The Andaman Islands are an archipelago in the Bay of Bengal and are home to the indigenous people, the Andamanese. Only parts of the islands may be visited with a permit. In 1789, the British establish a fort and penal settlement on the islands, known as Fort Blair. The penal settlement was abolished in 1948. In 1859, the Battle of Aberdeen was fought between the Great Andamanese Tribe and the British. Japan occupied the islands for part of World War II. The Andaman Islands feature in Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four.