Champin is a village in the
Nicobar district
Nicobar district is one of three districts in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The district's administrative territory encompasses all of the Nicobar Islands, which are located in the Indian Ocean, between the Bay of Be ...
of
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It is located on the
Nancowry Island
Nancowry (Nancowry language: ''Mūöt'', Hindi: नन्कोव्री ''Nankovrī'') is an island in the central part of the Nicobar Islands chain, located in the northeast Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.
History ...
, around 10 km from the
Tapong
Tapong is a village in the Nicobar district of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. It is located on the Nancowry Island, around 10 km from the Champin village, and comes under the administration of the Nancowry tehsil.
Demographics
A censu ...
village,
and comes under the administration of the
Nancowry tehsil
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
.
History
During the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
, the British Indian government bestowed the title of "Rani" ("Queen") on a local woman named Islon, for the services rendered by her to the government. Even after India became independent in 1947, Islon and her only daughter Lachmi were treated as queens by the local villagers, although the government did not recognize them as such. After Lachmi's death in 1989, her only daughter Fathima became the village leader. She had eight children, including five daughters and three sons; her family of 42 lived in three buildings, locally known as Rani Ghat ("Queen's Palace"). After the village was devastated by the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
, 72-year old Fathima and her family were evacuated by the Indian authorities to
Port Blair
Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...
.
The tsunami caused two deaths in the village, that of a local woman named Jennifer, and of a man who was a resident of the neighbouring
Katchal Island
Katchal (Hindi: कत्चल, Nicobarese: तिहन्यु, ''Tihnyu'') is one of the Nicobar Islands, India.
History
Katchal Island was previously known as Tihanyu.
Due to the remote location and lack of exposure with the rest of the ...
.
The villagers decided to select an elevated land to rebuild their village.
Demographics
A census taken by a research team after the 2004 tsunami recorded a population of 510 in Champin.
The village's population reduced considerably over the next few years. According to the
2011 census of India
The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...
, Champin has 33 households. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 86.99%.
References
{{Nicobar district
Villages in Nancowry tehsil