The islands have been inhabited for several thousand years, at the very least.
The earliest archaeological evidence yet documented goes back some 2,200 years; however, genetic and cultural studies suggest that the indigenous Andamanese people may have been isolated from other populations since the Middle Paleolithic. In that time, the Andamanese have diversified into distinct linguistic, cultural and territorial groups.
The Nicobar Islands appear to have been populated by people of various backgrounds. At the time of the European contact, the indigenous inhabitants were the Nicobarese people, speaking a Mon-Khmer language; and the Shompen, whose language is of uncertain affiliation. Both are unrelated to the Andamanese.
Pre-colonial era
Rajendra Chola I (1014 to 1042 CE), one of the Tamil Chola dynasty kings, occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to use them as a strategic naval base to launch a naval expedition against the Sriwijaya Empire (a Hindu-Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia). They called the islands Timaittivu ("impure islands" in Tamil).
The islands provided a temporary maritime base for ships of the Marathas in the 17th century. The legendary admiral Kanhoji Angre established naval supremacy with a base in the islands and is credited with attaching those islands to India.
Colonial period
The history of organized European colonization on the islands began when the Danish settlers of the Danish East India Company arrived in the Nicobar Islands on 12 December 1755. On January 1, 1756, the Nicobar Islands were made a Danish colony, first named New Denmark, and later (December 1756) Frederick's Islands (Frederiksøerne). During 1754–1756 they were administrated from Tranquebar (in continental Danish India). The islands were repeatedly abandoned due to outbreaks of malaria between 14 April 1759 and 19 August 1768, from 1787 to 1807/05, 1814
