Baratang Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The island lies 150 km north of Port Blair. Ranchiwalas Island is another name for Baratang Island. Towards the close of the nineteenth century, the city of Ranchi experienced political upheaval. Many locals sought refuge by converting to Christianity with the help of the missionaries there. The British, realizing the future prospects of the forests of Andaman and Nicobar islands, sent the converts to Baratang Island to cultivate crops. The laborers from Ranchi settled there and made new lives for themselves. A lighthouse was commissioned in 1985 at the eastern entrance to the Andaman strait.
