CHAPTER VI. THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS. § 1. Situation and History. THESE groups of islands are not connected with the Government of BURMA in any way; but their geographical position makes it suitable to place a brief note regarding them, after the Chapter on Burma. They consist of a long stretch of islands, the Great and Little Cocos, and the North, Middle, and South Andamans, and the Little Andaman, a separate island some distance south. In the South Andaman' is PORT BLAIR (the capital with its splendid harbour). Further south again come the Nicobar Group, consisting, first, of the Car Nicobar,' Tillangchong, Terressa, Camorta, Trinkati, Katchall, and Nancoury (whence the name of the settlement); and still further south (beyond the Sombreiro Channel) are the Little and Great Nicobar Islands. The whole group is under the control of the Chief Commissioner and Superintendent, Andaman and Nicobar Islands,' residing at Port Blair. This official has a Deputy (periodically relieved) at Nancoury (Nicobars). The Andaman group were first made use of by the Bengal Government in 1789 as a convict settlement and a harbour of refuge. The colony was abandoned owing to its unhealthiness in 1796. It was not re-established till 1858, and the islands were then formally annexed. The Nicobars had been originally colonized and annexed by the Danish Government, but were given up in 1858. They were included in the Chief Commissionership of the Andamans in 1872. Reg. III. of 1876, sec. 4. Sec. 6. Sec. 7. § 2. The Law applicable. The law providing for the government of the whole group was at first contained in Act XXVII. of 1861, which was replaced by a Regulation (under 33 Vict., cap. 3) passed in 1874. This in its turn has been superseded by the amended Regulation No. III. of 1876. . 'All the land comprised in any settlement in any of the said islands is vested absolutely in Her Majesty the Queen, and no person shall be deemed to have acquired any property therein or any right to or over the same by occupation, prescription, or conveyance, or in any other manner whatsoever, except by a conveyance executed by the Secretary to the Government of India by order of the GovernorGeneral in Council.' A proviso to this section saves rights created under Act XXVII. of 1861. The Chief Commissioner sanctions the occupation of land by a license in writing, and such a license is not transferable either by contract or by inheritance, without the written consent of the Chief Commissioner. The Chief Commissioner can also determine any license, by giving a year's notice and paying compensation for buildings or works constructed pursuant to the terms of the license 1. The limits of a settlement' may be at any time defined by an order of the Governor-General in Council. And the Chief Commissioner, with sanction of the Governor-General in Council, may appoint one or more officers to superintend the management of land of any settlement and the realization of rent, revenue, and other dues (which may be recovered summarily by distraint of property or personal imprisonment (simple) not exceeding six months). §3. The Occupation of Land. Rules regarding the grant of licenses to occupy land were 1 In order to place a limit on such compensation, the license itself specifies a maximum value (not exceeding R. 25,000, without special sanction of the Governor-General`, up to which value, buildings may be constructed or improvement works undertaken. published in the local (Andaman and Nicobar) Gazette of 31st January, 1885. A Revenue Officer is to fix the boundaries and demarcate the land of each village.' A 'khasra' survey is made, and a 'shajra,' or village map, is prepared in accordance with the system adopted in the North-Western Provinces,' and the khasra, or index-register of lands, which accompanies it, is made out in a simple form, prescribed in the rules. From this khasra a 'khatauni,' or abstract of fields held by each person, is made out. A plan of the village site is also prepared and a register of the houses 1. Provision is made for recording all changes in holdings of land and houses in a 'dákhil-khárij' register; such changes being reported to the head of the village-called 'Chaudhari.' The licenses for land hold good for five years; and a rent is prescribed in the license, which ranges from R. 1-8 on low-land (rice land) per 'Bengal bíghá 2,' and twelve annas on hill-land. Conditions are endorsed on every license, as to payment of school cess, chaukidári (cess for support of watchmen), and grazing fees, &c. It is also a condition that the land must not be given up without three months' notice before the close of the year. The license may be transferred only by permission as already stated, and on payment of a fee for registering the transfer. There are taxes on all house-sites according to their class, ranging from R. 25 to R.2 a year. But house-sites of 'revenue-paying cultivators' pay no tax. Rules regarding the Nicobar settlement are to be found in the Gazette of 6th September, 1884. 1 The Settlement Records of Port Blair thus consist of,-(Vernacular -in Urdu), (1) Boundary maps, (2) the Khasra, and (3) Shajra, or village map, (4) the Abstract of Holdings or Khatauni (kept in English also, (5) the plan of housesites, (6) the house register, and (7) a general allotment of land and house-sites, comprised in a village (kept in English also). (Rule XII, Gazette of 31st January, 1885). "Presumably that used in Bengal proper, which is 3rd of an acre, nearly 1600 square yards. That originally adopted in the old NorthWestern Provinces survey is 3025 square yards. These rules are framed to prevent the taking up of land, which properly is held or occupied by native Nicobarese. Registers are to be maintained-(1) of land within a twomiles radius from the jetty at Nancoury, (2) beyond that distance, and (3) register of transfers. The conditions of licenses (endorsed on each license) vary according as the land is within the two-miles radius or beyond it. In the latter case no rent or revenue is charged for fifteen years; after that one rupee per acre is payable annually1. 1 In the Nicobars the land measure used is the acre of 43,568 square feet, which is divided into fractions called 'one anna, or one pie re spectively. The 'anna' is the onesixteenth part (2722 square feet) and the pie the twelfth of that (226 9 square feet). INDEX OF SUBJECTS. NOTICE.-All Indian words (including Anglicized forms, and names of provinces, THROUGHOUT both Indices, the Provinces to which the reference belongs are (N.W.P.) North-Western Provinces. (L.U.B.) Lower, Upper, Burma. To save space, P. S. is used for 'Permanent Settlement'; S. for Settlement In referring to compound words, like Land-Revenue-Settlement, Land-Revenue- 'Absolute' occupancy-tenant (C. P.): ii. 482, 489. Accidents affecting soil value; see Soil. 'Accountant' of village, &c.; see Patwárí, &c. in Vern. Index. Act, the Regulating,' 1773: i. 31. 24 Geo. III. 37 Geo. III. 3 and 4 Will. IV. 5 and 6 Will. IV. 16 and 17 Vict. Cap. 15: i. 83. |