Andaman

Located on the trade routes from India to East Asia, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands groups were well-known since the earliest times. The 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk I-ching, the Arab travellers of the 9th century, and Marco Polo (c. 1254–1324) are among those who mentioned the islands. The name Andaman is believed to be derived from the name of the monkey god of Hindu mythology, Hanuman and Nicobar are traced back to the Tamil word Nakkavaram (“land of the naked”) by the historians.

The population of the region was substantially changed by the settlement of convicts from the mainland and of numerous refugees, primarily from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh Japanese forces occupied both the Andaman and Nicobar Islands groups during World War II (1942-1945). The British abolished the penal colony in the Andamans after recapturing the islands. Then, the administration of the Andamans and Nicobar Islands was passed onto independent India in 1947. In 1979, the Andaman Cellular Jail was declared a national monument.