💨 Abstract

The Nicobar Islands, believed to hold large quantities of ambergris and quicksilver, attracted seafarers and merchants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Italian travelers like Captain Caesar Fredericke, John Francis Gemelli, and Dominic Fernandez fueled these rumors in their accounts. The Nicobarese encountered Western missionaries and adventurers before the British arrived in the Andamans.

Courtesy: theprint.in