to a large rounded hut, which is intended for meetings, and also serves as a good shelter from heavy rains. The dogs followed us in. It is curious that this large hut is located in the northeastern part of the village, taking into account the cyclones in the Andamans, which are directed first to the northeast, and then turn around and pass over the islands. But there is also a strong western wind in these places, which the natives call Biliku.
According to the onji, Biliku is not a very good and not very pleasant god. The natives also call Cyclone Biliku the “evil wind” and compare it with a formidable husband. Bilik's actions, unlike, for example, the wind-god Tarai, are absolutely unpredictable. Small detail: Biliku is feminine in the north and masculine in the south. Onji also believe that the ocean is one of the strongest and most powerful spirits.
We hid from Biliku's wrath in a hut, dry and quite comfortable even during a downpour. Taking advantage of the bad weather, Raju began to tell his fellow tribesmen about our recent trip and visit to the North Santinel island with an area of ​​47 square kilometers, located to the west of Port Blair. On the eve of that trip, Raju informed us that we would be welcome guests there only with gifts. I had to acquire two piglets and metal tools for a gift to the people of the Zharavas tribe living on Santinel. When we sailed to this small island, Raju immediately laid out the gifts he had brought on the beach. It was evident that our guide was doing all this somehow uncertainly. The natives were watching us closely. They noticed our boat from afar. Two of them, armed with bows and long arrows, hid behind a tree. The others came closer. It turned out that the Santineli tribe lives on this island along with the Zharavas. Two of the people of this tribe were just hiding behind a tree and, apparently, were not very happy about our appearance on the island.
Both zharavas and santinels were completely naked, except for bright wide belts that served as bags and "safes". First of all, they killed the piglets we brought. The Zharavas seemed to us somehow excited and cheerful.
However, things soon changed dramatically. When the natives realized that we were preparing to sail, various objects flew at us. Perhaps we did not suffer the fate of Captain Cook only because Raju was with us. What if he didn't exist? Zharavasov and santineli, and onzhi can be understood. After all, there are a handful of them left on these islands, and they must always be on the alert, remembering the previous invasions of their territory by the colonialists. Therefore, throwing various objects at us, although not particularly zealous, they threatened not us, but all whites. The natives remembered their history.
India was a British colony for a long time, which, of course, many Indians did not want to put up with. For the recalcitrant, the British created hard labor in the Andaman Islands.
It was a disaster for the natives. Syphilis appeared on almost all 265 islands of the archipelago. The local population began to die out. Some tribes have completely disappeared, the number of others has sharply decreased.
Before the white man appeared on these marvelous beautiful islands, the local population in a dozen tribes numbered about five thousand people. According to the 1901 census, it was sharply reduced: there were 625 large Andamanese, 468 Onji, 420 Zharavas and 117 Santinels. By the end of the 20th century, there were only 28 large Andamanese left. Onji remained no more than a hundred.
The rain ended when Raju told another legend about a fierce struggle between the beasts. During this narration, some women, while listening to Raju, were smoking pipes made from crab claws stuffed with dry palm leaves.
Some screams brought us back to reality: it turned out that a woman was giving birth in the same hut. One of the elderly onji began to play the role of a midwife. She put palm leaves heated over the fire on the belly of the woman in labor. The husband supported the head of the future mother, lying right on the branches. After an hour of screams and enormous efforts of the midwife and young parents, a newborn girl appeared from under the leaves. She was brighter than her parents. How will her fate turn out? Child mortality in the tribe due to lack of medical care is very high.
There is no carelessness and cheerfulness in the onji tribe. They constantly think about something, they are more silent than they speak. Feeling not very comfortable among these anxious people, one of us decided to take a dip.
The water turned out to be very warm. A lot of fish swam near the corals. Suddenly one of them with black-white-yellow stripes, called klodi, let out a cry that looked like a bark, and rushed headlong away. Apparently she didn't like the stranger either...
Galina Ostyakova,
GLORY ORLOV

Elephants have never lived in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They were brought to work at the logging site. Those that grew old or fell ill were simply released into the forest. Now zoologists from all over the world come to study the local population of wild elephants again.

Geography

Andaman and Nicobar Islands - part of India, its union territory. From here to the mainland coast of India - about a thousand kilometers. The largest Indian cities closest to the islands are the former Madras (about 1350 km to the west) and (1100 km to the northwest).

The border between the islands is the strait of the Tenth Degree: it really runs along 10 ° N. sh. It is wide - about 140 km and deep - up to 1280 m. The Andaman Islands lie to the north of it, the Nicobar Islands - to the south. In total there are about 600 of them, and about 550 are Andaman. People permanently live on about 40 of them. Most big Island both archipelagos - Middle Andaman with an area of ​​​​1535.5 km 2. The highest point of the entire archipelago is Mount Saddle Peak in North Andaman. Most populated island South Andaman, on which more than 200 thousand people live and the administrative center of the territory is the city of Port Blair.

The islands are the result of the collision of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates. The archipelago rose above the water and separated from it in the Oligocene - 38-25 million years ago, it is part of the Mediterranean fold belt that stretches from North Africa to the Lesser Sunda Islands.

To the north, the archipelago is a continuation of the Rakhine mountain range. On the mainland, it passes through India and Myanmar, and the islands are the peaks of the underwater part of the ridge. Southern group - actually passes into the Sunda Islands.

There is a seismic zone here. To this day, it is not known how many thousands of people (it is believed that a quarter of the total population) were victims of the tsunami caused by the earthquake on December 26, 2004. It produced noticeable changes in the geography of the islands. Some moved, lifted up, or split in two, like a Trinkat. The islands of Car Nicobar and Chaura, covered by a nine-meter wave, underwent colossal destruction. She walked through many islands from coast to coast: the landscape here is predominantly flat and hilly.

Nature

Forests cover 82% of the area of ​​the islands. But on the Andaman, predominantly moist evergreen forests grow, and on the Nicobar there are fewer, large open spaces are in place of cut down forests. But everywhere - mangroves along the banks. Due to the remoteness of the islands, endemic species here number in the hundreds.

This is especially noticeable in the animal world of the archipelago, where many creatures also have the name of the islands in their name: the Andaman white-toothed rodent, the Andaman horseshoe bat, the Andaman clawed cuckoo, the Andaman krait poisonous snake and the huge Andaman python.

To protect all this natural splendor on the islands, nine national parks have been established. For example, Mount Harriet Park has been established on South Andaman, famous for its many species of butterflies, especially large combed crocodiles and a large population of palm thieves: crabs with unusually powerful claws capable of splitting coconuts.

For quite a long time, the Indian government categorically forbade anyone to visit the islands: they did not want to disturb the primitive tribes. Relatively recently, these places were opened for tourism and have become one of the most visited corners of India. The stay of visitors here is determined by many restrictions aimed at preserving wildlife as habitats for indigenous people still living in the Stone Age.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands stretch in a long, almost thousand-kilometer strip from north to south in a meridional direction along 92-94 ° E. e. Of the seven union territories of India, this is the largest in area.

Story

Genetic and cultural studies have shown that people settled in the Andaman Islands in the late Paleolithic era - about 30 thousand years ago.

The oldest traces of human presence have been found in the Andaman Islands. The Nicobars were settled later: this is noticeable in some of the features of the languages ​​that share common with the Austroasiatic languages, such as Mon, Viet and Khmer. Scholars suggest that this late wave of migration displaced tribes of earlier origin.

Chronicles of the Tamil Chola state in southern India have been preserved, telling how in the first half of the 11th century. Prince Rajendra I, having conquered Ceylon, also captured both archipelagos. He needed these remote islands as a springboard for the conquest of the Buddhist empire of Srivijaya in Sumatra. The Cholas called the islands Tinmaittivu - "unclean" - because of the savages who lived on them.

These islands have long been known to Arab merchant sailors: their ships, driven by the trade winds, passed through the strait of the Tenth Degree as early as the 15th century. In the 17th century the islands became the base for the ships of the Maratha Empire.

In 1755, settlers of the Danish East India Company appeared on the Nicobars. In 1868, the islands were sold to Great Britain and became part of British India. Since 1789, the British began to exile convicts to Andaman and built the infamous Cellular prison in Port Blair. Both the Danes and the British often abandoned the islands due to almost annual malaria epidemics.

During World War II, the territory was temporarily occupied by Japanese troops.

After India declared independence in 1950, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands became part of it, and in 1956 received the status of a union territory.

culture

Today, most of the population is made up of immigrants from Myanmar, Malaysia and India: traders, artisans and attendants in the tourism sector. They all follow their own religions. Many are the descendants of those whom the British brought here back in colonial times, among them the descendants of convicts.

The indigenous population of both archipelagos adheres to a cult that is characterized by ethnographers as "monotheistic animism". The tribes believe in the almighty deity Papug, who settled on the highest mountain - Saddle Peak. Paluga created the islands by accidentally spilling rocks into the ocean. Whatever the native does, first of all he thinks about how not to anger Paluga so that he does not return and start collecting stones. The native is convinced that the world around him is inhabited by the spirits of ancestors and ghosts of fantastic creatures. Aborigines believe in the truth of dreams and, upon waking up, will act as they dreamed in a dream.

There are very few people left in the tribes of the peoples of Greater Andaman - Jarawa, Dzhangil, Onge, Sentinelese, perhaps no more than a thousand. When the British first set foot on the islands, there were about seven thousand natives, but they were mowed down by imported diseases, and they died of starvation, because plantations appeared on their lands. The number of natives is declining, there are very few of them left - from a few dozen to two-three hundred of each of the nationalities, and, most likely, they are doomed. They live according to primitive orders in the most wild places ah, they shy away from the civilization brought to their islands, hide and do not even let them get close to them, and the Sentinelese and the shompenes use their bow and arrows. There are indications that they practice cannibalism.

In addition to serving tourists, the local population is engaged in growing fruits, making copra, catching fish and sea cucumbers, and collecting shells for making souvenirs. There are no industrial enterprises at all, with the exception of several fish processing shops. Moreover, small artels are engaged in the manufacture of all sorts of things like plastic bags. In the forests, precious woods are cut down for the manufacture of furniture, mainly padouk.

general information

Numbers

Climate and weather

Economy

Attractions

Natural

• Mahatma Gandhi National Parks (1983), Saddle Peak (1987), Mount Harriet (1987), Middle Button Island (1987), North Button Island (1987), South Button Island (1987), Galatea (1992), Campbell Bay (1992) and Rani Jhansi (1996)
• Salted Crocodile Sanctuary on Havelock Island
• Elephant Sanctuary on Interview Island
• Greater Nicobar Nature Reserve
• Barren Island Volcano (353 m)
• Beaches of Bharatpur, Vijayanagar, Radhanagar, Karmatang and Ramnagar
• mud volcanoes
• White Surf and Whisper Wave Falls
• Limestone caves. Baratang
• Corbin bay
• Chirya Tapu (Bird Island)

City of Port Blair

• Cellular Jail National Memorial (1896-1906)
• Anthropological Museum
• Forest Museum
• Maritime Museum of Samudrik
• Chatham sawmill

Curious facts

The Shompen languages ​​are spoken by an extremely small tribe living in the hinterland of Great Nicobar Island. In it, presumably, no more than 200 people. They do not know how to make fire, but they have developed a rather complex system for storing embers. Very little is known about shampen. The reason is the policy of the Indian government, which protects the natives of the Nicobar Islands from outside interference. Therefore, for example, linguists can only use data collected by the British during the colonial period of the 19th century. and the first half of the 20th century.

Presumably, the name of the Andaman Islands comes from the Sanskrit word "Andoman" - one of the names of the deity Hanuman.

On the Andaman Island of Interview, there is only one village where one family lives. And about a hundred Indian elephants live in its forests. They are not indigenous, they were brought from the mainland to work in logging. The company went bankrupt and, in order not to carry the elephants back, released them into the wild. This herd is of great interest to zoologists, and the island has the status of a reserve.

On Havelock Island, a reserve of huge combed crocodiles has been established, growing up to 6 m and more, reaching a weight of 1.2 tons. Reptiles do not know that a reserve has been equipped for them, and swim in mangroves throughout the archipelago. Cases of attacks on people were noted, four people died.

All Andamanese and Nicobar languages ​​do not have a written language.

Barren Island in the Andaman Islands is home to the only active volcano in India. It is also believed that he is the only one operating in South Asia. The first documented eruption occurred in 1787, the last in 2017. Translated from in English its name means "barren". It's really hard to live here. The inhabitants of the island-volcano are only goats, bats, rats and several species of birds.

Teressa Island in the central part of the Nicobar Islands is named after the Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa (1717-1780). The name of the island is one of the few reminders of Austria's attempts to participate in the colonial division of the world. But it was bypassed by stronger and more experienced countries with a large fleet. By examining the attempted Austrian colonization of the Nicobar Islands, scholars are trying to understand what prompted such an intelligent and energetic ruler as Maria Theresa, and her son and co-ruler Joseph II, to embark on such an adventure. In 1778, the crew of the Austrian ship "Joseph and Mary" raised state flag on the island of Teressa (which in fact already belonged to Denmark) and left several colonists on it. Soon the Austrian government simply forgot about them. When people began to die and starve, the survivors fled the island. In Austria itself, the events of 1778 in Nicobar are considered their most successful attempt at overseas expansion.

The Cellular Jail at Port Blair, also known as Cala Pani or Black Waters, was built by the prisoners themselves during the English colonial period. The British put political prisoners in it - fighters for the independence of India. The name "cellular" - from almost 700 "cells" - single cameras. If someone fled, they were not even in a hurry to catch him: many returned on their own. There was nowhere to go. The prison was closed in the late 1930s.

In the late 1940s, when India and Burma were preparing to declare their independence, the British government announced its intention to settle Anglo-Indians and Anglo-Burmese on the islands. These ethnic groups emerged from the marriages of British men and Indian/Burmese women during the period of British colonial rule. The new governments of India and Burma realized in time that the British were planting an "ethnic bomb" on them, and nothing came of this venture.

The beautiful dark emerald waters of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are surrounded by pristine jungle and mangrove forest; snow-white beaches melt under the rays of crimson sunsets; friendly people - immigrants from South and Southeast Asia and ethnic groups of blacks, whose appearance on the islands is still an anthropological mystery. The geographical location of the Andamans is rather Southeast Asia: 150 km from Indonesia and 190 km from Myanmar, which is even more intriguing.

The Nicobar Islands are closed to tourists, but there are still hundreds of islands to explore.

Story

When the first settlers appeared on the Andamans and Nicobars, it is not known. According to anthropologists, stone tools have existed here for 2000 years. And experts on human migration believe that the local tribes are from Southeast Asia, from the Negrito and Malay ethnic groups. In other words, the islands have become an inexhaustible source of legends for foreigners.

The word "Andaman" is thought to be derived from the name of the monkey god Hanuman, who Hindus believe used the islands as a bridge between India and Sri Lanka. According to anthropologists, stone tools have existed here for 2000 years, but it is not known exactly when the first settlers appeared here.

The Persian traveler Buzurg Ibn Shahriyar wrote in the 10th century about a chain of islands inhabited by cannibals; later Marco Polo added that the natives had dog heads, and those found in Thanjavur (ex. Tanjore) that in the state of Tmilnad the archipelago was called Timaittivu - "dirty islands".

This information, of course, is not for a tourist brochure, but nevertheless, travelers continued to arrive: at the end of the 17th century, the Marathas, and 200 years later, the British, who used the Andaman Islands as a penal colony for political criminals. During the Second World War, some of the islanders welcomed the invasion of the Japanese military, seeing them as liberators. Despite the formation (puppet) governments of Indian politicians, the Japanese proved to be brutal conquerors.

After the independence of India in 1947, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands became part of the Indian Union. After migrating from the mainland (including Bengali refugees who fled the post-separation chaos) The population of the islands increased from a few thousand to 350,000 people. During this migration, the rights of the tribes, as well as the protection of the environment, were often neglected. And, although there is some improvement now, the situation of the native tribes still leaves much to be desired.

In 2004, the islands were devastated by an Indian Ocean earthquake, coastal aftershocks and subsequent tsunami. The Nicobar Islands were particularly hard hit: by some estimates, a fifth of the population died here, someone moved to Port Blair, and many of them still have not returned. Despite the fact that now life has returned to normal, and tourists have returned with it, there are places like Small Andaman, which guests are still in no hurry to visit (By the way, check it out).

Climate

Thanks to the sea breeze, the temperature in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is maintained here within the range of 23-31 ° C, and the humidity is 80% all year round. It's very humid here when the southwesterly wind blows. (wet) monsoon - somewhere from mid-May to early October, and in November-December, the northeastern (dry) monsoon.

Geography and nature

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands form the Arakan Mountains, a range that begins in Eastern Myanmar (Burma) and stretches across the ocean to Sumatra in Indonesia.

The isolation of the islands has led to the evolution of many plants and animals, characteristic only for this area. Of the 62 mammals found here, 32 live only on these islands, among them the Andaman wild pig, crabeater macaque, Himalayan civet, several species of tupaya and bats. Of the 250 species of birds that live here, almost 50% can be found only in the Andamans and Nicobars, including the Nicobar bigfoot, salangan and the emerald Nicobar pigeon. Turtles lay their eggs on deserted beaches, and combed crocodiles wait in the rivers for prey. You can often see dolphins here, but dugongs, which used to be abundant in this area, are now almost never seen.

Mangrove trees form a protective barrier between sea and land. Valuable species of trees grow in the forests, for example, the famous paduk - hardwood with light and dark textures.

Things to do

Due to a certain isolation, clear clear waters, magnificent corals and a diverse underwater world, the Andaman Islands are considered one of the best places in the world for diving.

The main season for divers lasts from November to April, but people come here in the summer during the rainy season (June August), however, they go closer to the coast. Basically, the most favorable conditions for diving are formed in September and October. The only thing to consider is the rain.

Local diving centers offer scuba diving training courses (from 4000 rupees), PADI open water courses (Rs 18,000) and advanced courses (Rs 13,500), as well as Divemaster training. Prices vary depending on location, number of participants and duration of the course. In general, you can dive in the Andaman Islands from a boat for 2000/3500 rupees for one / two dives. In national parks, you have to pay an additional 500 rupees per person per day.

Havelock Island is located far from the main diving centers, although the appropriate equipment and equipment can be found on Neil and South Andaman. See the relevant sections for more details.

It is much easier and cheaper to organize snorkeling lessons. Havelock Island is one of the best snorkeling destinations, with boat trips to reefs and islands not otherwise accessible in almost all tourist spots. You can also enjoy excellent snorkeling at Neil Island and Kalipura.

Due to recent coral bleaching, some reefs have been damaged, but despite this, diving here remains world-class, and more and more places are opening up.

Information

Despite the fact that the Andaman Islands are located a thousand kilometers from the mainland, they live here according to Indian time. Therefore, at 5 pm it is already dark here, and at 4 am it is already light, so people here usually get up quite early. All phone numbers you need to dial with the area code - 03192, even when calling locally. Andaman & Nicobar Tourism (IP 232747; www.tourism.andaman.nic.in; Kamarai Road (Kamaraj Road), Port Blair; 8:30-13:00 and 14:00-17:00 Mon-Fri, 8:30-12:00 Sat) Grab the helpful Emerald Islands travel booklet (100 rupees) here or at the airport.

Accommodation

The prices in this chapter are for the middle season. (from October 1 to April 30, excluding high season). Prices rise sharply during peak season (from December 15 to January 15). May to September is the low season. Camping is currently prohibited on public lots and in the islands' national parks.

Permission

Most government officials from the mainland do their two-year service in Port Blair. Due to such staff turnover, be prepared for unexpected changes in the rules and regulations for issuing permits.

All foreigners must obtain a permit to visit the Andaman Islands, which is issued free of charge upon arrival. 30-day permit allows tourists to stay in Port Blair, South and Middle Andaman , on North Andaman (Diglipur), on Long Island, North Passage, Little Andaman (excluding native territories), on the islands of Havelock and Neil. You can extend the permit for 15 days as in the immigration office in Port Blair (03192-239247; 8:30-13:00 and 14:00-17:30 Monday to Friday, Saturdays until 13:00), and at the police station on Havelock.

This permit also allows day visits to the Jolly Boy Islands. (lolly Buoy), South Sink (South Cinque), Red Skin (Red Skin), Ross, Narcondam (Narcon-dam), Interview (Interview) and Rutland, as well as the Brothers (brothers) and Sisters (Sisters).

To obtain a permit, tourists arriving by plane must present their passport and fill out a form upon arrival at Port Blair Airport. Permits are usually valid for a maximum of 30 days (be sure to check).

Tourists arriving by ship are usually met by an immigration officer at the port. Otherwise, you must go to the immigration office at Haddo Pier immediately upon arrival. (Haddo Jetty). Keep the permit for the entire duration of the trip - without it you will not be able to move around the islands. The police often ask you to show permission, especially when you go ashore on their island, and you also need to provide it when you check in at the hotel. Check current rules sea ​​voyages in any of the following services: Andaman & Nicobar Tourism (03192-238473)

Chennai Foreign Citizens Registration Office (044-23454970, 044-28278210) ; Kolkata (033-22470549, 033-22473300)

Shipping Corporation of India (SCI; www.shipindia.com) chennai (044-5231401; Jawahar Bldg, 6 Rajaji Salai); Kolkata (033-2482354; 1st floor, 13 Strand Rd)

National parks and reserves

Additional permits are required to visit some national parks and reserves. The Tourist Board in Port Blair has a branch of the Department of Forestry (9:00-15:00 Monday-Friday, until 13:00 Saturday), where you can find out if a permit is required to visit a particular island, how you can get it, how much the service costs and whether it is possible to get it at all.

If you're planning something complicated, you'll be sent to the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW; 233321; Haddo Road, Port Blair; 8:30-12:00 and 13:00-16:00 Monday-Friday), where is your application, consisting of a letter stating the essence of your case, the name of the ship and the dates of the visit. If you do everything in accordance with the requirements, in less than an hour you will be issued a permit.

With most day permits, the problem isn't so much red tape as it is price. Permission to visit areas such as the Marine National Park. Mahatma Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi Marine national park) , Ross and Smith Islands near Diglipur, costs Rs 50/500 for Indian citizens/foreigners. A permit to visit Saddle Peak National Park, also near Diglipur, costs 25/250 rupees.

Students who have a valid student card with them will be charged the minimum fee, so don't forget your student card.

The Nicobar Islands are closed to everyone except Indians involved in research, government work, trade.

The road to the Andaman Islands and back

Airplane

Arriving in Port Blair daily flights from Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, although the flight from Delhi and Kolkata very often passes through Chennai. A round trip ticket costs from US$250 to US$500, depending on the time of booking. Some airlines offer one-way flights for as little as US$80, but tickets need to be booked months in advance. At the time of the study, Kingfisher Airlines had the cheapest last minute tickets to the islands. (1800 2093030; www.flykingfisher.com). You can also use the services of Air India (Chennai 0044-28554747; Kolkata 033-22117879; Port Blair 03192-233108; www.airindia.com) and JetLite (Chennai 080-39893333; Kolkata 033-25110901; Port Blair 003192-242707; www.jetlite.com).

There are no direct flights from Port Blair to South East Asia, although at the time of research, the schedule was chartered flight from Kuala Lumpur. But don't count on it too much.

Motor ship

Someone thinks that the infamous ships in Port Blair are "the only real way to get to the Andaman Islands", while someone thinks that these are just unnecessary difficulties. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Between Port Blair and mainland India there are usually 4-6 flights monthly: every other week from Kolkata (travel time 56 hours), once a week (in high season) from Chennai (60 hours), once a month from Vizag (56 hours). In Chennai, you can book tickets through the Deputy Head of Transportation (044-252268/3; Rajaji Salai, Chennai Port). Shipping Corporation of India (SCI; www.shipindia.com; 033-22482354 in Kolkata, 0891-2565597 in Vizag) sends flights from Kolkata and Vizag. Flight schedules are flexible, so please call ahead. All ferries from the mainland land at Haddo Pier.

(Phoenix Bay)

Don't take the travel time entirely for granted: Tourists have reported spending nearly 12 hours aboard a ship in the harbor at Kolkata, while others near Port Blair have waited several hours before landing. Due to delays and various sea and weather conditions, the journey may take 3-4 days. A round trip ticket can be purchased at the Phoenix Bay Ferry Ticket Office. (Phoenix Bay). You will need 2 passport photos and a photocopy of your authorization. Please visit www.and.nic.in/spsch/sailing.htm for updated information on prices and tariffs.

Classifications of places on different ships differ little. The cheapest bunk bed is Rs 1,700 - Rs 1,960, then Class 2 B is Rs 3,890, Class A is Rs 5,030, then Class 1 is Rs 6,320 and Luxury is Rs 7,640. Akbar also has air-conditioned dormitories, where a bed costs Rs 3,290. Tickets for more expensive seats cost the same as the plane, if not more. If you have chosen a shared cabin, be prepared to wake up to the chorus of people “sniffling” and snorting, the almost complete lack of personal space and the toilet, which after three days of travel is ... unpleasant to enter. But on the other hand, this great way get to know the locals.

Nutrition (local snacks for breakfast, thali for lunch and dinner) costs about 150 rupees a day and almost always contains rice. Take something with you on the road (especially fruits) to diversify your diet. Some bedding is provided, however if you are traveling in a shared cabin please bring your own sheet. Many travelers take hammocks with them and stretch them on the deck.

Officially, there are no ferries between Port Blair and Thailand, but try to hire one of the yachts on this route. You cannot legally cross from the Andaman Islands to Myanmar (Burma) by sea, although it is said that someone managed to do this on their own boat. But be careful: being caught for such an attempt by the Indian or Burmese fleet, you risk ending up in prison or even worse.

Bad weather can seriously mess up your plans: if the sea is too rough, ferry flights are cancelled. Have a couple of days in reserve in case you miss your flight as a result of a delay on the island (Though maybe it's not always so bad...).

Moving around the islands

Airplane

A helicopter runs between the islands. From Port Blair it flies to Little Andaman (Rs 1488, 35 minutes, Tue, Fri and Sat), Havelock Island (850 rupees, 20 minutes) and Diglipur via Mayabunder (Rs 2125 or 1915 from Mayabunder, one hour). Preference here is given to civil servants and passengers with luggage less than 5 kg, which prevents most tourists from using this service. Although you can try your luck by submitting an application to the Secretariat (230093) in Port Blair and returning to see if you were lucky at 16:00.

Ferry

Most of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands can only be reached by water. It sounds romantic, of course, but ferry ticket offices are a real hell: be prepared for waiting in the heat, slow service, trying to skip the line and brawls at the ticket office window. To keep your place in the queue and advance in it, you must either behave a little aggressively (but don't be a jerk) or be a woman (women's lines are a great success, however, they only happen in Port Blair). You can buy tickets on the day of your trip by arriving at the pier an hour before your trip, but this is quite risky in high season, and there are no guarantees on Havelock all year round. In cities like Rangat, ferry ticket office hours are fluctuating and unreliable. At the time of the study, there was a requirement to provide a copy of the permit. Arrange this before arrival.

There are regular sea services to Havelock and Neil Islands, as well as to Rangat, Mayabunder, Diglipur and Little Andaman. If all else fails, there are still fishermen who are willing to take you for 2000 rupees, for example, from Port Blair to Havelock. Timetables for boats between the islands can be found at www.and.nic.in/spsch/iisailing.htm.

Bus

All roads (and ferries) lead to Port Blair, and you will certainly spend a day or two here, booking a future trip. The main group of islands - South, Middle and North Andaman - are connected by road, ferries and bridges. Cheap public and expensive private buses run from Port Blair south to Bandur (wandor) and north to Bharatang (Bharatang), Rangat, Mayabunder and finally Diglipur, 325 km north of the capital. Around 15:00, most of the Jarawa reserve is closed to traffic, so buses whose route lies through it depart from 4:00 to 11:00.

Private jeeps and minivans

Cars run from village to village, and you can get in and out of them throughout the route. You can also rent the whole car at an inflated price.

Train

You can get a train ticket to the mainland at the railway ticket office (233042; 8:00-12:30 and 13:00-14:00) located in the Secretariat office south of Aberdeen Bazaar (Aberdeen Bazaar) in Port Blair. Hotel owners can provide their guests with all the necessary information on this issue.

Islanders

Indigenous peoples of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands make up only 12% of the population, and in most cases this percentage is declining. Onge, Sentinelese, Andamanese and Jarawa are tribes belonging to the Negritos ethnic group, which is very similar to African peoples. Sadly, over the past century, many tribes have died out. In February 2010, the last member of the Bo tribe died, taking their language with them and putting an end to the history of the people, which lasted 65,000 years.

Onge

Two-thirds of Onge Island in Little Andaman was placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Forestry and settled in 1977. About 100 remaining members of the Onge tribe are limited to two reservations with an area of ​​25 square kilometers: Dugong Creek (Dugong Creek) and South Bay (South Bay). According to anthropologists, the decrease in the number of onge was due to a decrease in the morale of its representatives, associated with the loss of territories.

Sentinelese

Unlike other tribes living on this island, the Sentinelese resist contact with the outside world. For years, delegations have come to the shores of North Sentinel Island, the last stronghold of the Sentinelese, bringing gifts of coconuts, bananas, pigs, and red plastic buckets to be hit by a hail of arrows. Although some natives were not so hostile. There are currently about 150 Sentinelese left.

Andamanese

Now the number of Andamanese is only about 50 people, and it seems that this tribe will not be able to avoid extinction. In the middle of the 19th century, there were about 7,000 Andamanese, but friendship with the colonialists led the tribe to death: by 1971, its number was reduced to 19 people due to epidemics of measles, syphilis and influenza. The Andamans were resettled in tiny island Straight.

Jarawa

Currently, the 350 remaining Jarawa live on the 639 sq. km on the islands of the South and Middle Andamans. In 1953, the chief commissioner proposed to bomb the Jarawa settlements, and their territories were destroyed due to the Andaman highway, deforestation and the invasion of invaders and tourists. Most Jarawa are hostile.

Chompen

Only about 250 shompen remained in the forests on Great Nicobar. This semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer tribe lives along river banks. They resisted integration and are now avoiding the territories occupied by immigrants from India.

Nicobars

The Nicobarese are the only tribe whose population is not declining and is 30,000 people. Most of them converted to Christianity and almost assimilated into modern Indian society. They live in villages where they raise pigs and grow coconuts, sweet potatoes and bananas. The Nicobars, who probably descended from the peoples who inhabited Malaysia and Myanmar, live on several islands of the Nicobar group centered on Car Nicobar (Car Nicobar), the region most affected by the 2004 tsunami.

Be careful with corals!

In general, snorkeling in the Andaman Islands should only be done during high tide. At low tide, you can accidentally step on the coral, which can irrevocably destroy this delicate organism. Even a touch with a flipper can hurt. In addition, you risk getting a painful sting from a sea urchin thorn when you set foot on the bottom. Divers should take extra care when diving near reefs. A serious impact with coral in full gear can cause environmental damage.

Port Blair

Green, calm, sometimes attractive Port Blair - the capital of the Andaman Islands - a vibrant combination of cultures such as Bengalis, Tamils, Nicobars, Burmese and Telugu. Most tourists don't stay here for long. (usually one or two days to book onward travel or go home), and at full speed rush straight to the islands. While Port Blair can't compete with the beaches of Havelock, the city's fascinating history has contributed to its outstanding attractions.

Most Port Blair hotels are located in the Aberdeen Bazaar area. The airport is located 4 km south of the city. Typically, middle-class housing is fully redeemed for the period from September to December and is included in tour packages to India.

Attractions Port Blair

Cellular Jail National Memorial (GB Pant Road (GB Pant Rd); entrance 10 rupees photo/video shooting 25/100 rupees; 8:45-12:30 and 13:30-17:00 Tue-Sun) This is a former British prison, and now a museum dedicated to all the political prisoners who once served time here. The Cellular Jail is worth a visit to understand the importance of the Andaman Islands in Indian history. The construction of the prison began in 1896 and ended in 1906. Initially, in seven buildings (some of which were destroyed by the Japanese army during World War II), diverging like rays from the central tower, there were 698 cameras. Like many political prisons, the Honeycomb Prison became a kind of university for freedom fighters, who were awaited by dungeons and guards for their books, ideas and disputes.

Here on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 18:45 musical and light performances are arranged. (entrance for adults/children 20/10 rupees) in English.

Anthropological Museum (03192-232291; MG Road (MG Rd); entrance 10 rupees; 9:00-13:00 and 13:30-16:30 Fri-Wed) This is the best museum in Port Blair, and the tribes that inhabit the islands are described in great detail. The glass display cases may be outdated, but they are nowhere near as ancient as the Jarawa breastplate decorated with simple geometric patterns, or the skull left under the Sentinelt canopy, or the totem spirits represented by Nicobar shamanic sculptures. Brochure for sale in the gift shop (20 rupees) about Aboriginal culture, written by local anthropologists.

Maritime Museum of Samudrik (Haddo Road (Haddo Road); entrance for adults / children 20/10 rupees, photo / video shooting 20/50 rupees; 9:00-13:00 and 14:00-17:00 Tue-Sun) The museum was founded by the Indian Navy. A variety of exhibits are exhibited here, telling about the ecosystem of the islands, their indigenous population, plants, animals, marine life. The museum has a small aquarium. Outside, there is a skeleton of a blue whale washed ashore on the Nicobar Island of Kamorta. (Kamorta Island).

Chatham sawmill (admission 10 rupees; 8:30-14:30 Mon-Sat) The factory, located on Chatham Island, which is connected to Port Blair by a road bridge, was built by the British in 1836. It was one of the largest timber processing enterprises in Asia. The plant is still operating, and although not everyone likes it (especially environmentalists), a visit here is an interesting excursion into the history and economy of the island. There is also a huge crater left from a bomb that the Japanese dropped during World War II, and a rather dull museum of the forest.

Nobody goes to Port Blair for the beach, but if you still need to lie on the sand, Corbin Bay, 7 km south of the city, is the best option. Very popular with locals and tourists, this small stretch of coast hidden behind palm trees is a great place to swim and sunbathe. The cost of a trip from the city by autorickshaw is 200 rupees. On the other hand, in addition to being a great way to travel along the coast road, you can see many Japanese bunkers left over from the Second World War.

Burmese Buddhist mission - small bell-shaped stupa (tomb), perhaps not very impressive, but it is an example of Burmese Buddhist architecture, unusual in India, and also a reminder that geographically you are closer to Southeast Asia than Hindustan.

Information

Port Blair is the only place in the Andamans where you can change currency or travelers checks. ATMs are installed throughout the city, and the Western Union office is located in the post office. Aberdeen Bazaar has several internet access points.

Aberdeen Police Station (03192-232400; MG Road (MG Rd))

Andaman & Nicobar Tourism (1P 232694; www.tourism.andaman.nic.in; Kamaraj Road Kamaraj Rd); 8:30-13:00 and 14:00-17:00 Mon-Fri, 8:30-12:00 Sat) The main island tour operator. Here you can book public housing and get permits to visit wild places. The staff is kind and unhurried.

e-Cafe (Internet at hour 30; 8:00-00:00) In Aberdeen Bazaar, right in front of the clock tower.

GB Pant Hospital (03192-233473, 232102; GB Pant Rd)

Main post office (MG Road (MG Rd); 9:00-19:00 Mon-Sat)

State Bank of India (MA Road MA Rd); 9:00-12:00 and 13:00-15:00 Mon-Fri, 10:00-12:00 Sat) Here you can exchange travelers checks and currency.

Neighborhoods of Port Blair and South Andaman

Ross Island

Visit Ross Island (not to be confused with the island of the same name in North Andaman)- it's like finding something hidden in the jungle lost city like Angkor Wat; however, the ruins here are more Victorian than Khmer. To the former headquarters of the British government in the Andaman - Ross Islands (permit Rs 20)- half a day's journey from Port Blair. At one time, little Ross was affectionately called the "Paris of the East" (along with Pondicherry, Saigon, etc.). But the pretty name, the social life, and the tropical gardens were all destroyed in a double whammy in 1941: an earthquake and the Japanese invasion. (who left behind several machine gun nests that have become a local landmark).

Today, old English buildings can still be found, despite the fact that they were almost completely swallowed up by the green wave of the rapidly growing jungle. There is a small hole with exhibits and photographs of Ross Island from its heyday, and a small park where deer nibble leaves from the bushes.

Ferries to Ross Island (75 rupees, 20 minutes on the way) depart from the pier behind the Port Blair Aquarium at 8:30, 10:30, 12:30 and 14:00 every day except Wednesday. Please check the timetable when purchasing your ticket, as tides can affect the departure time.

You can also take the ferry to Viper Island at 9:30 (75 rupees), where you will see the remains of the gallows built by the British in 1867. But to be honest, this is not the most memorable excursion.

Wandur and Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park

Bandur is a small village 29 km southeast of Port Blair. There is a pretty beach here, although swimming was prohibited at the time of the survey due to sightings of crocodiles in the area. But more Bandur is known as a starting point for a trip to the Marine National Park. mahatmas (Indian/foreigner Rs 50/500). Spread over an area of ​​280 sq. km, it occupies 15 islands with mangroves, tropical forests and reefs, home to 50 species of corals. There are two places for sporkling in the park: Jolly Boy (November 1 - May 15) and Red Skin (May 16 - October 30). Accessible by popular daytime flight from Bandura Pier (Rs 450; Tue-Sun). Still, if your Andaman itinerary includes the Havelock or Neil Islands, it may be easier and cheaper to go scuba diving there - of course, if you are not going to pay crazy money. It’s just that ships don’t stay here for a long time, and you simply won’t have time to swim to your heart’s content. If you want to explore the region thoroughly, we advise you to contact Lacadives (9679532104; www.lacadives.com). There are several hotels in Vandoor. Permits can be obtained at Bandura Wharf or at the Tourist Office in Port Blair.

Buses from Port Blair to Bandur (12 rupees, 1.5 hours).

Chiriyatapu

Chiria Tapu is located 30 km from Port Blair. This is a small village with beaches and manf trees. 2km south you will find the best snorkeling outside of Havelock and Neil. This is a great place to watch the sunsets. There are 7 buses from Port Blair daily. (^10, 1.5 hours). You can also get here by ship from Sink Island. New biological park (Indian/Foreigner Rs 20/50; 9:00-16:00 Tue-Sun) not completed yet (planned to be completed in 2015), but here in the forest there are already several spacious naturally fenced areas where crocodiles, deer and warthogs live.

Sink Island

The uninhabited islands of North and South Sinca, connected by a sandbar, are part of the wildlife sanctuary in the south of Bandura. The islands are surrounded by coral reefs and are considered the most beautiful in the Andamans.

Day visits are allowed here. But, if you are not coming from travel agencies that periodically arrange here group tours, you must obtain permission to visit the Chief Wildlife Warden in advance. The islands can be reached by ship from Chiria Tapu (2 hours) or from Bandura (3.5 hours). Here, a permit to visit the Marine is considered valid. national park them. Mahatma Gande (Indian/foreigner Rs 50/500).

Havelock Island

White sandy beaches, turquoise shoals, dark jungles, shack-lined shores, a plethora of tourists from all over the world - this is Havelock, a tropical gem of budget tourism. In a few years, it will correspond in status to the Thai Koh Phangan (Ko Pha-Ngan) except for the nightlife. Here, in coastal hotels and resorts, a rather hectic life is in full swing, but it never comes to crazy parties under the moon. In addition to idleness, Havelock offers diving and snorkeling activities, and many tourists spend most of their time here in the Andaman Islands.

What to see and do

Havelock is the main island for scuba diving enthusiasts in the Andamans. There is no shortage of dive operators along the main tourist road. You just need to chat with some and choose the one you like the most.

The snorkeling here is simply amazing. The best way go diving - order dungi through the hotel (wooden boat). The trip costs from 1000 to 2000 rupees depending on the number of participants, distance, etc. -if there are many people in the group, you can be charged only 250 rupees. Snorkeling equipment can be easily obtained on Havelock - in hotels, restaurants - but usually it is of rather low quality.

Fishing is another popular activity here. It is also better to organize it through the hotel. There are several sport fishing operators in the city.

Some hotels organize jungle walks for hikers and birdwatchers. Be careful, after the rain the soil in the forest is very eroded. From within, the rainforest is a delightful emerald cave, while birdwatching (especially on the edge)- a rewarding job. Note the blue-black racket-tailed drongo with its amazing tail and, for contrast, the brightly colored oriole.

Approximately 5 km from village No. 5 is Kalapathar, where there is an elephant training camp. At the time of the study, it was planned to arrange demonstrations of elephants at work. Beyond Kalapathar, the road passes another unspoiled beach and then gradually gets lost in the forest.

The most beautiful and popular sandy beach is the much praised Radha Nagar, also known as Beach No. 7. White sand, a perfect spiral of the sea wave, forest, as in the picture - this is Radha Nagar. What about sunsets? Yes, they are just great! The road to the beach, located in the northwest of the island, 12 km from the pier, lies through the inner part of Havelock - a green dream (an auto rickshaw will take you around 150 rupees). Or, if you like, you can get here from village number 1 by bus. 10 minutes northwest of the beach you will find a magnificent "lagoon" at Neil Bay, another paradise with pristine sand and clear water. In 2010, a crocodile attack happened here, so it might be worth clarifying how safe it is to swim here. In high season, you can ride elephants (adults/children Rs 25/15; 11:00-14:00 Mon-Sat) along the beach, posing and “cheesy” smiling for a photo.

elephant beach (Elephant Beach) Elephant Beach, a great place for snorkeling, is further north. Go to him for about forty minutes along the path laid by elephants. There are signs on the road, but after the rain it is quite difficult to go. The beach itself literally disappeared after the tsunami in 2004, and is now impossible to reach during high tides. Lifeguards are on duty on the shore, who make a remark to everyone who litters (God help them!).

Where to stay and where to eat

Most Havelock hotels are beach houses. They all claim to be "eco-houses" ("eco" obviously means "cheap building material"), but it is excellent value for money, especially in the low season.

All of the listed accommodations offer a tolerable tourist-oriented menu of Western and Indian cuisine. If you want something traditionally Indian, go to the food stalls in the city (Village No. 1) or the main market (Village No. 3). There is a liquor store in village number 1.

Almost all housing is located on east coast between villages No. 2 and No. 5.

crocodiles

The tragic death of an American tourist on Havelock in April 2010, who was attacked by a saltwater crocodile while snorkeling, shocked the entire public. In many areas of the Andaman Islands, crocodiles have become part of everyday life, but in Neila Bay near Radha Nagar, where the incident occurred, crocodiles have not been seen before. Moreover, the attack took place in the open ocean on coral reefs, which is considered extremely unusual. There is a lot of speculation how the crocodile ended up there. He was most likely expelled from his habitat in the mangroves in the western part of the island after losing a battle for territory. As a result, the crocodile was caught (now in the zoo in Port Blair). Since then, these reptiles have not been seen here, but this place is still treated with a great deal of caution. According to the general opinion, this was an isolated case and should not scare away people who want to swim here. However, it's important that you stay informed. Heed the warnings from the authorities, do not swim alone in the western part of the island and stay out of the water at sunset and at night.

This warning also applies to places like Corbina Bay, Wandour Beach, Baratang and all of Little Andaman.

Information

Village #3 has two ATMs side by side. You can also use extremely slow internet here. (80 per hour).

The road there and back

Ferry schedules vary, but there are always direct flights from Port Blair to Havelock and back, at least once a day, but usually two or more times. (ticket for a foreigner 195 rupees, 2.5 hours). It is best to book your ticket at least a day before your trip. The ticket office is open from 9.00 to 11.00. You can also take the more comfortable Makruzz ferry. (from 650 rupees, two hours).

Several government ferries a week run between Havelock and Neil (Rs 195). It's also the most convenient way to get to Long Island. (Rs 195), which, moreover, stops in Rangat, from where you can proceed by bus further to North Andaman.

Moving around the island

local bus (7 rupees) walks between the pier and the villages about once an hour, but here it is useful to get your own transport. You can rent mopeds or motorcycles (from 250 rupees per day) and bicycles (from 40 to 50 rupees per day) in your hotel or village no.3.

Neil Island

Conveniently nestled in the shadow of its more famous neighbour, Neil has everything you need to relax and more. Its beaches may not be as luxurious as Havelock's, but it's spacious and has great cycling routes. The pace of life here is unhurried. While cycling through the picturesque villages, both young and old locals will greet you in a friendly way. From Neil Island about 40 km to Port Blair, a short ferry ride to Havelock and a few universes back home.

At the time of the study, there was no Internet and there was nowhere to change currency. There is a post office on the territory of the bazaar.

What to see and do

There are five beaches on Neil Island (numbered 1 to 5) each with its own unique charm.

Beach number 1 is the prettiest and most accessible. Located 40 minutes walk west of the marina and village. At high tide you can do some of the best snorkeling on the island near coral reef in the distant (western) end of the beach. Inside the Pearl Park Resort there is a great place to watch sunsets. Tourists and locals gather here in the early evening.

Beach number 2 is located in the northern part of the island. Here the rocks form a natural bridge, which can be reached at low tide by walking around the rocky bay. To get here by bike, take the side road through the bazaar and then turn left at the fork. Swimming is best on the beach! although its proximity to the marina is slightly annoying.

Beach number 3 is a secluded bay with sandy shores. The most convenient access to it is from the Blue Sea Restaurant. Next is a wilder beach (5 km from the village). You can get here along the village road leading to the eastern part of the island. This is a great place for walking along the coast. At low tide you can visit small limestone caves.

You can go diving with India Explorers (9474238646; www.indiascubaexplorers.com) or rent equipment for snorkeling (Rs 150 per day) at your hotel or in the city. You may be lucky and you will see a dugong on Beach No. 1 looking for food in shallow water at high tide. For 1000 - 2000 rupees you can rent a fishing boat and go snorkeling or fishing on it. The cost depends on the distance of the trip, the duration of the dives, etc.; usually several people are taken on board.

The main bazaar has a pleasant atmosphere and a lot of people gather here in the evenings. At the Gyan Garden Restaurant you can visit cooking courses (from 200 rupees). Behind the restaurant there is a path that will take you up the hill to the observation deck, from where you can see the whole island all the way to the sea.

Where to stay and where to eat

In the low season, simple bungalows on the beach are very profitable. The most popular places are Nango Beach Resort: (03192-282583; bungalows Rs 50-350, cottages Rs 600-1000) and Pearl Park Resort (03192-282510; bungalows Rs 100-250, cottages and rooms Rs 400-1600), both on beach number 1. They are like reflections of each other - this impression is created due to their close proximity and external similarity. Both offer cute thatched bungalows or less interesting but more comfortable concrete rooms. The main difference is that Tango offers sea breezes and ocean views, while Pearl Park offers sunsets and lush gardens.

A-D Beach Resort (214722; bungalow 300-700 rupees)- another great option on beach number 4.

The food on Neil Island is surprisingly good. In the market you will find cheap and delicious Bengali food.

Moonshine (main dishes 40-150 rupees) on the way to the beach number 1 - this is a favorite restaurant among tourists. Here they cook excellent homemade pasta and dishes from it. (shrimp pasta is amazing) and serve cold beer. Located in the market Chand Restaurant also popular. Here you will be served strong coffee and delicious grilled fish. Gyan Garden Restaurant (main dishes 50-200 rupees) offers a great selection of seafood dishes.

How to get and move

A ferry departs from Phoenix Bay in Port Blair every morning to and from Neil. (195 rupees, two hours). There is also a daily ferry to Havelock which departs in the morning.

Bicycle rental (from 50 rupees per day)- a great way to get around the island: the roads here are smooth, and the distances are short. An auto rickshaw will take you from the pier to beach number 1 for 50 rupees.

Middle and North Andamans

The Andaman Islands are not only sun and sand. It is also a jungle, as dense as the forests of the Amazon and ancient as Jurassic Park, as if created by Mother Nature on a whim. This densely overgrown, wild side of the islands can be seen during a long jolting bus on the Andaman Highway. (ATR). Traveling overland to Diglipur, you will find yourself on bumpy roads lined with ancient trees and overlooking ferries that surf the tannin-red rivers inhabited by combed crocodiles.

But there is also a downside to traveling the ATR: the road passes through Jarawa settlements, which puts the tribe in constant contact with the outside world. Modern India and tribal life cannot seem to coexist - every time Jarawa and visitors interact in some way, misunderstandings occur, leading to dissension and unrest, or, in the worst case, to acts of violence and death. Indian anthropologists and local human rights organizations such as Survival International are calling for the closure of the ATR. At the time of the study, the status of the highway was under discussion. Currently, vehicles are only allowed with an escort and at set times. from 6:00 to 15:00. Photography is strictly prohibited, as is stopping and interacting with the Jarawa, who are becoming more and more dependent on handouts from passing tourists.

The most interesting place north of Port Blair is the impressive limestone caves. (closed on Mondays) in Baratang. They can be reached by boat. (200 rupees) from the pier, which takes 45 minutes. The path lies through the picturesque mangrove forest. A permit is required, which can be issued at the pier.

Rangat - the second main city, a transport center, nothing else remarkable. If you still get stuck here, we recommend the hotel PLS Bhawar (single/double from 150/250 rupees), the best of many bad hotels. There is an ATM nearby. Ferries depart for Port Blair and Havelock Island (50/195 rupees, 9 hours) and Long Island (7 rupees), from the Yeratga pier, which is 8 km from Rangat. There is a bus to Port Blair daily. (95 rupees, 9 hours).

December to March hawksbill (moss turtles) nest on the beaches of Cuthbert Bay, a 45-minute drive from Rangat. A northbound bus will take you here. Hawksbill Nest (03192-279022; bedroom for 4 people 600 rupees, 2-bed 400 rupees, air-conditioned 800 rupees) is the only place to stay. The room must be booked at the A&N Tourism office in Port Blair. Permission (250 rupees) can be issued at the forester's office in Betapur.

Long Island

The friendly people and leisurely pace of life on Long Island make it the perfect place for those seeking peace and tranquility. The island has no motorized Vehicle and sometimes it seems like you are the only tourist here.

One and a half hour walk in the jungle (not recommended after rain) will lead you to the secluded bay of Lalaji with snow-white sandy beach and comfortable bathing area. By hiring dungi (deposit 1500 rupees), you can get to the bay much easier, especially if you don't like leeches. You can also rent dungas and go to North Passage Island for snorkeling in magnificent bay Merck Bay with its dazzling white sandy beach and clear water. You can also go to South Batgon from here. (South Button).

blue planet (9474212180; www.blueplanetandamans.com; room with/without bath from Rs 300/700)- this is not only a great hotel, but also an excellent example of architecture using washed-ashore bottles. Paduk grows around simple rooms, on which hammocks are stretched. Here they feed and provide very slow internet. Follow the blue arrows to get here from the pier. There are separate cottages (from 2000 to 3000 rupees) nearby. Long Island does not sell alcohol, so you will have to stock up in advance.

There is a ferry from here three times a week to Havelock and Port Blair. (Rs 195) and once a week in Rangat (8 rupees).

Mayabunder and its environs

On the "upper" Middle Andaman there are several villages inhabited by the Karens, a Burmese hill tribe who were resettled here during the colonial rule of Britain. In Mayabunder, stay at Sea "n" Sand (03192-273454; [email protected]; room from 200 rupees), is a simple cabin, restaurant and bar overlooking the ocean. Located 1 km from the city center. The inn is run by Karen Titus and Elizabeth with their big family. This discreet place is suitable for those who want to be away from the crowds. It offers a number of day trips by boat. (500-2500 rupees per tour) which, depending on the season, may include trips to the Forty-One Caves where the Salangans build their prized edible nests, snorkeling off the coast of Avis Island, a jungle trip to the eerie Interview Island, home to a small population of wild elephants released after a closure in 1950 years of a woodworking enterprise. You will feel very strange. Permission required (500 rupees). which is best obtained through Sea "n" Sand.

Mayabunder is located 71 km from Rangat. There is a daily shuttle bus from Port Blair. (l30 rupees, 10 hours) and three times a week - ferry (on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays). There is an unreliable ATM here.

Diglipur and surroundings

Those who make it to these far northern lands will be rewarded with spectacular sights. Though don't expect much from Diglipur, the northernmost major city in the Andaman Islands, which is a sprawling, sandy market town with an ATM and slow internet (40 rupees per hour). You should head straight to Kalipur where you will find lodging and views of the ocean and outlying islands.

The ferry arrives at Aerial Bay Pier, which is 11 km southwest of Diglipur, the bus station and the administration building, where you can book tickets for the boat. Kalipur is located on the coast, 8 km southeast of the pier.

What to see and do

Ibis, leatherback, olive and green turtles nest on the coast of Diglipur from December to April. Tourists can help collect eggs for incubation; contact Pristine Beach Resort for more information. There are also several caves in the area.

United sand strip the twin islands are like beautiful tropical scales. Since this area is considered a marine reserve, you will need to obtain permission from the Department of Forestry to visit it. (Indian / foreigner 50/500 rupees; 6:00-14:00 Mon-Sat), which is located opposite the Aerial Bay pier. These islands are some of the best in the Andamans; and great snorkeling here. You can rent a boat to leave the village for 1000 rupees per day.

Craggy is a small island near Kalipur, where it is also nice to go snorkeling. Strong swimmers can get there on their own, or you can rent dungas (Rs 200 round trip).

Mount Saddle Peak - highest point Andaman Islands (732 m above sea level). A walk through the subtropical forest from Kalipur to the summit and back will take 6 hours; from the top you have a magnificent view of the archipelago. It also requires permission from the Department of Forestry. (Indian 25 rupees, foreigner 250 rupees), and a local guide will help you not get lost - more detailed information can be found at Pristine Beach Resort. Otherwise, follow the red arrows drawn on the trees.

How to get and move

From Diglipur, located 80 km north of Mayabunder, there is a daily bus service to Port Blair (170 rupees, 12 hours) and back, as well as to Mayabunder (50 rupees, 2.5 hours) and Rangat (70 rupees, 4.5 hours). There is also a ferry service from Port Blair to Diglipur that returns from Diglipur at night (seat/bed 100/295 rupees, 10 hours).

Buses from Diglipur to Kalipur run every half hour; an auto rickshaw costs about 100 rupees.

Small Andaman

Gaubolambe - this is the name of Small Andaman, located in the southernmost part of the archipelago, its inhabitants from the Onge tribe. Here you seem to be at the end of the world (V tropical paradise) : there are almost no tourists, the locals are so friendly that you perceive them as family, and the island itself is a lush mangrove and jungle that has existed here since the creation of the world.

Little Andaman was badly damaged during the tsunami on December 26, 2004 and is now slowly recovering. But, despite the fact that the tourist infrastructure is not yet developed here, new hotels are already starting to open. The main settlement here is Hat Bay, small town 120 km south of Port Blair, where mainly smiling Bengalis and Tamils ​​live. To the north of here you will find secluded beaches, clean and fresh.

What to see and do

Netaji Nagar 11 km north of Hat Bay and Butler Bay another 3 km north are beautiful desert (unless a cow meets by chance) beaches and great waves for surfers.

A little further from the coast in the forest there are White Surf and Whisper Wave waterfalls. (the latter involves a 4 km walk, for which we highly recommend taking a guide). You will see magnificent waterfalls and you might want to swim in their lakes, but beware of crocodiles.

The Little Andaman Lighthouse, 14 km from Hat Bay, is another worthwhile excursion. 41 m up, exactly 200 steps - and before you opens a magical view of the coast and the forest. The easiest way to get here is by motorcycle, but you can work hard and ride a bike. You could also hire an auto rickshaw and then, when the road becomes impassable, walk along the peaceful deserted beach. The walk will take no more than an hour.

Harbinder Bay and Dugong Creek are the tribal areas of the Nicobars and Onge, respectively; their visit is prohibited.

Among intrepid surfers, Little Andaman has been rumored since its opening to foreigners a few years ago. In between reefs, only experienced surfers are recommended to ride, and sharks and crocodiles are not uncommon here. Connect with the surf freak Muth (9775276182) from Havelock, he will provide you with the necessary information about the waves around Little Andaman and the surrounding area. There are several habitable surfer yachts that go here and take you to more remote, inaccessible places. Contact Surf Andamans (www.surfandamans.com).

How to get and move

Ferries arrive at Hat Bay Pier on the east coast; the beaches are north of here. Buses (10 rupees) go to Butler Bay whenever they want. You can rent a local jeep (100 rupees).

Water transport runs to Little Andaman from Port Blair daily. You can choose between an 8-hour night cruise on a slow ship or a 6-hour day trip on a speedboat. (seat/bed Rs 25/70).

If you are planning to fly by helicopter, this is a great opportunity for you. This way you can not only avoid the 7.5-hour boat trip, but also enjoy incredible views from above - although limiting the weight of luggage to 5 kg complicates things a bit.