The Battle of Aberdeen

Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsSitting by the stairs of Port Blair's Cellular jail many thoughts cross your mind... what kind of men were they who left their lands and spent their lives in those tiny cells... behind bars.. locked for life... But there is a story of man that goes beyond the times of the Cellular jail...the story of Dudhnath Tewari. And history has been indecisive about judging him.... whether he was a savior.. a patriot... or a traitor who led a whole race to its annihilation..

Dudhnath.... convict number 286 was transported for life to the penal settlement of Andamans in 1857 on charges of mutiny during the First war of Indian Independence. In 1858.. Dudhnath along with 90 fellow prisoners escaped from Port Blair.... with hopes of crossing over to Burma... oblivious of the fact that Andamans was a island group with no land connectivity to Burma...

The short-lived freedom soon gave way to desperation as they found nothing but endless sea and hostile wilderness and Burma was no where in sight....

During those days the islands were the home of this fearsome Negrito tribe.. called the Andamanese. They were known to kill at sight any stranger intruding their territory... Dudhnath and his mates were attacked repeatedly by them.... and finally one day it was Dudhnath's turn...shot by poisonous arrows.. Dudhnath was near dead... Then the unexpected happened...

For some reason the tribals did not kill him. Instead carried him with them, nursed his wounds and took him as their own. Having fled the jail...( where a possible execution awaited him) and the prospects of finding his way to India bleak.. Dudhnath decided to stay on with the Andamanese. He married two Andamanese women and had children..

All went well with him and his tribal friends till Dudhnath noticed something unusual among the Andamanese in 1859...he spied on them and found out that the tribal braves were planning an attack on the British settlement in Port Blair .. an attack that would wipe out the Colonialists from the Islands forever...They planned to kill all outsiders......

"Horrified to hilt" (as he described his state of mind in his statement to the British)...and apparently concerned about the lives of fellow countrymen in Port Blair..He deserted the Andamanese and fled to Port Blair to forewarn the British about the impending attack...

On may 17 1859 the Andamanese attacked Port Blair...and a fierce battle took place... known as the battle of Aberdeen.... But the tribals were no match for the well equipped British soldiers who were prepared for the attack ( thanks to Dudhnath's warning) ..Almost the entire tribal army was annihilated by the British that day..

The Andamanese retreated.. never to attack again.... That was the beginning of the end of their entire race from earth.. Slowly more of them were hunted down...

And today only one family of this magnificent race lives in Andamans. As for Dudhnath Tiwari.. he was rewarded by the British for this act of 'bravery'. He was freed and left for his native village in India soon after. No one heard of Dudhnath Tiwari .. thereafter...

All that remains of the Battle of Aberdeen today is a memorial by the sea side in Port Blair's Marina Park.
first published:August 14, 2006, 21:38 ISTlast updated:August 14, 2006, 21:38 IST
window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode: 'thumbnails-mid-article',container: 'taboola-mid-article-thumbnails',placement: 'Mid Article Thumbnails',target_type: 'mix'});
let eventFire = false;
window.addEventListener('scroll', () => {
if (window.taboolaInt && !eventFire) {
setTimeout(() => {
ga('send', 'event', 'Mid Article Thumbnails', 'PV');
ga('set', 'dimension22', "Taboola Yes");
}, 4000);
eventFire = true;
}
});
 
window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode: 'thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails', placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' });Latest News