The Andaman and Nicobar islands have been the home of 14 aboriginal tribes: 12 tribes of negritto origin, being the early inhabitants of the Andaman islands and 2 mongoloid tribes, viz. the Nico-barese and Shompens inhabiting the Nicobars. It is widely accepted by anthropologists and historians that the negrotto aborigines represent one of the primitive stocks of Homo sapiens that migrated on to these islands during prehistory.