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The Tribal Culture
Since pre-historic times these islands were the home of aboriginal
tribes. The tribes in the Andaman group of islands
are the Great Andamanese, Ongese, Jarawas and Sentinels, all of
Negrito origin, while the tribes in the Nicobars are the Nicibarese and
Shompens, both of Mongoloid stock.
The first settlement by the British took place in 1789, which was later
abandoned in 1796. The second settlement was basically a penal settlement,
taken up in 1858 after the First War of Independence. The people who came
after independence were from various regions of the mainland with
different languages, caste, religion, and other cultural background. In
1901,the population was 24,549, which included Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists
and Sikhs. As per 1991 census the population is 2,80,661.
Persons of all faiths- Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs etc., and of
all languages like Hindi,Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil Telugu, Punjabi,
Nicobari, etc., live together in complete peace and harmony.
Inter-religion and inter-regional marriages are common. This amazing
racial and cultural mix is correctly described as "Mini India".
Impact Of Christianity
French
Jesuit missionaries made first attempt in the 16th century to propagate
Christianity but did not succeed. Danes took over these islands in 1756
but they too failed to introduce Christianity. However, only in 1869 after
British took possession of the island from Danes that Christianity saw its
first dawn on these island and first church was made in Car Nicobar in
1903. V. Solomon, Thumouswamy, a Tamil from Madras originally a
non-Christian was first apostle to the Nicobar
Islands. His disciple John Richardson Hacherka represented first
time Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Parliament of
India.
First Church at Katchal was
opened only on 8th January 1962. Now there are many big beautiful churches
besides many large Hindu temples present on the islands. However,
influences of Christianity have affected indigenous traditions, worship
systems and belief. But the tribes in 'Ponda' and other villages still
follow their ancient worship system.
Muslim Settlement
First Muslims to settle down in Nicobar
Islands were "Minicoyans" from Laccadive Island in the
Arabian Sea. R. Akoojee Jadwet, a prominent Muslim from
Surat ,
Gujarat , during
British period made some impact on these islands. Jadwet people had
financial agreement with British government and for decades they had total
economic trade monopoly on these islands.
