During our travels, it is always fascinating to find traces of Indian culture and heritage in other countries. Be it Cambodia or Thailand or Malaysia one invariably stumbles upon India’s footprints on the sands of time. In Cambodia, we were really amazed at the similarity of the Khmer script to that of the ancient Pallava script of Southern India. When in Mauritius we discovered the deep ties the country has with India. The Indian diaspora in Mauritius today accounts for about 68% of its population and plays a major role in its running and development.
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History of the Indian Diaspora in Mauritius
To understand the story of the people whose ancestors hailed from faraway India one needs to travel back in time to the early 19th century.
Slavery had been abolished by the British Parliament in its colonies and this affected Mauritius as well. With the end of slavery, the British establishment needed labor to work on the sugar plantations of Mauritius. This led to the establishment of a new system that was christened as, “Indenture”, wherein a free man or woman entered into a contract for a specific time period which was usually 5 years.
The contract also outlined other conditions like the type of work, working conditions, working hours, accommodation, etc.. This was known as the “Great Experiment”, using which the British wanted to demonstrate the benefits of this system of indenture against the erstwhile system of slavery.
Mauritius became the testing ground for this experiment and 36 indentured laborers landed there from India on the Second of November, 1834. This soon burgeoned into one of the biggest migrations between 1843 and 1865 with as many as half a million indentured laborers from India landing on the distant shores of Mauritius.
The Aapravasi Ghat today stands as a silent testimony to the saga of the Indian laborers who set sail from their homeland to the distant horizons of Mauritius with dreams in their eyes. The Aapravasi Ghat which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site today was the immigration depot for the arriving Indian laborers. This was the place where the immigrants were received after a six to ten-week journey from India.
Here they were subjected to a medical checkup and given medical treatment if required, their details were registered, and work assigned. The entire process took about two days after which the laborers moved to their assigned sugar estates. It may be noted that though the majority of laborers came from India, there were immigrants from Madagascar, China, and East Africa. From India, most of the immigrants hailed from Bihar, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.
You can check out our interactions with a few Mauritians here:
Our Interactions With Some Mauritians of Indian Origin
The Indian ethos is omnipresent in Mauritius, be it in its cuisine or the names of people that have Indian connotations. During our visit, we met many people who had origins in Bihar. They spoke Bhojpuri and kept alive Indian traditions by celebrating many of the Indian festivals like Diwali, etc.. Here is the account of a few of our interactions with some of the people whose forefathers bid adieu to the shores of India in search of a dream.
Did you know that there is a popular TV channel called Bhojpuri Channel in Mauritius? This channel broadcasts cookery shows, telefilms and other programmes in the Bhojpuri language.
“Mey Hindi hoon”,(I am Hindi), said the woman with a smile. She had a small red Bindi or red dot on her forehead that proclaimed her Indian origins. We were lost in the big resort we were staying in and were looking for the Reception. She smilingly walked us all the way to the reception chatting away about how they spoke Bhojpuri at home and how they still followed many of the Indian traditions though they were Mauritians. She worked in the gardens of the resort.
My name is Shyam Janaki said our driver cum guide who showed us some parts of the lovely island of Mauritius including the attractions of Chamarel like the 7 colored earth and others. The name sounded fascinating, a unique combination that sounded so sweet, and of course a dead giveaway to his origins.
Shyam Janaki tells us that his is the fourth generation of settlers in Mauritius. His great grandfather had migrated to Mauritius from Bihar. They speak Bhojpuri and celebrate Indian festivals including Maha Shivratri, Diwali, and Holi. he informs that their culture is the same as that of India. To a question about food, he smiles and says that they now eat Mauritian food.
Later, we met Sunil Hurry and his sister who own and run a spice business in Mauritius. They too have origins in Bihar, India. They import whole spices from India and manufacture premium spice products under the brand name Select Herbs And Spices.
These were only some of the people from the Indian diaspora in Mauritius that we interacted with. Their smiling and warm presence could be felt everywhere. They were there in the resorts that we stayed in, the restaurants that we dined in, on the boats that we sailed in.
Indeed visiting Mauritius is like a homecoming for Indians. The Indian diaspora in Mauritius still keeps alive the culture and traditions of India and yet have their own unique Mauritian identity. Most of them have never been to India, but the legacy of India lives in their hearts and reflects in the smiles that greet you at every bend in the road in Mauritius.
Have you been to Mauritius? Are you thinking of heading to Mauritius on a holiday? Do check out our other posts about Mauritius. Connect with us through our social media channels or leave a comment on this post.
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