It was Captain Archibald Blair (1752 – 1815) who had first realised through surveys that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India comprising 836 islands (of which only 31 are inhabited) spread across the vast Indian Ocean off the southern tip of India, could become important British naval bases and colonies! He was a British naval surveyor. Although the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was initially named Port Cornwallis, it was later renamed Port Blair, after him!

Blair joined the Bombay Marine as a Lieutenant Midshipman in 1771. At that period of time, the British officers were conducting surveys along the coasts of India, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Blair was also a member of that team of surveyors. He was captured by the French while surveying the Cape of Good Hope in 1780, and was released in 1784. The Dutch, too, captured him before his safe return to India. It may be noted that Captain Blair’s father the Rev. Archibald Blair was a minister of Garvald, East Lothian, while his older brother Robert Blair was a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh.

By that time, Blair became an experienced surveyor. Between 1786 and 1788, he surveyed areas, including the Chagos Archipelago (near the south of Maldives), Diamond Harbour near Kolkata, and the Hooghly River. And then, he carried out one of his most significant surveys of the Andaman Islands from December 1788 to April 1789.

On December 20, 1778, Captain Blair departed from Kolkata (then Calcutta) with two ships, the Elizabeth and the Viper, to explore the Andaman Islands. During this expedition lasted until April 1779, he navigated the west coast and subsequently the east coast, pertaining to those islands. Lord Charles Cornwallis (December 31, 1738 – October 5, 1805), the then British Governor General of India, had a special interest in this expedition as the Malayan pirates made it difficult for British ships to navigate safely through the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, Blair was promoted Captain in 1792.

Upon his arrival in the southeastern part of the Great Andaman Islands, Captain Blair realised that it could be used as a magnificent natural harbour! He also realised that it would be easier to fight pirates from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by using the territory as a colony! Captain Blair named the newly discovered port as Port Cornwallis. Later, the name of the port was changed to Port Blair in his honour. Records suggest that Captain Blair also surveyed Baratang Island and Barren Island, a volcanic Island to the east of Great Andaman that was in full eruption, with red-hot rocks being ejected, but no lava!

Captain Blair submitted his survey report in Calcutta on April 22, 1789. Based on his report, the British imperialists colonised the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with Blair returning to the Andamans as the first Officer-in-Charge of this territory in September 1789. However, the colony did not last long as the Britons abandoned the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1796 due to the outbreak of various diseases and conflict with local tribal communities. Captain Blair returned to his country in 1795 and Britain managed to colonise India after six decades!

The Government of India renamed Port Blair as Sri Vijaya Puram on September 13, 2024. In spite of this move, people shall never forget Captain Archibald Blair who has already secured his place in the pages of history books.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das