Port Blair is the largest town and a municipal council in Andaman district in the Andaman
Islands and the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India.
It lies on the east coast of South Andaman Island and is the main entry point to the
islands.
Port Blair is the headquarters for the Indian district of South Andaman, and the local administrative
sub-division, which is also called Port Blair.
It is the headquarters of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the first integrated theatre
command of the armed forces.
It is home to several museums and a major naval base INS Jarawa of the Indian Navy,
along with sea and air bases of the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Air Force.
Port Blair is also famous for the historic Cellular Jail and other small islands which
were once home to British colonists.
History
In 1789 the government of Bengal established a penal colony on Chatham Island in the southeast
bay of Great Andaman, named Port Blair to honor Lieutenant Archibald Blair of the British
East India Company.
After two years, the colony moved to the northeast part of Great Andaman and was named Port Cornwallis
after Admiral William Cornwallis.
However, there was much disease and death in the penal colony, and the government ceased
operating it in May 1796.
In 1824 Port Cornwallis was the rendezvous of the fleet carrying the army to the First
Anglo-Burmese War.
In the 1830s and 1840s, shipwrecked crews who landed on the Andamans were often attacked
and killed by the natives, alarming the British government.
In 1855, the government proposed another settlement on the islands, including a convict establishment,
but the Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced a delay in its construction.
However, since the rebellion provided the British with a lot of new prisoners, it made
the new Andaman settlement and prison an urgent necessity.
Construction began in November 1857 at the renovated Port Blair, avoiding the vicinity
of a salt swamp which seemed to have been the source of many of the old colony's problems.
The penal colony was originally on Viper Island, named after Lieutenant Blair's vessel, The
Viper.
The convicts, mostly political prisoners, suffered life imprisonment at hard labor under
cruel and degrading conditions.
Many were hanged, while others died of disease and starvation.
Between 1864 and 1867 a penal establishment was also built with convict labor on the northern
side of Ross Island.
These structures are now in ruins.
As the Indian freedom movement continued to grow in the late 19th Century, an enormous
Cellular Jail was constructed between 1896 and 1906 to house Indian convicts, mostly
political prisoners, in solitary confinement.
The Cellular Jail is also known as Kala Pani, a name given to it due to the torture and
general ill-treatment towards its Indian convicts.
The airport at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar's capital, has been named Veer Savarkar International
Airport.[11] The commemorative blue plaque on India House fixed by the Historic Building
and Monuments Commission for England reads "Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 1883-1966 Indian
patriot and philosopher lived here."
From 1943-1944 during World War II, Port Blair was the headquarters of the Azad Hind government
under Subhas Chandra Bose.
Although affected by the Tsunami and 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, Port Blair survived
sufficiently to act as a base for relief efforts in the islands.
Geography and climate Port Blair has a tropical monsoon climate,
with little variation in average temperature and large amounts of precipitation throughout
the year.
All months except January, February and March receive substantial rainfall.
Demographics As of 2011 India census, Port Blair had a
population of 100,608.
Males constitute 52.92% of the population and females 47.07%.
Port Blair has an average literacy rate of 89.76%, higher than the national average that
is 72%.
In Port Blair, male literacy is 92.79%, and female literacy is 86.34%.
9.3% of the population is under the age of 6 years.
Gallery
See also Charles James Lyall
References