Apravasi Ghat - Coolie Ghat, Mauritius

The Aapravasi Ghat historical site is an important symbol of Mauritian identity since the ancestors of more than 70% of present day Mauritian population arrived on the island through this immigrant depot. The depot's name was changed in 1987 from "Coolie Ghat" to "Aapravasi Ghat" which in hindi means the landing place of Immigrants.

In 1829, some Mauritian planters introduced 1100 Indian labourers to work on their sugar estates.

(a) The Genesis of Immigration

In 1829, some Mauritian planters introduced 1100 Indian labourers to work on their sugar estates but, in general, this labour experiment proved to be a major failure and, within a few months, the labourers were repatriated to India . However, between January 1830 and August 1834, there was a small trickle of Indian labourers who came to Mauritius . It was only during the second half of 1834 and after, that large-scale Indian immigration truly began in Mauritius . But, it is also important to mention that in February 1835, the British officially abolished slavery in Mauritius and after serving a four-year apprenticeship period, the island's more than 60,000 apprentices were freed in March 1839. During the second half of the 1830s and after, thousands of Mauritian apprentices left their former owners and settled in different parts of the island.

During this period, the local sugar planters began to import Indian labourers to supplement and eventually to replace the apprentice labourers to work in the island's sugar cane fields, in their homes, and in Port Louis . Between November 1834 and March 1839, over 25,000 Indian labourers were landed on Mauritian shores. But, immigration from the Indian subcontinent was suspended in May 1839 only to be renewed in January 1842, when it became controlled and sponsored by British colonial governments and a Protector of Immigrants also was appointed in Mauritius

(b) The Demographic Revolution

As early as July 1839, Thomas Hugon, a Franco-Mauritian, who would later become a Protector of Immigrants, mentioned in a report to the British government of India that in Mauritius major demographic changes were already taking place in the local colonial population. Between the mid-1830s and early 1860s, as Mauritius was experiencing a prolonged sugar revolution, a demographic revolution was also underway. In 1835, the Indians made up less than 4 % of the colony's total population and by 1860; they constituted more than 66% of the total population. During the course of the second half of the nineteenth century, as many historians have pointed out, the composition of the local population of the other British sugar-producing colonies was not altered in such a dramatic way and over such a short period of time as in Mauritius.

In all between 1834 and 1924, around 450,000 Indians were brought to Mauritian shores, with around 290,000 remaining and 160,000 returning mostly to India and some migrating to other British colonies such as Natal, Fiji, British Guyana, and Trinidad.

Therefore, Mauritius was unique among all the British colonies because it received the greatest number of Indian immigrants

(c) Provincial and District Origins of Indian Emigrants 1842- 1870  

	Orissa	Bengal			Bihar	NW Provinces
		Western	Central	Eastern
British Guyana	719	14 028	2 166	238	24 681	25 551
Mauritius	3 116	33 131	8 951	1 118	10 856	47 286
Trinidad	378	8 396	1 305	176	11 278	16 027
Jamaica	147	3 214	341	106	4 496	4 654
Natal	2	216	24	356	370	-
Reunion	19	1 667	1 667	29	4 027	4 469

Source: Great Britain, Parliamentary Papers, 1874 XLVII Report by J. Geohegan on Emigration from India, 71; in Mauritian History, V. Teelock; Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Moka; 2001.

 

(d) "The Great Morcellement Movement"   

During the 1840s and after, the old immigrants, or those who had served their five-year contracts and remained in Mauritius, had saved some money and began to settle outside the sugar estates. They either bought or squatted on small patches of land in the rural areas and some even married ex-slave women and others settled in Port Louis. Gradually, between the 1840s and 1860s, a small rural Indian peasantry was emerging as they acquired small patches of marginal lands and became small cultivators and raised domesticated animals. At the same time, others became small traders and hawkers.

It was only really between the 1870s and 1920s that a large and important class of rural Indian landowners began to emerge in Mauritius. During the last thirty years of the nineteenth century, with the stagnation and gradual decline of the sugar industry, many of the sugar barons sold their marginal lands which were located on the fringes of their sugar estates to thousands of old Indian immigrants and a few Indian merchants and traders in what became known, according to Richard B. Allen, an American historian, as the 'Great Morcellement Movement’.

By the early 1920s, the Indo-Mauritian owned around 40% of the island's valuable arable lands. As a result, most of them became small cultivators, many others became small-scale sugar growers, and a handful were large-scale sugar producers. This Great Morcellement Movement of the late 1800s gave rise to a large Indian bourgeoisie and peasantry by the early 1900s which was gradually becoming involved in the island's politics during the first half of the twentieth century.

The system of Indian indenture labour in Mauritius lasted between 1834 and 1924, with two major interruptions from 1839 to 1842 and between 1910 and 1923. The last batch of Indian labourers was brought in 1924. During the following year, in his report to the British government of India, Kunwar Maharaj Singh, after a brief visit to Mauritius in order to investigate the condition of the Indians labourers, strongly recommended that Indian immigration to Mauritius should not be renewed. As a result, his important recommendation was accepted and implemented by the British authorities in India.

(e) The Genesis of Immigration  

With the advent of British rule and the sugar revolution starting in 1825, a new chapter was about to begin in the history of our small island. According to the research of Ly-Tio Fane, in 1825, Adrien d'Epinay introduced some Indian labourers on his estate but this labour experiment did not work out successfully and they were returned to India. In 1829, another sugar planter tried to introduced Indian labourers but with very little success and the labourers were repatriated to India. However, between 1830 and 1833, there was still a small trickle of Indian labourers coming to Mauritius. It was only as from November 1834, that Indian immigration truly started in Mauritius. Between November 1834 and March 1839, over 25,000 Indian labourers were landed in the island. The immigration was suspended between March 1839 and until its renewal in 1842 when it became sponsored by the British colonial government and a Protector of Immigrants was provided.

As early as 1839, Thomas Hugon, who would later become Protector of Immigrants and write Sketches on Indian Immigration, had mentioned in a report to the British government of India that Mauritius was gradually turning into an Asiatic island and Indian colonization was already underway. Thus, in 1835, the British abolished slavery and after serving a four-year apprenticeship period, the island's more than 60,000 slaves were freed. During this period, the local sugar planters began to import Indian labourers to supplement and eventually replace apprentice labour to work in the island's sugar cane fields, in their homes, and in Port Louis. In all between 1834 and 1924, around 450,000 Indians were brought over to Mauritius with around 290,000 remaining and 160,000 returning mostly between 1839 and 1880. Most of the Indian labourers remained after 1880.

During this period, Mauritius was not only going through a prolonged sugar revolution but also a demographic revolution or explosion. In 1835, the Indians made up less than
4 % of the colony's total population and by 1860; they constituted more than 66% of the total population. By 1880, Indians made up even as much as 80% of the colony's total population. Thus, Mauritius was unique among the British colonies and any other European colony because none of them received so many Indian immigrants and their composition of their local population changed so dramatically.

As from the 1840s, the old immigrants or who has served their five-year contracts and remained in Mauritius, had saved some money and began to settle outside the sugar estates. They either bought or squatted on some land and some even married ex-slave women and other settled in Port Louis. Gradually, between the 1840s and 1860s, a small rural Indian peasantry was rising as they acquired small patches of marginal lands and became small cultivators and raised domesticated animals. Others became small merchants, traders, and hawkers. It was only really after the 1870s that a rural Indian bourgeoisie began to emerge in Mauritius. Between the 1870s and 1890s, with the stagnation and gradual decline of the sugar industry, many of the sugar barons sold their marginal lands on the fringes of their sugar estates to thousands of old Indian immigrants and a few Indian merchants in what became, according to Richard B. Allen, became known as the Great Morcellement Movement. By the early 1920s, the Indo-Mauritians owned 40% of the island's valuable arable lands. As a result, many became small-scale sugar growers and a handful became large scale sugar producers. This Great Morcellement Movement of the late 1800s gave rise to a large Indian bourgeoisie and peasant class by the early 1900s which was gradually becoming involved in the island's politics.

The system of Indian indenture labour lasted between 1834 and 1924. As early as the 1830s, it brought with it a repressive state apparatus with repressive laws and regulations which was brutally enforced by the colonial police. Even during the first period of Indian immigration, the sugar planters inflicted corporal punishment on the Indians, practiced the double cut system, withheld their pay, sold alcohol to them, deceived them, and prevented them from leaving the estates.

Between the 1840s and 1860s, the British colonial government of Mauritius passed laws which sanctioned the double cut system, restricted the freedom of movement of the Indian labourers, enacted a pass law, allowed for corporal punishment, and extended their labour contract. By the late 1860s, an extremely repressive system was set into place which was enforced by the colonial police. Therefore, it is not for nothing Hugh Tinker referred to it as a new system of slavery. 

In1869, Adolphe de Plevitz wrote a petition on behalf of the Indians and eventually it reached Governor Gordon. By the early 1870s, a Royal Commission of Inquiry was set up and it made some recommendations to alleviate the terrible plight of the Indian labourers. Gradually, over a long period, between the late 1870s and early 1920s, the repressive apparatus of the Indenture system was being dismantled. Restrictions on movement, the pass system, the double cut system, and long contracts were outlawed. The condition of the Indian labourers was steadily improving. In 1922, after an interruption of several years, Indian immigration began again. However, after the visit of Kunwar Maharajsingh and the submission of his report to the British government of India, the indenture system ceased in 1924.

 (f) Resistance of the Indian labourers  

Between the 1840s and 1860s, the British colonial government of Mauritius passed laws which sanctioned the double cut system (or a system under which a worker lost two days' pay for being absent from work for one day), restricted the freedom of movement of the Indian labourers, enacted a pass law, allowed for corporal punishment, and extended their labour contract. By the 1860s, an extremely repressive system was set into place which was enforced by the colonial police for the benefit of the sugar planters.

The height of this repression lasted between 1860 and 1880. Fortunately, the Indian labourers actively resisted by organizing strikes and filing complaints against their employers or the sugar estate owners. Between 1860 and 1885, the sugar estate labourers filed 110 940 complaints with the stipendiary magistrates and Protector of Immigrants against their employers or an average of 4437 per annum, with 72% of these complaints concerning non-payment of wages.

Most of the employers were found guilty by the stipendiary magistrates and forced to pay. But, it also became evident that the labourers needed an ally and when they looked for a defender and spokesperson for their valiant cause, they found one in Adolphe de Plevitz, a sugar planter from Nouvelle-Dacouverte.

Veer since the late 1860s, de Plevitz became concerned about the terrible plight of the Indian labourers. In 1870, he wrote a petition (also called the ‘de Plevitz Petition') on their behalf and it was signed by 9 401 Indian immigrants. Eventually, this historic petition was sent to Governor Gordon by de Plevitz himself. Between 1872 and 1873, a Royal Commission of Inquiry was appointed by the British imperial government in London and sent to Mauritius. For many months, it carried out a lengthy investigation into the working and living conditions as well as the grievances of the island's Indian labourers.

In 1875, in their voluminous report, the Commissioners made several recommendations to alleviate the terrible plight of the colony's labourers. Gradually, between the late 1870s and early 1920s, the repressive apparatus of the indenture system was being dismantled. However, during that same period, there were few improvements in the economic, social, and political conditions of the indentured labourers and their descendants in Mauritius. In 1922, a new Labour Law was enacted by the Council of Government which hardly brought any changes to the working and living conditions of Mauritian workers on the sugar estates.

 (g) Maharaj Kunwar Singh's Report  

From 1906 to 1910, only 1 736 labourers arrived in Mauritius from the Indian subcontinent. Furthermore, between 1923 and 1924, around 1395 labourers landed at the Aapravasi Ghat and in May 1924, the last batch of Indian immigrants set foot on Mauritian soil. By December 1924, more than half of these labourers were not satisfied with their working conditions and opted to return to India.

In January 1925, Kunwar Maharaj Singh, a high-ranking officer of the United Province Civil Service in India and a member of an aristocratic dynasty of Oudh, was dispatched by the British Government of India to Mauritius. Hugh Tinker, a British historian, eloquently observes: At last, an Indian official of standing had been deputed to examine the situation of overseas Indians. Maharaj Singh's objective was to investigate the economic and social conditions of the Indians in Mauritius and whether the colony really needed to import additional Indian labourers. On 27th February 1925, Maharaj Singh submitted his report to the British Government of India. He mentioned that Indian labourers had achieved a great deal economic integration in the colony and strongly recommended that Indian indenture should be terminated.

Singh concluded:Indentured labour made the immigrant forget his home and his people. He came to Mauritius to settle for life and often reindentured. He passed a life of great difficulty and he worked hard and the system of morcellement helped him to acquire land in proprietary tenure, in general Indians have bettered their conditions in Mauritius. The Indo-Mauritian agriculturalist is better clothed than his confrere in India and, though the houses are poor, the furniture in them showed a higher standard of living The further dispatch of unskilled labour from India to Mauritius is unnecessary and undesirable either in the immediate or in the near future.

Within a few weeks after Maharaj Kunwar Singh submitted his report, the British Government of India accepted his recommendation and no more Indian indentured labourers were sent to Mauritius .

(h) The indenture system abolished  

While active Indian immigration came to an end in 1924, it certainly did not mean that the indenture system was abolished and this process officially took place only between 1938 and 1939. In November 1938, the local British government replaced the Labour Law of 1922 with the Labour Ordinance of November 1938. This new labour law brought the protection, regulations for payment of wages as well as working hours and all matters concerning the Mauritian workers under the control of the Labour Department.

It became law in January 1939 and during November of the same year, through Ordinance No.47, the title of the Office of the Protector of Immigrants and Poor Law Commissioner was changed to that of Director of Labour. In effect, the Protector of Immigrants was officially replaced by the Director of Labour. Without doubt, these actions brought an end to a system which had existed for a century in British Mauritius.

 Source : http://www.aapravasighat.org/indenture.htm