In situ Studies of Astronomy of the Nicobarese Tribe of

M. N. Vahia1, 2, Ganesh Halkare3, S. A. Awaradi4 and Kishore Menon2

1. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Dr Homi Bhabha Road, Navy Nagar, Colaba, Mumbai – 400 005, Maharashtra, (Email: [email protected]) 2. Centre for Excellence in Basic Science, Vidya Nagari, Kalina, Santacruz (East), Mumbai – 400 098, Maharashtra, India 3. Indrayani Colony, Badnera Road, Amravati ‐ 444 607, Maharashtra, India 4. Andaman and Nicobar Tribal Research and Training Institute (ANTRI), Haddo – 744 102, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Received: 08 July 2018; Revised: 11 September 2018; Accepted: 25 October 2018 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 6 (2018): 1013‐1038

Abstract: Sky is open for all to observe and it has fascinated humans from the time they first realised its existence. Humans have seen various objects in the patterns that the stars make. Most of the commonly held division of the sky has its roots in Babylonia about 3000 years before the Common Era. However, isolated tribal groups have not been a part of this narrative and they have interpreted the sky in different manner. Elsewhere (Vahia and Halkare 2017 and references therein) we have reported studies of the astronomy of various inland tribes in central India. Here we report the astronomical perspective of the tribes of the Nicobar Island. Isolated from the mainstream they have developed their own story about the astronomy and cosmogony of human race and the nature of Sun, Moon and stars. However, we find surprising lack of interest in using astronomy for navigational purposes.

Keywords: Astronomy, Tribe, Nicobar Islands, Sun, Moon, Stars, Constellations

Introduction Humans have been fascinated with the skies since they first realised the third upward dimension of the universe (Vahia, 2016). Once the humans realised the reality and rhythms of the skies they have built complex narratives around that knowledge around it (Vahia, Yadav and Menon, 2016) which includes keeping track of the movement of Sun, Moon, stars and constellations and more. They have built large megaliths to keep track of the movement of the heavenly bodies (Menon and Vahia, 2013) and even used it to predict the coming times. One of the most fascinating aspect of this complex interaction of humans with the skies has been its division into patterns and building myths around these. The nine moving objects in the sky, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn give us the seven days of the week. Thunder and lightning and other atmospheric create their own wonders to which shooting stars ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 6: 2018

and rare comets must be added to appreciate the sense of wonder that humans have experienced in the skies. They have associated role of Mother to Earth and that of Father to the Sky from the earliest times. While cultures that have been in contact since time immemorial have developed a common narrative, a more fascinating insight of human creativity can be achieved by understanding the astronomical ideas of the isolated groups of people.

Figure 1: Map of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (https://www.traveldealsfinder.com/andaman‐and‐nicobar‐maps.html)

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Figure 2: Field Team with Tribal Group

Figure 3: Typical House in

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There is therefore a significant interest in the astronomy of isolate human groups the world over. Astronomy of Australian, South American and African tribes have been studied for a long time (Ruggels, 2005, 2009; Munoz, 2018; Holbrook et al., 2008, Hamacher 2011; Baity, 1973). A summary of the astronomy of different tribes in India is given in (Vahia and Halkare, 2017).

Tribal astronomy has roots in belief systems and utility of the skies in the life of isolated groups. While mainstream astronomy was formalised in Babylonia around 3000 BC and adopted in the rest of the connected world, the growth of astronomy in tribal groups provides an independent cultural measure of human intellectual growth. Earlier we have reported studies of astronomy in many inland groups. Here we report an in situ study of the astronomy of the Nicobarese tribe of Nicobar Islands. While the human causalities, especially of a large fraction of elder population in the tsunami disaster in 2004 has resulted in a loss of a lot of indigenous knowledge, we have obtained some idea about their perspective of the skies from the surviving knowledgeable persons. We report the astronomical beliefs from nine villages spread over four islands of the Nicobar group here. The people are aware of both Ursa Major (especially the Big Dipper or Saptarshee part of it) and Crux as markers of northern and southern sky (see figure 12 for their sketch). Unlike the tribes of central India, the people of Nicobar Islands know Polaris, which became a pole star only a few hundred years ago, suggesting a dynamic study of the sky. Pleiades and the Belt of Orion, known to many tribes is also known to them.

Astronomy of tribal population is significantly different from that of the general population (Vahia and Halkare, 2017). Their perspective of the sky which include utilitarian tracking, mythologies and other ideas make a unique pool of human knowledge. In our earlier studies we have reported astronomy of five Indian tribes in Central India. The astronomy of Gonds was reported in Vahia and Halkare (2013); that of Banjara and Kolam in Vahia et al. (2014), of Korku in Vahia, Halkare and Dahedkar (2016) and Cholanaikkan in Vahia et al. (2017). A general pattern that emerges from these studies was discussed in Vahia and Halkare1. Here we present the report of our studies of the astronomy of the aboriginal inhabitants of Nicobar Islands (Figure 1). Under the provisions of Andaman Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956, the Nicobar Islands are notified as tribal reserve wherein the indigenous population gets protected from outsider’s influences except for government run programmes. Tourism and other contacts with civilians are not permitted. Hence the tribal people have preserved their lifestyle through the millennia. A significant fraction of the tribal population was washed away in a tsunami in 2004 and the rest have been resettled by the Government of India.

With special permission from the government of the region, an expedition was organised in the region as a collaboration between the Andaman and Nicobar Tribal Research and Training Institute (ANTRTI) and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Here we report the salient features of this study.

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Figure 4: Back of a Conventional House Where Cooking is done in Open

Figure 5: Typical Conventional House in Teressa

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Figure 6: Mix of Conventional and Modern Houses

Figure 7: Modern House Made After the Tsunami

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Past Studies In earlier studies Rajamanickam (1997) has discussed the general astronomy of the Nicobar people. He notes that while Nicobar fishermen do not go beyond ten kilometres from the island they largely rely on geographic markers (Dinda, 2013 p 137).

However, they do have a familiarity with the skies. They define north (tengane) south (Tangange), east (Tanganae and west (tangaiche). Rajamalickam (1997) notes that the Nicobar people are aware of Centaurus (Onchiana), Orion (Thyan, Crux (Mahayuvan), Aldebaran (Sama), Venus (Balangkaruvya), Ursa Major (Musaha) and Pleiades (Gna‐ gna‐hyaam). In another study, Justine (2013, p57) has discussed the art of navigation used by the people of Nicobar Islands. He notes that people of Chowra use the constellations viz Kalitpaycho, Lanerp, Mirolach, Raheong, Entngore, Anhinso, Uvev and Kalitpacho. The people of Kondule use the constellations of Sapluch, Inhoono, Humlaw inhen,Tuich, Mahayauan, Rookayaial, Riya, Inheng and Sapaluch. He has also provided some drawings of the constellations.

Based on these studies, we suggest that Kalitpaycho is the Big Dipper. However, the author’s statement (Justine 2013, on plate 12 upper panel, p 262) that the second star from below is the brightest does not bear out directly but it is a double star (visible to unaided eye) and hence unusual enough to be noticed. Similarly, we suggest that the constellation Lanep (Justine 2013, plate 10, page 261) seems to be Scorpius which appears like a coconut tree. The constellation named Kalipaycho (Justine 2013, plate 13, pag3 263) seems to be Centaurus. The constellation Anhinso (Justine 2013, plate 12, page 262) seems to be Puppis. (Sule, Private Communication).

Chakraborty (2013, p 220) discusses the astronomical signs familiar to the people of Mayabundar in Middle Andaman where Big Dipper, Crux (Southern Cross), Orion, Loom, Morning and Evening star, Shooting star, Christ Star (Crux?) and Paddy Flower Star (Milky Way Galaxy). It is important to note that while Nicobar are Austro Asian, the Anaman population is Keren (Chakraborty, 2013, p199). However, it is necessary to indicate the ethnology of two communities that is, Nicobarese and the Karens. The Nicobarese belonging to the Mongoloid stock are indigenous ethnic community while the Karens are also Mongoloid people living in few villages near Mayabunder in North and Middle Andaman District at present who were brought to Andaman Islands by the British colonial administration in early part last century to engage them in forest extraction works as the Karens constituted the forest dwelling tribe of erstwhile Burma. Marshack (1972) (see also Kameshwar Rao, (2005)) has suggested that people of Nicobar used calendar sticks to keep track of the calendar. In our study the people of Nicobar only vaguely recalled such a method but were no longer aware of the process. According to these reports the people of Nicobar used to make notches on wooden sticks to mark the passage of time. These notched sticks were made of white wood shaped like a dagger. The months were recorded by V shaped marks. When all the space is used up, further months were engraved across earlier ones, resulting in a cross hatched pattern. (Kameshwar Rao, 2005).

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Primary Data The field team is shown in Figure 2. In subsequent figures 3 to 8 we show different aspects of their habitation. Note that in Big Dipper in the sky they also see an equivalent of image 7 which shows an arrangement designed by them to protect the hens. Two researchers, Ganesh Halkare and Kishore Menon, visited the four islands in the Nicobar region in coordination with M N Vahia and S. A. Awaradi from March 8 to 17, 2018. The team was also accompanied by Mr. Jatin Acharya of TIFR to create a photography record of the visit.

Figure 8: Typical Way of Keeping Chicken Protected from other Animals

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Figure 9: Team Members Discussing Astronomy with Local Person

Figure 10: One of the Elders Pointing to Constellations on an iPad

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Figure 11: Village Elders Discussing Astronomy with Team Members

Figure 12: Sketch of various Constellations Known to the People of Nicobar

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Table 1: Questionnaire for Interaction

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Table 2: Astronomical Beliefs of Nicobar Tribes Sl. Island Village Number No. Camorta Nancowry Chowra Teressa

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total 1 Sun 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 2 Moon 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 Full moon 1 1 2 New Moon 1 1 2 Half Moon 1 1 2 Waxing Moon 1 1 2 Waning moon 1 1 2 3 Morning star 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 4 Evening star 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 5 Mars 1 1 1 3 Venus 1 1 1 1 1 5 6 Eclipse 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 Solar 1 1 1 3 Lunar 1 1 1 3 7 Shooting star 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 8 Rainbow 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 9 Comet 1 1 1 1 1 5 10 Story about sky 1 1 1 3 11 Stars 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 12 Polaris 1 1 1 3 13 Ursa Minor 1 1 2 14 Milky way 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 15 Pleiades 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 16 Big dipper 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 Quadrilateral 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 3 trailing star 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 17 Crux 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 18 Belt of Orion 1 1 1 1 1 5 19 Aldebaran 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 20 Scorpius 1 1 1 1 4 21 Directions 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 22 Days of week 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 23 Numbers 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 Total 21 14 15 23 30 24 24 3 22

Itinerary of Visit On March 7, a meeting was held in TIFR to work out the modality of discussion. A standardised form was created for the purpose (Table 1). The team reached Andaman

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on March 8, 2018. In consultation with the ANTRI, a detailed programme of interaction was worked out. On March 9 the team travelled to Camorta Island by helicopter and were received by Mr. Balaji, an official in the office of the Assistant Commissioner of Nancowry Sub‐division in the . They visited the (1) Munak (8o 08’ N 93o 30’ E) Village. On March 10 they met Ayesha Majid, Chairperson of Tribal Council of Nancowry and visited (2) Kakana village (7o 58’ N 93o 33’ E) Cheych Colony and (3) Pilpillow village. On 11 March, travelled from Camorta to Chowra Island. There, they met the Chairman Tribal Council of Chowra Mr. Jonathan. They met villagers of (4) Taeela Village (8o 27’ N 93o 02’ E). They spent the night at the village in order to observe the night sky with them. On March 12 the team moved to where they met captain of the Bengali village. On March 13 the team visited (5) (8o 16 N 93o 06’ E), (6) and (7) Bengali villages. On March 14, they visited (8) Luxi, (9) Enam and (10) Alluram villages. They returned to Port Blair on March 15 and returned to Mumbai on March 17. Note that in order to access prestine villages, in many islands we visited small hamlets rather than larger villages where modern education tends to colour ancient stories.

General Comments Nicobar Islands form the southern cluster of Islands in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago in . These islands constitute the Union Territory administered by the Lieutenant Governor under the control of the Government of India. Historically, the islands have been noted by mariners travelling from the mainland of India to South East India and sketchy reports of their encounters exist in the literature (Busch, 1845). While the indigenous people of Andaman are Nigrotos those from Nicobar Islands are Mongoloid in origin but in general they form a distinct genetic group (Basu et al. 2016). Christian missionaries arrived on the Nicobar island about 200 years ago and the impact of Christianity can be seen in varying degrees in their lives. While most of the names of the islanders are Christian, they retain many of their original customs and lifestyle. Since about 30 years, the Government of India has opened the Andaman Islands for tourists while the Nicobar Islands have been kept isolated on account of its fragile ecology and potential problems to tribal inhabitants due to arrival of outsiders. These islands have state run schools where local people, educated elsewhere conduct most of the teaching. Many of the tribal people speak and can read and write Hindi and English. The Andaman group of islands were used by the British as the penal colony and later these islands were also chosen to rehabilitate the large number of refugee families because of historical upheaval due to the partition of the country concomitant to Indian independence. Still later, on account of immigration by people of different Indian states in search of livelihood, a significant population of mainland Indians, largely from Bengal and Tamil Nadu can be found in the Andaman archipelago. Apart from Indian Navy establishments and some facilities for visiting government officials, most of the management of the island is done through the Island Tribal Councils which are largely autonomous and are assisted by providing them grants‐in‐aid by the A and N Administration.

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Table 3: Astronomical Terms Used by the Nicobar Tribes Object Name in villages Name in village in Name in Teressa on Camorta Chowre Island Solar system objects Sun Heng Hing Heng Sun in a cloud ‐ Ru on hing ‐ Moon Kahe Man Iyena Kahai Full moon Hinleano New Moon Ochulngo Half Moon Angliyng Moch Waxing Moon Yaniolo Waning moon Chanungo Morning star ‐ ‐ Mahamrehla Chaheng Evening star ‐ ‐ Munech rit heng Venus Balangaru‐ayah ‐ ‐ Eclipse Puno Kapo on mon Ionniao Ka pa Solar Kumunag Lunar Pu ha On left half On right half Shooting star Muk Sako Bamohngo (star thrown Tamohngo liat into a dustbin) Rainbow Camin Ro Tohonunyo Kamin Ro Comet ‐ Somom Chitri Somom Vhitri

Stars Stars ‐ Kolitpicho Kalit picho Polaris ‐ Kalit Pich Milky way Vyay Raik (spring ‐ Pok Rak (spring of water) of water) Pleiades Toyan Kavio (king) or Koini or Kavio Tajainy (old person). It is used as a clock. Big dipper Uyas Honrulohatoom Quadrilateral Inoat Lonob (basket to keep Rohiung (coffine) 3 trailing star hen) Haloko Haloko (ladder to climb to the basket) Southern Cross Mian (dagger Haloko Kuras used for fishing) Belt of Orion ‐ Kenseu (old man’s Konseu walking stick)

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Aldebaran ‐ ‐ Takaru Kalitpicho Scorpius ‐ ‐ Miroleach Directions East Ful Aful _ West Samhav Samhanv _ North Kapa Kukopea _ South Lohanga Lohango _ Days of a week Monday Roneh sua Honnigonga van _ Tuesday Ina Sua Onnea van _ Wednesday Hanuoi Sua Ronnuch van _ Thursday Finaun Sua Fonnen van _ Friday Tiani Sua Tannai van _ Saturday Tinfual Sua Tanfaul van _ Sunday Sunday Onsat van _ Numbers One Hiong Hiong _ Two Ain Ean _ Three Iuoi Ruch _ Four Fuan Fen _ Five Tanai Tai _ Six Tafuol Tafual _ Seven Isat Isat _ Eight Infauan Onfen _ Nine Heang hata Kolofen _ Ten Som Som _ Twenty Ain Inai Ean tum _ Thirty Iuoi Inai Ruch tum _ Forty Fuan Inai Fen tum _ Fifty _ Tiatum _ hundred Hiongnong _ _

A lasting image of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago is the devastation wrought by the Tsunami of December 2004. On all the islands visited by us we found large monuments with names of several hundred people who had perished in the Tsunami. Many of the survivors were shifted to new locations and often on relatively higher grounds. This required some changes in lifestyle and the villagers are often not fully settled. In many areas, alcohol seems to be a problem. Most of the youngsters are educated till class X to XII (age 16 to 18 years) and are fluent in Hindi and English apart from their traditional language. However, since modern navigation has become common for the past few decades, the youngsters are not inclined to use the traditional

1028 Vahia et al. 2018: 1013‐1038 methods of navigation and their knowledge of traditional astronomy is also not strong. We had to rely on the fading memories of village elders to record their traditional astronomy. Their traditional method of navigation between islands is largely based on their understanding of water currents between the islands which appear as waters of distinct colours and flows. However, they do have some understanding and use of astronomy which is recorded below. In Table 3 we have given the common dictionary of words on different islands. Amongst the people of Nicobar, people of Chowra Island are considered most accomplished.

Visits to Individual Villages Village 1: Munak on Camorta Island: Date of visit March 9, 2018; 4 pm., Language: Namcowry dialect of Nicobari language.

Persons contacted 1) J K Allen, age 61 years, studied till the age of 17 years 2) Cecilia Allen, Chair, CTC age 42 years, studied till the age of 10 years 3) Charity Chamoh, age 70 years, not educated 4) Martin Thomas, age 41 years, studied till the age of 10 years Astronomical knowledge 1. Stars: Sakmalicho 2. Sun: Heng 3. Moon: Kahe 4. Full moon: They can see two brothers in resting posture. 5. Shooting star: Muk sako – stars thrown into a dustbin. It is a good omen. 6. Eclipse: It called Pu Ho, Some creature or serpent engulfs the Sun or Moon. People beat drums and vessels to scare away the serpent. 7. Evening star: Balangaruhayo 8. Morning star: Misaha (they know that sometimes is appear in the East before sunrise and sometime in the west after sunset) 9. Pleiades: Toyan (when Pleiades appears in the sky in the eastern sky just after sunset and the sounds of the bird Huktuonk can be heard, the time has come for the change of season. 10. Big Dipper: The four leading stars are called Uyav and the trailing three are Inoat or Dav. While Uyav is seen as the coconut tree, the three trailing stars form the tool designed to cut coconut from the trees. Because cutting coconut requires slicing movement using the instrument, the big dipper moves in the sky (in a circumpolar manner). 11. Crux – Mian – a dagger used to catch fish in shallow waters. 12. Milky way – Vuay Raik (small stream of water). 13. Rainbow: Kamin ro (rainbow indicates waning rains) 14. Burial practice: Head towards the jungle and legs toward the sea. They also put utensils and food items in the graves. 15. Names of the week and numbers (see appendix 2).

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16. Story about spots on the moon: Once upon a time there was a woman with four children. The three elder ones were sent out to work on the farm. The eldest two were hard working and laboured in the field for the whole day while the third son roamed carelessly. At the end of the day, he covered himself with the soil and went back home complaining to the mother that he had to do the hard work while his elder brothers whiled away the time. Angered by this, she banished the two elder sons from home. The two brothers left the home immediately and walked away. As they were wandering in the jungle, they came across a huge spider web. Climbing up the web, they reached the moon and rested on the moon. They are seen on the moon even today. However, the youngest son was very upset at the loss of his elder brother. He still howls at night and the sound is now heard as the sound of the Huktuank bird. If this bird howl is heard when Pleiades is in the sky they believe that the season will change. In a variation of this story, the four children are girls. 17. Story about the skies: In the ancient times, the sky and the earth were not different. But over time, the Sun became very hot and the earth could not bear the heat. Plants and people began to get burned. So all the people had a meeting and decided to use their bows and arrows together to push the sky out of the earth. As they did this, the sky permanently went high and took the Sun with it bringing peace on earth and creating day and night. The arrows fired to take the sky up can be seen as stars today.

Village 2: Kakana Hilltop Cheyah Colony on : Date of visit March 10, 2018; 11 am., Language: Nancowry dialect of Nicobari language.

Persons contacted 1) Chunam James, age 62 years, not educated. Astronomical knowledge 1. Sun: Heng 2. Moon: Kahe 3. Waxing Moon: Hukraka 4. Waning moon: Chea 5. Morning star: Misah 6. Evening star: Malanguruhayya 7. Eclipse: (Solar and Lunar) Pu ha occurs when a creature engulfs the Sun/Moon. The creature has to be chased away by making loud noises. 8. Shooting star: Muk saka: Discarded stars and suggest good omen. 9. Rainbow: Kamin Ro, stops the rains. 10. Milky way: Vuaya Raik, a water stream 11. Weekdays: See appendix 2. 12. Numbering: See appendix 2 13. Directions: See appendix 2 14. Religion: Christian 15. Ritual of burial: Head towards the west

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16. Ancestor worship: Karyava: is done by marking a stick in the ground. There is 8 or 9 days of mourning after death called intuing followed by the festival of feast for all villagers called, Itroka. 17. Season: East wing is cold, west wing is harsh? 18. Festivals: Only one festival called “pig festival”?

Village 3: Pilpillow, Nancowry: Date of visit March 10, 2018 1.05 pm., Language: Namcowry dilect of Nicobar.

Persons contacted 1) Mathais P, age 57 years, educated till 10 years 2) Ebrohim Hanif, age 48 years, not educated 3) Nelson Vencus, age 47, not educated Astronomical knowledge 1. Sun: Heng 2. Moon: Kabe 3. Morning star: Misah 4. Evening star: Managuruhaya 5. Morning: Alagi 6. Afternoon: Camhench 7. Evening: Laruas 8. Night: Hatham 9. Length of day: from sunrise to sunrise 10. Eclipses: Puho: Big snake Tulan, a python engulfs the Sun or Moon and is forced to re‐emit due to noises made by humans. 11. Rainbow: Cuminro, indicates that the rains will stop soon. 12. Pleiades: Tayan – they identify 7 stars there. 13. Big dipper: First four stars (ungyanga) form the basket to keeps hens safe and the trailing three form the ladder to climb up to the basket. 14. Milky way: Riak meaning water 15. Burial: Head to the north. 16. Tides: Karu (high tide), Kamlai (low tide). 17. Ancestor worship: Includes a well decorated wooden staff (futla) placed in the house to protect the house from evil and disease in a region called Karyav 18. Names of directions: See Appendix 2 19. Name of week days: See Appendix 2 20. Numbers: Only up to 10, see Appendix 2 21. Festivals: Pig festival and an annual fair.

Village 4: Taeela on Chowra Island: Date of visit: March 11, 2018, 4 pm, Language: Namcowry dialect of Nicobar.

Persons contacted 1) Mathew Kintunk, age 70 years

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2) Robert Akimas, age 80 years 3) Samuel Moyompa. Age 78 years 4) Jonathan, age 60 years, Chairperson of the Tribal Council 5) Abner Sardar, age 50 years, Secretary of the Tribal Council 6) Richardson, age 40 years, First Captain Astronomical knowledge 1. Sun: Hing 2. Moon: Mon‐ionno 3. They are clear about the relation of the position of the moon in the sky and the tides. 4. Eclipse: Kapo; Kapo‐un‐hing is solar eclipse and Kapo‐un‐Mon‐ionno is lunar eclipse, Katukol (a big fish) engulfs the Sun/Moon and drum beat scares it into vomiting it out behind dense clouds. The process of vomiting it out is called Ru on hing (for the sun) 5. Rainbow: Tohanunyo. It is said that if you point a finger at the rainbow, it will be cut or bent. Tohanunyo also indicates end of a wet spell. 6. Stars: Kalitpicho 7. Morning star: Imenga‐hing (probably Venus) 8. Evening star: Emengengsi‐uk‐hing (probably Venus) 9. Shooting star: Bamohliot or inal – a star thrown into a dustbin 10. Comet: Samom Chitri means messenger 11. Crux: Cross 12. Milky way: are aware of its existence but have no recollection of name or myth 13. Pleiades: Koviyq (king) or Tokoing (group of ancestors) 14. Burial: three days after death but in no specific orientation 15. Orion belt: Konsey‐o (a stick) 16. Crux: Cross 17. Aldebaran: Identified but not named 18. Lupus: Position of Lepus is used for navigation from Kar Nicobar to Chawra. 19. Big Dipper: Honrulohotam. Four stars: Lenob – basket to keep hen and the three trailing stars make a ladder. 20. Story about the sky: Same as that of village 1 (point 16 about having lifted the sky with bow and arrows. They also have a story about having moved a mountain at the edge of the sea at Chowra into the sea in a similar manner. 21. Ancestor worship: A memorial stick is kept in the house to ward off evil with the help of ancestors. 22. Names of weekday: See Appendix 2 column 3 23. Names of numbers: See Appendix 2 column 3 24. Names of directions: See Appendix 2 column 3 25. Festival: Pig festival a feast for the entire village 26. Year is divided into four parts of 3 months each. The seasons are decided by the nature of turbulence of the sea.

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Village 5: Kalasi on Island Teressa: Date of visit 13 March 2018, 9.15 am, Language: Nicobarise.

Persons contacted 1) Jonathan Ruben, age 62 years 2) John Mark age 70 years 3) Johan Richardson, age 52 years 4) Misael Hosaya, age 48 years 5) Ruben Harry, age 37 years, Secretary to Village Council 6) Ethonai Edward, age 51 years; Vice Chairperson of Tribal Council of Teressa Island 7) Titus Amos Chairperson of Tribal Council 8) Aric Jethro, 9) Wilson Zacharia, Second Captain Astronomical knowledge 1. Sun: Heng 2. Moon: Kahai 3. Full Moon: Hinlen implies high tides and no navigation 4. Half‐moon: Angliyang‐moch implies navigable calm seas 5. New moon: Achulango, high tides and no navigation 6. Waxing moon: Yanell 7. Waning moon: Chanung 8. Tides: They are favourable for seven days on either side of half moon. 9. Stars: Kalittpicho 10. Morning star Venus: Mamrel‐l‐cha‐heng (star before sunrise) 11. Evening star: Munech‐rit‐hing (star after sunset) 12. Mars: Identified as another moving star. Conjunction of Mars and Venus is a bad omen. 13. Comet: Somon chitri meaning messanger 14. Rainbow: Kaminaro indicates end of rains. 15. Shooting star: Tamohng‐a‐liyat meaning star consigned to dustbin 16. Eclipse: Kapa – Eclipse covering left of the moon is called Kamungang and that covering the right part is called puha. Story involves a python trying to eat the Sun or moon that has to be chased away. 17. Pleiades: Kavio, king or Takain, a gathering of dead people 18. Belt of Orion: Konseu‐a meaning dead person’s stick 19. Big dipper: box for hen and ladder 20. Crux: Kuras. According to them it becomes vertical at midnight. They use it as a compass and as a clock. 21. Aldebaran: Takaru Kalitpicho, meaning big star. 22. Scorpius: Miroleach meaning crab 23. Polaris: Kalitpich meaning star – only one person mentioned it and pointed to its correct direction. 24. Ursa Minor: Rahyung meaning coffin

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25. Milky Way: Eok‐rak meaning river. 26. Four direction: See appendix 3, column 3. 27. Names of weekdays: See appendix 3, column 3. 28. Numbering system: See appendix 3, column 3. 29. Burial practices and Pig Festival: A witch is cut into two and dumped into the sea; the bodies of children below five are exhumed after 3 days after death; in case of accidental death, the dead buried at a temporary location; in case of death due to old age, the person’s bones are brought out of the grave after 3 years and kept in the house or some common place. The skull in particular, is separately kept and decorated. The ceremony involves community feast which involves dancing and singing, boat race etc. and is called the Pig Festival. 30. Festival: Dance festivals are held in April May (in the pre‐monsoon period). This also includes hunting of wild boar on the day after New moon. 31. Script: They had a sign script which was written on sticks and leaves, but all the evidence was lost in the Tsunami. 32. Story of Origin: It is a muddled version of the Adam and Eve story – probably received from Christian missionaries. 33. Creation of sky: They confirmed the story of the sky having been lifted from the earth when the sun became too hot.

Village 6: Minyuk of Teressa Island: Date of visit: 13 March 2018, 12.30 pm; Language: Teressa dialect of Nicobaris.

People contacted: 1) S Eliza, age 53 years 2) S Micaiah, age 52 years 3) liatS U Teuch, age 72 years. Astronomical knowledge: 1. Sun: Heng 2. Moon: Kahay 3. Morning star: Abali 4. Evening star: Ka eyo 5. Shooting star: Tamahng‐a‐liat – stat thrown from the top. 6. Mars: They are aware of it. 7. Eclipse: Lunar eclipse is called Puha‐ta‐kahay. While the story is forgotten, the practice of beating the drums is known. 8. Rainbow: Kalat Uok – one should not point at the rainbow or the finger may be damaged or broken. 9. Milky way: Poki‐rak – river, flowing water. 10. Orion belt: Kinse O. 11. Pleiades: Kavio or king 12. Big dipper: Lanop – cage for the hens. 13. Polaris: Musah – the star that does not change position. 14. Ursa minor: Layung

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15. Scorpius Kamichat meaning crab. 16. Crux: Kuras, Cross 17. Aldebaran: They are aware of it. 18. Burial practices: They bury the dead and bury, the bones after 3 years. 19. Names of days, numbers, and festivals: See appendix 3, column 3.

Village 7: Bengali on Teressa Island: Date of visit: 13 March 6 pm.

Persons contacted: 1) Peter Zorch, age 62 2) Gilbert Hadaka, age 69 3) Albert (Son of late Henry), age 50 4) Watson (son of later Tiara, age 65 5) Michael, age 35 years. Astronomical knowledge: 1. Son: Heng 2. Moon: Kahay 3. Full moon is associated with high tide; half‐moon with calm seas, and new moon with calm seas. So journeys should be started after half‐moon and completed before new moon Morning star: Mahachiye Heng 4. Evening star: Amomeong Heng 5. Eclipse: Solar Eclipse Puha heng. Lunar eclipse: Pu ha kahay. One big fish named Ka‐u‐heang engulfs the Sun/Moon and drum beating forces it to vomit out the Sun/Moon. 6. Shooting star: Tomohnho liyat: discarded star. Not an omen. 7. Comet: have a vague idea. 8. Rainbow: Kami Ro – not to be pointed at. 9. Orion belt: dead man’s stick 10. Pleiades: Kavio the king 11. Big dipper: Lanop 12. Crux: Kuras 13. Scorpius: Mirolack 14. Aldebaran has no name but the line joining Pleiades to Aldebaran is the path of the king. 15. Polestar was identified 16. Milky way: Achivang meaning river 17. Burial practice: In accidental death the buried person is interned after 3 months and reburied like a natural death. In case of natural death, the bones of the dead are reburied after 3 years and is accompanied by the pig festival.

Village 8: Luxi on Teressa Island: Date of visit: 14 March 2018, 11 am, Language: Mix dialect of Chowra and Teressa.

Persons contacted: 1) Father Stephen Philemon, age 45, originally from

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2) Benedict Joseph, age 41, second village captain.

Astronomical knowledge 1. Could not confirm anything more than days of the week, numbers and pig festival.

Village 9: Enam or Hinam Island Teressa: Date of visit: 14 March 2018 12.15 pm.

Persons met: 1) Richardson Esau, age 75 years 2) Johnson Harry, age 80 Astronomical knowledge: 1. Sun: Heng 2. Moon: Moneoman 3. Were unable to recall names of months, gave names of week days with Sunday as Isat (or seventh day in local dialect) and numbering as in Kalasi 4. Evening star: Puheulo 5. Morning star: Ureh‐cha‐hing 6. Eclipse: Puha – Heng Puha for solar eclipse and maneamn for lunar eclipse. Story of some creature eating them and need for drum beating was confirmed. 7. Shooting star: Muksako 8. Rainbow: Taajanumo 9. Comet: they recall having sean on 10. Belt of Orion: Fense‐a 11. Pleiades: Kaviy meaning King 12. Big dipper: Kabio 13. Crux: Are aware of it. 14. Burial: head in the south.

Discussions In table 2 we have summarised the important astronomical ideas of the Nicobar tribe (Figure 12). It is apparent from the table that in spite of the differences in the way they name various objects (see Table 3), the knowledge base of the people of Nicobar is similar. Apart from the Sun and the Moon, their primary objects of observation of the sky are eclipse, Shooting Stars, rainbow, Milky Way and Big Dipper. The pattern indicates long term of astronomical events such as eclipses and continuing patterns of observation in the form of identifying Polaris. The belt of Orion and Pleiades are noted primarily because they are the most conspicuous patterns in the sky. The recording of Aldebaran may appear unusual but, as pointed out in one village, Pleiades represents the path travelled by the king is the line joining Pleiades and Aldebaran. It should be noted that Aldebaran is one of the brightest stars in the sky. On the other hand, the belt of Orion almost directly points to Pleiades. Having assigned a stick to the belt, some villages refer to Pleiades as the seat of the ancestors. The story about how the sky rose above – because the Sun became too hot to be allowed to stay on Earth – was reported

1036 Vahia et al. 2018: 1013‐1038 in three villages. However, two persons resting on the Moon was reported only in one village. According to them two brothers, unfairly banished from home walked up a spider web and reached the moon and can be seen resting there (point 16 in the information gathered from Munak village).

While villagers in Camorta, Chawra and Teressa have similar knowledge (they all contributed more than 20 stories (we are ignoring island 8), people from Nancowry could confirm on 14 and 15 stories in the two villages respectively. Teressa people were by far the most well informed about the sky and even discussed the conjunction of Mars and Venus. Regarding navigation, the villagers largely reported using sea currents and on the horizon citing of land, they agreed that Polaris and Crux were of importance to them. Note that the navigation in this region for the past several decades has been based on modern techniques and in our entire survey we came across only one individual with personal experience in ancient navigation techniques. For a more general discussion on the constellations of interest to tribal groups of India see Vahia and Halkare (2015).

Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank the Indian Council for Historical Research for funding this programme. We also wish to acknowledge the assistance of various members of the Andaman and Nicobar Tribal Research and Training Institute, Port Blair, Andaman Islands for facilitating the visit. We wish to thank Mr. Jatin Acharya for creating a photographic archive of the visit. We also wish to thank Dr. Aniket Sule for useful discussions and identification of constellations in Justin (2013). We also wish to thank G S Rautela for bringing the work of Justin to our notice. The authors also wish to acknowledge useful inputs from unknown referee that helped us improve the manuscript.

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