Penal Transportation and Colonial Atrocities on the Andaman’s and Robben Island

Abstract

This paper aims to trace the history of two penal transportation sites: Andaman's Islands of India and Robben Island of South Africa. Those who opposed British colonial rule and expansion were sent to the Andaman and Robben Islands through penal transportation. Both islands were used as places of Banishment, exile, and penal settlement during the colonial and imperial expansion of the British empire. The objective of this paper is to understand how that Island and the people imprisoned there were used by the British and the role of those detained as political prisoners or convicts on those islands. The interconnected histories of Robben Island, the Andaman Islands, and the convicts transported between them demonstrate the global dimensions of colonial oppression and resistance. Robben Island stands as a symbol of South Africa's struggle against colonial legacy, while the Andaman Islands represent a site of resistance to British imperialism. In 1979, the jail was declared a National Memorial dedicated to the nation in the presence of the former Andaman political prisoners. Robben Island became a tourist spot, and in 1999, it was declared a World Heritage site as it had an essential role in the political history of South Africa