Adwaita

{{Short description|Aldabra giant tortoise}}

{{about|a tortoise|the philosophy and religious practice|Advaita Vedanta|the design language used in the GNOME desktop environment|Adwaita (design language)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}

{{Infobox animal

| name = Adwaita

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| species = Aldabra giant tortoise

| gender = Male

| hatch_date = {{Circa}} {{Start date|1750}}

| hatch_place = Aldabra Atoll

| death_date = {{Death date|df=yes|2006|3|22}} (aged {{age in years|1750|2006}})

| death_place = Alipore Zoological Gardens, Kolkata, India

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| known = Believed to be the oldest terrestrial animal in the world, if verified.

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| weight = 250 kg

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}}

Adwaita (from {{Lang|sa|अद्वैत}}, meaning "one and only" in Sanskrit) ({{circa|1750}} – 22 March 2006), also spelled Adwaitya{{cite news |title=Calcutta's oldest resident dies |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/calcutta-s-oldest-resident-dies/cid/816177 |access-date=25 November 2024 |work=The Telegraph |date=22 March 2006}}{{cite news |title=World Briefing {{!}} Asia: India: Tortoise That Saw The Rise And The Fall Of The British Empire Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/world/world-briefing-asia-india-tortoise-that-saw-the-rise-and-the-fall-of.html |access-date=25 November 2024 |work=The New York Times |agency=Reuters |date=24 March 2006}} or Addwaita,{{cite news |title=Addwaita, a tortoise of great renown |url=https://www.namibian.com.na/addwaita-a-tortoise-of-great-renown/ |access-date=25 November 2024 |work=The Namibian |date=3 April 2006}} was a male Aldabra giant tortoise that lived in the Alipore Zoological Gardens of Kolkata, India. At the time of his death in 2006, Adwaita was believed to be amongst the longest-living animals in the world.

He may have been from Aldabra, an atoll in the Seychelles. This anecdotal report has not been confirmed.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Aldabra Tortoise (Geochelone gigantean)|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Life|year=2014|url=http://eol.org/pages/795005/details|access-date=28 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116015844/http://eol.org/pages/795005/details |archive-date=16 November 2014 |url-status=dead}} The animal was one of four tortoises that lived at Robert Clive's estate at Barrackpore, in the northern suburbs of Calcutta.{{cite news|title='Clive of India's' tortoise dies|newspaper=BBC News|publisher=BBC Online|date=23 March 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4837988.stm|access-date=23 January 2014}} Clive was said to have received the tortoises following his victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, in which the British East India Company defeated the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies, thereby securing India for Britain in the long run.{{Cite web|last=Lal|first=Vinay|date=April 2006|title=Clive and his Pet Tortoise|url=http://southasia.ucla.edu/history-politics/british-india/clive-pet-tortoise/|access-date=16 June 2020|website=MANAS, UCLA Social Sciences|language=en-US}} Adwaita was transferred to the Alipore Zoo in Calcutta in 1875 or 1876 by Carl Louis Schwendler, the founder of the zoo.{{cite journal|title=Zoological Garden|journal=Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal|pages=23–24|date=February 1876|url=https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofasi1876asia#page/n35/mode/2up}} Adwaita lived in his enclosure in the zoo until his death on 22 March 2006 at an estimated age of 255.