Visiting the ghost island in the middle of the Indian Ocean

Ross Island, a former British colonial residence in the Andaman and Nicobar islands has long been abandoned. The island is now taken over by its true owner, nature.

The islands of India are beautiful
Located in the Bay of Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands - located in the Indian region - is a cluster of tropical islands totaling 572 islands and only 38 of which are currently inhabited.

Closer to Southeast Asia than India, the archipelago is known for its stunning beaches, marvelous marine life, coral riches, and virgin prime vast forests. But behind the beautiful panorama there is a dark past.

The creepy ruins of the former colonial settlement
One of the islands, Ross, is a very interesting ghost island, where the remains of a nineteenth century British settlement are still scattered.

Abandoned in the 1940s, the island was subsequently reshaped by nature. Luxury bungalow buildings, gigantic churches, showrooms, even cemeteries all become obsolete and gradually endlessly taken over by the forest.

Detained colony of prisoners
In 1857, in reaction to an entirely unexpected Indian uprising, the British Empire chose these remote islands as a place of exile or punishment for the rebels.

When the British colonizers first arrived in 1858 carrying 200 Indian political prisoners, the cluster of islands is still an impenetrable ancient forest.

Ross Island, measuring nearly 0.3 sq km, was first chosen as a place of punishment for inmates for reasons of sufficient water availability. And the overwhelming and deadly duty to clear the thick forest fell on the inmates, while the British officers chose to stay on the deck of the ship.

Conjured into a comfortable dwelling
As the number of prisoners continued to increase, the inmates were then transferred to prisons and barracks on nearby islands.

Ross Island was transformed into an administrative head office and an exclusive residential location for high-ranking officers and their families.

Because the remote islands have a high mortality rate due to water-borne diseases, Ross Island became a comfortable place to live

So were the mansions, the beautiful grass, the tennis courts, the Presbyterian church (see photo above), the water purification plant, the military barracks and the hospital.

Starting abandoned and left languishing
Diesel powered diesel powered generators make the small, isolated island lit up so Ross island shimmered like paradise amid the backwardness of the surrounding islands.

In 1942, the archipelago in the Indian Ocean no longer served as a place for the exile of political prisoners after a policy to free all political prisoners in 1938.

Then the British troops stationed in the cluster of the island to leave because soon the Japanese military army came - though it was not long because the island cluster was again controlled by Britain after the war ended.

Shortly afterwards, India gained independence in 1947, and the island was left languishing until the Indian Navy finally mastered it in 1979.

Nature again took over
The ruins of the buildings on Ross island that are left to languish can give a bit of a picture of a sad and brutal colonial past.

The all-pointed roof of the building, the market frenzy, the glossy Italian-made tiles and the colorful glass windows are long gone.

Nevertheless, the bungalow roof framework that once housed the families of the leaders, the meeting clubs for the Subordinates, the Presbyterian church buildings, and the other unnamed walls, was abandoned, so that it fell apart and the roots of the infectious ficus tree now replaced it.

Spotted deer are coming and falling apart
In the early 1900s, British officers introduced various species of deer in the Andaman Islands as a game to fill their spare time, the deer hunt.

However, without natural predators, the spotted deer become pests, multiply massively and greatly affect the development of the island's diverse plant.

And these days, spotted deer, along with wild rabbits and peacocks, are the only residents of Ross Island, and much enjoyed by the visitors.

Eight decades later
This is the ruins of the club building (photo above) for the entertainment of the young officers, who of course echoed the music from the room inside. Bird chirping is now the only source of hustle and bustle in the abandoned and heavily damaged club room.

And nearly eight decades since the political prison dumps were closed, ending the gloomy period of colonialism in India, Ross Island today is a forgotten stain on the Indian Ocean.

The island offers a glimpse into how our world is visible when abandoned its inhabitants decades ago and nature then takes it inevitably.