The island, named North Sentinel Island, is located in the Bay of Bengal of the Indian Ocean and is part of the Andaman Islands.
From the outside, this looks like a normal island, about 8 km long, 7 km wide, with an area of nearly 60 square kilometers, not too far away, about 30 km from the neighboring large islands. The island’s climate is not too harsh – tropical, with lush vegetation and shady trees, the only unusual thing is that it is surrounded by coral reefs and ships can only dock for two months a year.
Panorama of North Sentinel Island
It may seem so normal, but perhaps this island is the most deadly threat to modern humans, because unless there is careful organization and preparation, and there are many people accompanying, it may be okay, but once alone or only a few people on the island, you will hardly survive to return, or will die right from the first steps to touch the shore and even the corpse cannot be transported back to the mainland.
This island is North Sentinel, also known as North Sentinel Island, located in the Bay of Bengal of the Indian Ocean and is part of the Andaman Islands. Yes, Homo sapiens lived along the coast of the Indian Ocean after they left Africa, and so did this island – where some settlers still retain their original appearance and lifestyle. The natives of this island are quite short, thin and dark.
There is a primitive tribe living on North Sentinel Island, this may be the only tribal civilization on this planet that has not been disturbed by the outside world and is still in its primitive state.
The Sentinelese still live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, using bows and arrows to hunt, and there are no signs of agricultural civilization, but there are traces of metal and fire. It is reported that the Sentinelese have been isolated from modern humans for over 60,000 years, and their population is estimated to be between 40 and 500 people.
Unlike other tribes, the language of this tribe is completely incommunicable to the outside world, it is extremely special and seems to be unlike any other human language. They often treat those who land on the island with bows and spears, they even attack helicopters with bows.
Throughout history, foreigners have attempted to land on the island many times but most of them failed. The Indian government believes that the island does not need the intervention of foreign civilizations, so it has declared a ban and does not allow anyone to come within 5 km of the island.
The earliest modern human contact with the island was probably during the monsoon season in the late summer of 1867. The Indian merchant ship Nineveh veered off course and struck the reefs surrounding Sentinel Island. At least 100 passengers survived the accident and continued to explore the island, unaware that an angry tribe would attack them three days after their arrival.
Dozens of islanders then attacked the crew members with bows and arrows, and the passengers began defending themselves with sticks and stones. Meanwhile, the captain sought help and contacted a navy ship that would eventually arrive on the island to rescue the remaining passengers.
In 1880, a British Royal Navy officer called Maurice Portman led a new expedition to the island.
In search of the natives, he went into the island’s jungles, but they only managed to kidnap an old man, a woman, and four children. The two adults fell ill from exposure to modern diseases and died shortly after reaching the mainland, so Portman hastily sent the four children back to his island.
In 1967, anthropologist Triloknath Pandit decided to set foot on the island and study the indigenous people there, and like Portman, he found only abandoned villages. Pandit and his crew decided to leave gifts in the huts, taking some items for their research.
A few years later, a new group of anthropologists wanted to film a documentary about the island, but upon arriving on the island, they were greeted by a hail of stones, iron arrows, and spears thrown at their boat, so they fled to the southern part of the island and had to abandon their journey and their documentary.
Several prisoners later fled to the island, but were all killed by the local natives, with their throats slit. Several anthropologists, and television channels including National Geographic, attempted to land on the island to establish friendly relations, but were also attacked with arrows. The director of National Geographic was even shot in the leg with an arrow.
In 2006, when two Indian fishermen’s boats drifted out of control onto the island, they were killed by the locals and their bodies were taken aboard. The Indian Coast Guard sent a helicopter to try to retrieve the bodies, but were attacked by the locals with bows and spears and had to give up.
The most famous attack occurred in November 2018. A 26-year-old American missionary, John Allen Chou, attempted to land on the island several times despite warnings, wanting to spread God’s love to the Santineers. Unfortunately, after his wish was granted and he set foot on the island, he was killed by a sharp arrow shot on the beach before he could mention God.
To protect the only indigenous tribe on the planet, the missionary’s body was left on the island where he tried to civilize. The US government also announced that no one would be charged. However, India has increased vigilance on the island to prevent curious people like Chou from landing on the island.
This seemingly normal island is actually the most deadly threat to modern humans. We have no right to force the Sentinelese to change themselves, so the death of those who try to set foot on the island is beyond anyone’s fault, no matter how cruel they are, there will be no law to punish them, unless one day they forcefully land on other islands and pose a threat to others in the world outside them