08-05-2007, 07:50 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-Bodhi+Aug 5 2007, 10:54 AM-->QUOTE(Bodhi @ Aug 5 2007, 10:54 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Any clues about the earliest mentions of Andaman & Nicobar chain of isles?
What were their older and traditional names?
Are these names pre-european-cartography or post?
(someone said Andaman comes from the apa-bhramsha of 'gandhamadan')
[right][snapback]71875[/snapback][/right]
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Here is what Wikipedia says
The name Andaman presumably comes from Handuman, which is Malay for the Hindu god Hanuman. The name Nicobar is Malay for land of the naked (people).
Another useful link - A Hindu article
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/features/and...81500260300.htm
The islands of good fortune
The popular impression is that the history of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands begins with the arrival of the British. But the history of the islands dates back to much earlier.
Legend has it that the name Andaman is derived from Hanuman, an important character in the `Ramayana.' Hanuman was called as `Handuman' by the Malayas.
Ptolemy, the Roman geographer, included the islands in his first map of the world in the 2nd century and described them as "the islands of good fortunes."
I Tsing, 7th century Buddhist scholar, referred to them as `Andabans.'
Marco Polo too appears to have known them. Nicolo Contri, 15th century Italian traveller, called the Andamans "the Island of God."
There are also references in the Chola inscriptions of 1050 A.D. in Thanjavur.
As for the Nicobar group of islands, the Arab travellers used the term Lakhabalus or Najabulus, which, historians say, was a corrupted form of `Nicobar.'
In the Thanjavur inscriptions, the islands are mentioned as Nakkavaram, which means "the land of the naked."
Another link says that the Hanuman origin of the word Andaman is bcos Hanuman used it as a launching pad to go to Lanka (this is the Malay version). Can't imagine why Hanuman would take all the trouble to jump from India and go to Andaman and then from thereon to Lanka. Or probably the Malaysians really thought that Hanuman was a Malaysian. Then it seems logical. Hanuman jumps from Malaysia to Andaman, refuels himself and then second jump to Lanka.
What were their older and traditional names?
Are these names pre-european-cartography or post?
(someone said Andaman comes from the apa-bhramsha of 'gandhamadan')
[right][snapback]71875[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Here is what Wikipedia says
The name Andaman presumably comes from Handuman, which is Malay for the Hindu god Hanuman. The name Nicobar is Malay for land of the naked (people).
Another useful link - A Hindu article
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/features/and...81500260300.htm
The islands of good fortune
The popular impression is that the history of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands begins with the arrival of the British. But the history of the islands dates back to much earlier.
Legend has it that the name Andaman is derived from Hanuman, an important character in the `Ramayana.' Hanuman was called as `Handuman' by the Malayas.
Ptolemy, the Roman geographer, included the islands in his first map of the world in the 2nd century and described them as "the islands of good fortunes."
I Tsing, 7th century Buddhist scholar, referred to them as `Andabans.'
Marco Polo too appears to have known them. Nicolo Contri, 15th century Italian traveller, called the Andamans "the Island of God."
There are also references in the Chola inscriptions of 1050 A.D. in Thanjavur.
As for the Nicobar group of islands, the Arab travellers used the term Lakhabalus or Najabulus, which, historians say, was a corrupted form of `Nicobar.'
In the Thanjavur inscriptions, the islands are mentioned as Nakkavaram, which means "the land of the naked."
Another link says that the Hanuman origin of the word Andaman is bcos Hanuman used it as a launching pad to go to Lanka (this is the Malay version). Can't imagine why Hanuman would take all the trouble to jump from India and go to Andaman and then from thereon to Lanka. Or probably the Malaysians really thought that Hanuman was a Malaysian. Then it seems logical. Hanuman jumps from Malaysia to Andaman, refuels himself and then second jump to Lanka.