Great Andamanese People - Demographics

Demographics

By the late 18th century, when the British settled on Great Andaman, the Great Andamanese were divided into 10 main tribes with distinct languages, each counting between 200 and 700 individuals. Their territories spanned most of the Great Andaman islands, including Ritche's Archipelago and Rutland Island but excluding Little Andaman (inhabited by the Onge) and the Sentinel Islands (of the Sentinelese). On South Andaman the Great Andamanese coexisted with the Jarawa, and on Rutland Island with the Jangil. Arranged by territory, roughly from north to south, the original tribes were:

• Northern subgroup (Yerewa):
  • (Aka-)Kari or Cari - N of North Andaman - 2 individuals in 1994
  • (Aka-)Kora, Khora or Cora - E of North Andaman - extinct by 1994
  • (Aka-)Bo - W of North Andaman - 15 individuals in 1994
  • (Aka-)Jeru - S and central North Andaman - 19 individuals in 1994
• Southern subgroup (Bojigyab):
  • (Aka-)Kede - N of Middle Andaman - extinct soon after 1931.
  • (Aka-)Kol - SE of Middle Andaman - extinct by 1921.
  • (Oko-)Juwoi - SW of Middle Andaman - extinct by 1931
  • (A-)Pucikwar - NE of South Andaman and Baratang - extinct soon after 1931.
  • (Akar-)Bale - Ritchie's Archipelago - extinct soon after 1931.
  • (Aka-)Bea - coast of South Andaman and Rutland Island - extinct by 1931.

(The prefixed forms of the names actually refer to the respective languages, but they are often used for the tribes themselves.) By 1994 there were also 4 Great Andamanese individuals with no tribal affiliation.

The Great Andaman islands run in a north–south line for some 350 km but are only some 50 km wide at its widest extent. This peculiar geography meant that each tribe typically had only two or three neighbours. Indeed, until colonial times, the northern and southern tribes seemed unaware of each other's existence. Except for the Bea and Bale, who had intense and friendly relations and whose languages were mutually intelligible to some extent, there was little interaction between the tribes at the time of first European contacts. The tribes were further split into smaller units—"septs", "local groups", and families—and also between shore-dwellers (aryoto) and forest-dwellers (eremtaga).