| Andaman Creole Hindi | |
|---|---|
| Andaman Hindi | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
Native speakers | (10,000 cited 1994) [1] |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hca |
| Glottolog | anda1280 |
Andaman Creole Hindi is a trade language of the Andaman Islands, spoken as a native language especially in Port Blair and villages to the south. Singh (1994) describes it as a creolization of Hindi, Bengali and Tamil. [1]
The use of Hindi on the Islands originates with the establishment of a Penal Colony in Port Blair in 1868. With the arrival of British Generals came Hindi-speaking Indian officials.
Later, after Indian independence, and especially after the independence of Bangladesh, Bengali refugees were motivated to move to the islands, along with other peoples speaking many other languages, due to incentives given by the government.