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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[JULY, 1924
THE RELIGIOUS SITUATION OF THE ANDAMANESE.
Ry P. W. SCHMIDT, S.V.D.1
Argument. D--The opposition in the statements of E. H. Man and A. R. Brown and an estimation
of the subject quoad personas and quoad res. II.-Tho chief differences in Religion and Myths between the North and South Anda.
manege. III.-The establishment of the ethnological age of the Northern and Southern groups. IV.-The Austronesian infuences in the Northern) Andamanese mythology.
V.-The moral charncter of Puluga, the Supreme Being of the Southern Andamanese. VI.-The demarcation of the seasons on the Andaman Islands and the signification
of the Monsoons in myths and religion. VII.-The moral character of the commands of Puluge, the Supreme Being of the South
Andamanese. VIII. Richness and complexity of the religious situation of the Andamanese.
A Comparison of the Statements of E. H. Man and A. R. Brown and an Estimation of the
subject Quoad Personas and Quoad Res. Following the description made by E. H. Man of the inhabitants of the Andaman [slands, hitherto looked on ne olassic, and which he first published in vols. XI and XII (1882 and 1883) of the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and then As a separate work on the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands (London, 1883), it was customary to credit the Andam Apene with the knowledge and worship of one really Supreme Being oalled Puluga, more especially as two other good authorities on these tribes, M. V. Portman and Sir Richard Temple, were not known to have substantially contradicted these statements. It was therefore a little exciting when A. R. Brown, who had in the years 1908-1909 nndertaken a research expedition in the Aptamans, after praising, it is true, in the periodical Folk Lore (XX, 1909, pp. 288-271) Man's other discoveries, took up a position against his representation of the roligion and especially against the characterization of Puluga as a Supreme Being. He prefaced his opposition with the following remark:
"Mr. Man's researcher were in many ways excellent. I have tosted as far as possible every sentence in big book, and oan speak with ungrudging praise of it. But there are certain matters on which I am compelled to dissent from Mr. Man's opinions, and one of the most important of these is his interpretation of certain
religious beliefs of the Andamanese,"
Of the controversy between Brown And myself, with which at that time this position Was mixed up, I have spokon in another place.
Since then Brown's eomplete work on the Andamanese has appeared, in which Brown stands by his opinion and strives still further to elaborate it. It is therefore necessary to go again Into Brown's representation. The great interest of the point sufficiently justifies its being done hero la a dotauod manner. It is not anong only to make gure of valuable old discoveries; we might gain important new knowledge and learn much in all directions.
1 Translated from the German in Anthropos kuol. XVI-XVII, 1921-22, pp. 978-1006) Die religiösen Verheimnisse der Andamaneses. Pygmo.
See my detailed accounts thereon in "Sedung de Pygmé envölker in der Erwio khunga qashichte der Menschheit." Stuttgart 1910, p. 133 fi. 3 See Anthropos. XVI-XVII, 1921-22. pr. 1079 ff.
A. R. Brown. The Andaman Islanders. Cambridge, 1922, University Press.
