For thousands of years, the broader Andaman archipelago was inhabited exclusively by indigenous tribes, though there is little documentation of long-term ancient settlements specifically on Havelock. The island was eventually named by the British after Major General Sir Henry Havelock, a British general active during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Havelock's modern history truly began in the decades following Indian independence. In a bid to populate the islands and provide refuge, the Indian government settled Bengali refugees here, many of whom fled East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the 1971 Liberation War. The government granted these settlers land for agriculture, and for decades, Havelock remained a quiet farming and fishing community.
The trajectory of the island shifted dramatically in the late 1990s and early 2000s when backpackers and dive enthusiasts discovered its pristine reefs and untouched beaches. Over the last two decades, it has transformed into a bustling center for global tourism.
In December 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially renamed Havelock Island to "Swaraj Dweep" (meaning "Island of Self-Rule") to shed its colonial legacy and honor Subhas Chandra Bose, who had hoisted the Indian flag in Port Blair in 1943.
