Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

NICOBAR ISLANDS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 661 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

NICOBAR ISLANDS , a See also:

British See also:group of twelve inhabited and seven uninhabited islands in the See also:Bay of See also:Bengal, between See also:Sumatra and the Andaman Islands, to which latter they are administratively appended. They have an aggregate See also:area of about 635 sq. m., See also:Great Nicobar (Loong), the largest and southernmost of any See also:size, covering 333 sq. m. Six others range in area from about 20 sq. m. to 62 sq. m.; the See also:rest are See also:mere islets. A careful See also:census of the natives, taken by Mr E. H. See also:Man in 1901, gave a See also:total See also:population of some 6700, at about which figure the estimates of the number of inhabitants have always stood. See also:Car Nicobar (Pu), the most northerly See also:island, with an area of 49 sq. m., was by far the most densely populated, and had 3500 inhabitants, Great Nicobar containing only 450. The marine surveys of these islands are still meagre and unsatisfactory, but the whole of the Nicobars and outlying islands were surveyed topographically by the See also:Indian Survey See also:Department in 1886–1887, when a number of maps on the See also:scale of 2 in. to the mile were produced, giving an accurate See also:coast-See also:line. Some of the islands have mere See also:flat, See also:coral-covered surfaces; others, again, are hilly, the Great Nicobar rising to 2105 ft. On that island there are considerable and beautiful streams, but the others generally are badly off for fresh See also:surface See also:water. There is one See also:good See also:harbour, a magnificent See also:land-locked shelter called Nancowry Harbour, formed by the islands of Camorta and Nancowry (both known to natives as Nankauri). (neology.—The Nicobars See also:form See also:part of a great submarine See also:chain, of which the Andamans are a continuation.

Elaborate See also:

geological reports were issued by a Danish scientific expedition in 1846 and an See also:Austrian expedition in 1858. Dr Rink of the former found no trace of true volcanic rocks, though the chain as a whole is known for its volcanic activity, but features were not wanting to indicate considerable upheavals in the most See also:recent periods. He considered that the islands belonged to the See also:Tertiary See also:age. Von See also:Hochstetter of the Austrian expedition classified the most important formations thus: eruptive, See also:serpentine and See also:gabbro; marine deposits, probably See also:late Tertiary, consisting of sandstones, slates, See also:clay, marls, and plastic clay; recent See also:corals. He considered the whole group connected geologically with the great islands of the See also:Malay See also:Archipelago farther See also:south. The vexed question of the presence of See also:coal and See also:tin in the Nicobars has so far received no decided scientific support. The See also:white clay marls of Camorta and Nancowry have become famous as being true polycistinan marls like those of See also:Barbados. Earthquakes of great violence were recorded in 1847 and 1881 (with tidal See also:wave), and mild shocks were experienced in See also:December 1899. See also:Meteorology.—It has always been held to be important to maintain a meteorological station on the Nicobars, for the purpose of supplementing the See also:information obtained from the Andamans regarding cyclones in the Bay of Bengal. From 1869 to 1888 an See also:observatory was properly maintained in Nancowry harbour, but after the latter See also:year observations were recorded only in a more or less desultory way until 1897, when the station was removed to See also:Mus in Car Nicobar. The See also:climate is unhealthy for Europeans. The islands are exposed to both monsoons, and smooth See also:weather is only experienced from See also:February to See also:April, and in See also:October.

See also:

Rain falls throughout the year, generally in See also:sharp, heavy showers. During the five years ending 1888 the See also:annual rainfall varied from 91 in. to 133 in., and the number of wet days peg annum from 148 to 222. The highest temperature in the shade was 98.2° F., and the lowest 64° F. See also:Flora and See also:Fauna.—Although the vegetation of the Nicobars has received much desultory See also:attention from scientific observers, it has not been subjected to a systematic examination by the Indian See also:Forest Department like that of the Andamans, and indeed the forests are quite inferior in economic value to those of the more northerly group; besides See also:fruit trees—such as the coco-See also:nut (Cocos nucifera), the betel-nut (Areca See also:catechu), and the mellori (Pandanus leeram)—a thatching See also:palm (Nipa fruticans) and various See also:timber trees have some commercial value, but only one timber See also:tree (Myristica irya ) would be considered first-class in the Andamans. The palms of the Nicobars are, however, exceedingly graceful. Instances of the introduction of See also:foreign economic See also:plants are frequently mentioned in the old missionary records, and nowadays a number of See also:familiar See also:Asiatic fruit-trees are carefully and successfully cultivated. As with the See also:geology and the flora, certain phases of the fauna of the islands have been extensively reported. The mammals are not numerous. In the southernmost islands are a small See also:monkey, rats and mice, tree-shrews (Cladobates nic.), bats, and flying-foxes, but it is doubtful if the " See also:wild " See also:pig is indigenous; See also:cattle, when introduced and See also:left, have speedily become " wild." There are many kinds of birds, notably the megapod (Megapodius nic.), the edible-See also:nest-See also:building See also:swift (Collocalia nidifica), the hackled and pied pigeons (Calaenas nic. and Carpophaga bicolor), a paroquet (Palaeornis caniceps) and an See also:oriole (Orioles macrourus). Fowls, See also:snipe and See also:teal thrive after importation or See also:migration. See also:Reptiles—See also:snakes, lizards and chameleons, crocodiles, turtles and an enormous variant of the edible Indian crab—are numerous; butterflies and See also:insects, the latter very troublesome, have not yet been systematically collected. The fresh-water See also:fish are reported to be of the types found in Sumatra.

Natives.—The Nicobarese may be best described as a Far Eastern See also:

race, having generally the characteristics of the less civilized tribes of the Malay See also:Peninsula and the south-eastern portion of the Asiatic See also:continent, and speaking varieties of the Mon-See also:Annam group of See also:languages, though the several dialects that prevail are mutually unintelligible. Their figure is not graceful, and, owing to their See also:habit of dilating the lips by betel-chewing, the adults of both sexes are often repulsive in See also:appearance. Though See also:short according to the See also:standard of whites (See also:average height, man, 5 ft. 34 in.; woman, 5 ft.), the Nicobarese are a See also:fine, well-See also:developed race, and live to seventy or eighty years of age. Their See also:mental capacity is considerable, though there is a great difference between the sluggish inhabitant of Great Nicobar and the keen trader of Car Nicobar. The See also:religion is an undisguised See also:animism, and all their frequent and elaborate ceremonies and festivals are aimed at exorcising and scaring See also:spirits. Though for a See also:long See also:time they were callous wreckers and pirates, and cruel, and though they show great want of feeling in the " See also:devil murders "—ceremonial murders of one of themselves for See also:grave offences against the community, which are now being gradually put down--still on the whole the Nicobarese are a quiet, inoffensive See also:people, friendly to each other, and not quarrelsome, and by inclination friendly and not dangerous to foreigners. The old See also:charge of See also:cannibalism may be generally said to be quite untrue. Tribes can hardly be distinguished, but there are distinctions, chiefly territorial. All the See also:differences observed in the several kinds of Nicobarese may with some confidence be referred to See also:habitat and the See also:physical difficulties of communication. Such See also:government as there is, is by the See also:village; but the village chiefs have not usually much See also:power, though such authority as they have has always been maintained by the foreign See also:Powers who have possessed the islands. The clothing, when not a See also:caricature of See also:European See also:dress, is of the scantiest, and the waggling tags in which the See also:loin-cloths are tied behind See also:early gave rise to fanciful stories that the inhabitants were naked and tailed.

The houses are good, and often of considerable size. The natives are skilful with their lands, and though they never cultivate cereals, exercise some care and knowledge over the coco-nut and See also:

tobacco, and have had much success with the foreign fruits and vegetablesintroduced by the missionaries. The See also:staple See also:article of See also:trade has always been the ubiquitous coco-nut, of which it is computed that 15 million are produced annually, 16 million being taken by the people, and 5 million exported about equally from Car Nicobar and the rest of the islands. The usual cheap European goods are imported, the foreign trade being carried on with the native traders of the neighbouring Asiatic countries. There is an old-established See also:internal trade, chiefly between the older islands and Chowra, for pots (which are only made there) and racing and other canoes. See also:History.—The situation of the Nicobars along the line of a very See also:ancient trade route has caused them to be reported by traders and seafarers through all See also:historical times. In the 17th See also:century the islands began to attract the attention of missionaries. At various times See also:France, See also:Denmark, See also:Austria and Great See also:Britain all had more or less shadowy rights to the islands, the Danes being the most persistent in their efforts to occupy the group, until in 1869 they relinquished their claims in favour of the British, who at once began to put down the piracies of the islanders, and established a penal See also:settlement, numbering in all about 350 persons, in Nancowry harbour. The See also:health of the convicts was always See also:bad, though it improved with length of See also:residence and the See also:adoption of better sanitary See also:measures; and an See also:attempt to found a See also:Chinese See also:colony having failed in 1884 through mismanagement, the settlement was withdrawn in 1888. There are native agencies at Nancowry. harbour and on Car Nicobar, both of which places are gazetted ports. At the latter is a See also:Church of See also:England See also:mission station under a native Indian catechist attached to the See also:diocese of See also:Rangoon.

End of Article: NICOBAR ISLANDS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
NICKNAME 		[next]
NICOL, JAMES (1810-1879)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries