Slavery in Mauritius

 As you might already know, the International Day for the abolition of slavery is right around the corner. A day celebrated to remind us what slaves endured in the past and had it not gone away, in what plight we might have been. Mauritius too has quite its fair share of slavery history, all starting way back in the 1600s.

During the Dutch settlement in Mauritius, in 1600, Van Der Stel was the first governor who brought slaves to the island from Madagascar. A slave is categorised as a person who is forced to obey and work from dusk till dawn for  his masters without any pay. These slaves were needed to cut ebony trees which were extremely rare trees used to make ships, trade to other countries and were very hard to cut down. 

After the Dutch settlement in 1710, when the French rule started, they started bringing even more slaves but this time from Mozambique, India etc. They had to clear forests and cultivate sugarcane and other crops all over the island. The governor, Bertrand Francois Mahe de Labourdonnais took the initiative to build harbour to ease trade between countries. It was built at Port Louis which is now the capital city of Mauritius. Some slaves also worked as domestics in their master's houses.

Their lives were very hard as they had to live in slaves compounds which was known as 'Camp des Noirs' which was near their master's house. They were given manioc(cassava) and maize as their main food and were severely punished even for their slightest mistakes. 

These punishments included getting whipped, chained to boulders, hung to trees until they were out of breath and then whipped again. They did not have the right to talk in their native language and their mouth was shut by instruments designed by the settlers themselves. Their limbs were cut off when they tried to run away so that they cannot run again ever in their life. 

                                             

To distract their mind from the cruelties of their masters, they would chant and dance in the night praying for their freedom. This would later on be called 'Sega Morisien' which is an integral part of Mauritian festivities and our patriomonial heritage. Sega music is internationally recognised through artists like Ti Frére, Marlene Ravaton, Serge Lebrasse, Michel Legris and Fanfan. 

                           

With time, the slaves started to rebel and to run away from their masters. They were called maroon slaves and often robbed, attacked and set fire to plantations. They would hide in deep forests, caves, and the mountain 'Le Morne Brabant' which had since been declared a UNESCO 'World Heritage Site'.

Later on, in the year 1807, the population of slaves was 65,000 which was much more than the number of independent settlers in the country. After the Naval battle which was fought in 1810 between the French and British in which the latter won, they started occupying the country. As the British were against slavery, they abolished it in the year 1835 in all of the British empire which at that time included Mauritius.



After gaining freedom, some of the slaves started working as masons and carpenters and those who settled near the coast worked as fishermen. As for the women, they started working as tailors. Some of them however, left the country to live in Seychelles, Agalega which are other Mascarenes Islands. To commemorate the abolition of slavery, a monument has been built in the south of Mauritius and is called the International Slave Route monument on 1st February 2009 which is also the date we celebrate the abolition of slavery.