No one has lived on Ross Island since World War II. Now it most of all resembles the scenery for the movie "The Jungle Book".
But it was once called the "Paris of the East" - for its amazing architecture and an advanced level of social life for those times, completely uncharacteristic for the tropical islands of this region. Ross Island was considered the center of British power in the Andaman Islands (in the Indian Ocean; part of the territory of India) - in the 1850s, the colonial government of India decided to establish its remote headquarters here.
So why is the once prosperous island “held captive” by nature? Why did people let the jungle consume its magnificent architecture? The story is pretty scary.
The history of Ross Island began with the first British landing on it. It happened in the early 1790s. Naval Lieutenant Archibald Blair decided that the island could be the perfect place for a penal colony - something like modern-day Guantanamo. However, the first attempt to organize a settlement here ended in failure - the entire population was soon mowed down by an outbreak of malaria.
After the suppression of the Indian uprising of 1857 and the transition of the country under the direct jurisdiction of the English queen, Ross became a place of detention for political prisoners - the Indians call it the "British Gulag", where about 15 thousand people were kept in completely inhuman conditions.
While the locals called the island "black water" - because of the terrible crimes that happened outside the walls of the prison, in Britain itself it was considered "the Paris of the East". Any naval officer would consider it a great honor to receive a post there and settle on the island with the entire family.
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Gradually, luxurious mansions with lush ballrooms, manicured gardens, a church, a swimming pool, a tennis court, a printing house, a market, a hospital, a bakery appeared on the island - everything that at that time was associated with the concept of a modern settlement and a comfortable life. All buildings were built in the colonial style.
However, for the prisoners, life on the island looked very different. The first group of 200 convicts who arrived here were forced to clear a dense forest for a future settlement.
These people had to survive without the most basic amenities, and build a colony of stones and wood, in chains and collars with names. Then the number of prisoners went to thousands, who huddled in tents or huts with leaking roofs. When the number of prisoners exceeded 8,000, an epidemic began, due to which 3,500 people died.
But even the situation of the slaves was not the worst. The colony was raided from time to time by wild Andaman tribes, many of whom were cannibals. They caught the prisoners working in the forest, tortured and killed.
Prisoners who tried to escape from the island most often encountered these same tribes and turned back, knowing that the death penalty was guaranteed to them on the island. Somehow the authorities gave the order to hang about 80 of these returnees in one single day.
The results of their medical examination eloquently indicate the conditions of detention of prisoners. This survey was carried out when the number of involuntary settlers exceeded 10 thousand. The health of only 45 of them was found to be satisfactory. People were often left without food, clothing and shelter. The death rate in the camp was about 700 people a year.
At the same time, the British government decided to use these prisoners to test new medicines. They began to be given to 10 thousand unfortunate people. The side effects of these drugs were manifested in severe nausea, attacks of dysentery and depression.
As a result, some began to injure their comrades in misfortune - specifically so that they were seized and hanged, thereby saving them from unbearable torment. The authorities responded by steadying flogging and cutting back on the already meager daily rations.
Now almost nothing is left of the buildings of the island - roots and branches have entwined them, sprouted through and through. In 1941, a terrible earthquake destroyed much of the infrastructure and forced many to leave the island. The headquarters has been moved to nearby Port Blair. And during the Second World War, the Japanese appeared on the island and the British were hastily evacuated - this time finally and forever. Although the Japanese occupation ended in 1945, no one else has ever tried to settle here. Now only tourists come to Ross Island.
Japanese bunker:
Svetlana Gogol