The “Ranchiwallas” are on the warpath in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.These tribals from Jharkhand’s Chhotanagpur region, 400 of whom were first shipped to the islands by the British way back in 1918 to build roads, are demanding scheduled tribe status with job and education benefits under the C and D categories.They have made it clear they are not seeking full reservation under the A and B categories — free...

Ten years, 125 more heads. Hardly anything to write home about in these times of billion-plus populations, but anthropologists aren’t complaining. Not when the last headcount showed 240 and the people in question are a threatened tribe — the Jarawas. The latest report by the Andaman Adim Janjati Vikash Samity (AAJVS), a government-affiliated autonomous agency headed by the Union territory’s lieutenant governor, shows the Jarawas now number 365 — 125 more since...

A UNESCO dossier examines the problems faced by the original tribal inhabitants of the Andaman islands. SINCE the 1780s, a variety of players have vied for space in the Andaman archipelago. Today, apart from the three wings of the country's armed forces, others including rice farmers, timber merchants and academics are trying to push out its original inhabitants from their traditional habitats. For the first time in the past 150 years,...

“A road runs through their forest home and they risk decimation by disease”  Forget all those wildlife safaris promising glimpses of lions and tigers. Some tour operators in the Andamans are offering more “exotic” fare. “Early morning proceed to Baratang Island, it is situated in the northern part of south Andaman. It takes 3 hours journey,” says the website of the Andaman Island Adventure travel company. “In between, you would cross...

A handful of Jarawa tribesmen recently broke into a house in the village of Mathura in the Andaman islands. They left after taking away rice, sugar and coconut. The first people to successfully migrate out of Africa, the Jarawas came to the Andaman islands 60,000 years ago, scientists believe. Essentially hunter-gatherers, the tribespeople have traditionally survived on the raw meat of wild boar. But in the 1970s, a road (the...