From hell to paradise?: voluntary transfer of convicts to the Andaman Islands, 1921–1940

Sherman, Taylor C. (2009) From hell to paradise?: voluntary transfer of convicts to the Andaman Islands, 1921–1940. Modern Asian Studies, 43 (2). pp. 367-388. ISSN 0026-749X

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Abstract

The paper attempts to understand the challenges and opportunities which the penal settlement at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands presented to colonial governments in twentieth-century India. To this end, the paper examines a scheme drawn up in the 1920s which saw the introduction of a much more liberal regime for convicts in Port Blair. Under these plans, convicts were granted access to land and encouraged to bring their families from the mainland. This research reveals that the policies which determined the history of the settlement in this period were defined by two tensions. First, there was a constant battle between the central authorities and provincial governments over the shape and purposes of the settlement. Second, there was a contradiction between the penal objectives of the colony and the larger strategies which aimed to develop the islands for the greater British empire.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJourna...
Additional Information:	© 2008 Cambridge University Press
Divisions:	International History
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS Asia H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Date Deposited:	24 Feb 2011 11:35
Last Modified:	29 Oct 2024 21:33
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/32803

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