CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

2023-08-15T08:52:20Z

Removed empty portal template using script

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:22, 15 August 2023
Line 99:		Line 99:
	== References ==		== References ==
	{{Reflist\|2}}		{{Reflist\|2}}
	~~{{Portal\|India}}~~
	* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081227180955/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/features/andaman/stories/2004081500270300.htm T. Ramakrishnan, "Notorious Once, It Stands Shrouded in Silence Now", ''The Hindu,'' (Aug 15, 2004)]		* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081227180955/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/features/andaman/stories/2004081500270300.htm T. Ramakrishnan, "Notorious Once, It Stands Shrouded in Silence Now", ''The Hindu,'' (Aug 15, 2004)]
	*{{Wikivoyage-inline\|Andaman and Nicobar Islands}}		*{{Wikivoyage-inline\|Andaman and Nicobar Islands}}

imported>Blindpanopticon: /* Fauna */

2021-08-25T23:37:21Z

Fauna

New page

{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Viper Island
| native_name =
| native_name_link =
| native_name_lang =
| sobriquet =
| image_name =
| image_size =
| image_caption =
| image_alt =
| map = India Andaman and Nicobar Islands
| map_caption = Location of Viper Island
| coordinates = {{coord|11.661|N|92.697|E|region:IN-AN_type:isle_dim:50000_source:GNS-enwiki|display=inline,title}}
| etymology = from the ship H.M.S Viper which was found shipwrecked near the island
| location = [[Bay of Bengal]]
| archipelago = [[Andaman Islands]]
| waterbody = [[Indian Ocean]]
| area_km2 = 0.335
| area_footnotes = <ref name="cit">{{cite web|url=http://andssw1.and.nic.in/ecostat/basicstatPDF2013_14/1.Demogrpahy.pdf|title=Islandwise Area and Population - 2011 Census|publisher=Government of Andaman}}</ref>
| rank =
| length_km = 0.88
| width_km = 0.50
| coastline_km = 2.7
| elevation_m = 0
| elevation_footnotes =
| highest_mount =
| country = {{flag|India}}
| country_admin_divisions_title = [[List of districts in India#Andaman and Nicobar (AN)|District]]
| country_admin_divisions = [[South Andaman district|South Andaman]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = [[Island group]]
| country_admin_divisions_1 = [[Andaman Islands]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 = Island sub-group
| country_admin_divisions_2 = [[Port Blair Islands]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_3 = [[Tehsils of India|Tehsil]]
| country_admin_divisions_3 = [[Port Blair]]
| country_largest_city =Viper Island (RV)
| population = 0
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_footnotes =
| population_rank =
| population_rank_max =
| density_km2 =
| density_rank =
| density_footnotes =
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| timezone1_DST =
| utc_offset1_DST =
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 744202<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.india-codes.com/pincodes/a-n-islands-pin-code |title=A&N Islands - Pincodes |date=22 September 2016 |access-date=22 September 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323224041/http://www.india-codes.com/pincodes/a-n-islands-pin-code |archive-date=23 March 2014 }}</ref>
| area_code_type = Telephone code
| area_code = 031927 <ref name="allcodesindia">{{cite web|url=http://allcodesindia.in/stdcode/andaman+and+nicobar.php |publisher=allcodesindia.in|title=STD Codes of Andaman and Nicobar|access-date=2016-09-23}}</ref>
| website = {{URL|http://www.and.nic.in/}}
| iso_code_type = [[ISO 3166-2:IN|ISO code]]
| iso_code = IN-AN-00<ref>Registration Plate Numbers added to ISO Code</ref>
}}
'''Viper Island''' is an island of the [[Andaman Islands]]. It belongs to the [[South Andaman district|South Andaman]] [[Districts of India|district]] of the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]].<ref name="census">{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-VillageDirectory/Directory/short_code_rural_35.pdf|title=Village Code Directory: Andaman & Nicobar Islands|publisher=Census of India|access-date=2011-01-16}}</ref>

The island lies {{convert|4|km|0|abbr=on}} west of [[Port Blair]].

==History==
Viper Island derives its name from the vessel ''H.M.S. Viper'' in which Lt. [[Archibald Blair]] came to [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] in 1789. The vessel, it is believed, met with an accident and its wreckage was found near the island.
This small island was the site of the jail where the British used to imprison convicts and [[political prisoner]]s. It has the ruins of a [[gallows]] atop a hillock.

The jail was abandoned when the [[Cellular Jail]] was constructed in 1906.
In any talk about [[Andaman Islands|Andaman]] and its role in the freedom struggle, it is the Cellular Jail that finds frequent mention. But, many years before the Cellular Jail was constructed, it was the jail at Viper Island that was used by the British to inflict the worst form of torture and hardship on those who strove to free the country from the British rule.

===The Jail===
The need for building a jail there was felt only after the British set up a penal settlement at [[Port Blair]] in 1858 to house political prisoners of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Rebellion]]. [[Ross Island, South Andaman district|Ross Island]] functioned as the headquarters of the penal settlement. Located near Port Blair, the construction of the Viper Jail was carried out during 1864–67. Lt. Col. Barnet Ford, the superintendent of the Penal settlement, supervised the work. Initially, a police inspector, a head constable, two sergeants, four class I constables and 30 class II constables were posted. Later on, the strength was raised gradually. Solitary cells, lock-ups, stocks and whipping stands characterized the Viper Jail. Women were also held.

The conditions at the jail were such that the place got the notorious name, "'''Viper Chain Gang Jail.'''" The warden of this jail often changed but inmates used to call the warden "The black mamba".Those who had challenged the might of the British authority were chained together and confined at night by a chain running through coupling of irons around their legs. It was at this jail that members of the Chain Gang were put to [[Penal labour|hard labour]]. Brij Kishore Singh Deo, popularly known as Maharaja Jagannath of [[Puri]], was kept in the Viper Jail, where he died in 1879.

The Jail has secured a permanent place in the history of the [[Indian independence movement|freedom struggle]] as it was here that [[Sher Ali Afridi|Sher Ali]], a [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] from [[Peshawar]], was hanged after he assassinated [[Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo|Lord Mayo]], the [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy of India]], on February 8, 1872 at Hope Town jetty, opposite [[Chatham Island (Andaman and Nicobar Islands)|Chatham Island]]. After the construction of the [[Cellular Jail]] in 1906, the Viper Jail's importance declined.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130520215331/http://www.indiatravelnext.com/islands-of-andaman/viper-island.html]</ref>

Today, the two-storied Jail building stands tumbled to the plinth level except for a portion of the roof with the outer wall dilapidated. A few birds which have built their nests inside the tomb of the gallows.

==Geography==
The island belongs to the [[Port Blair Islands]] and lies in the middle of Navy Bay.

==Administration==
Politically, Viper Island, along neighboring [[Port Blair Islands]], are part of [[Port Blair]] [[Tehsils of India|Taluk]].<ref name="and">{{cite web|url=http://andssw1.and.nic.in/ecostat/basicstatPDF2013_14/1.Demogrpahy.pdf |publisher=andssw1.and.nic.in|title=DEMOGRAPHIC – A&N ISLANDS |access-date=2016-09-23}}</ref>

==Fauna==
Spotted Deer have been sighted on the island. {{Citation needed|date=August 2021|reason=no source for claim}}

==Tourism==
Viper Island is a serene beautiful tourist destination situated near Port Blair's harbour, and can be approached in 20 minutes from the Phoenix Bay jetty. The Harbor Cruise, available daily from the jetty, provides an overall view of different points of the harbor and a trip to this haunted Viper Island.
This place is visited by number of tourists as it has multiple attractions with historical importance and also has mesmerizing picnic spots with natural picturesque environments. {{Citation needed|date=August 2021|reason=no source, subjective language, reads like a tourist board wrote it}}

==Image gallery==
{{Commons category|Viper Island}}
<gallery widths=180>
File:Gallows on Viper Island.jpg|Hilltop Gallows on Viper Island
File:Viper Island.JPG|Viper Island
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Portal|India}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081227180955/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/features/andaman/stories/2004081500270300.htm T. Ramakrishnan, "Notorious Once, It Stands Shrouded in Silence Now", ''The Hindu,'' (Aug 15, 2004)]
*{{Wikivoyage-inline|Andaman and Nicobar Islands}}
{{South Andaman district |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viper Island}}
[[Category:Cities and towns in South Andaman district]]
[[Category:Islands of South Andaman district]]
[[Category:Internment camps]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Defunct prisons in India|India]]
[[Category:Torture in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]

Viper Island - Revision history

CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

imported>Blindpanopticon: /* Fauna */