{"id":25762,"date":"2023-02-04T08:31:46","date_gmt":"2023-02-04T08:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius"},"modified":"2023-02-04T09:21:11","modified_gmt":"2023-02-04T09:21:11","slug":"slaves-how-they-built-mauritius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius","title":{"rendered":"Slaves: how they built Mauritius"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>Slavery and its abolition in 1835 seem so distant. Yet, tangible remnants of this period still exist in modern Mauritius. Historians Jocelyn Chan Low and Satyendra Peerthum first mention the infrastructural legacy of slaves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe contributions of slaves are manifold.<\/p>\n

The ones most visible today are all the buildings erected in the 18th and early 19th centuries: the Government House, the Citadelle, the military and the civil hospitals in Port Louis, and all the colonial buildings,\u201d enumerates Chan Low.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeerthum adds to the list the Supreme Court building, the Line Barracks and Fort Frederik Hendrik, in Old Grand Port, which is now a museum.<\/p>\n

The 2011 report of the Truth and Justice Commission also sheds light on how slaves were used to produce bricks, lime, wood and iron works in high demand in construction. A second aspect historians mention is the land-clearing role of slaves in developing Mauritius into a sugar colony.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Harmon, country specialist for Mauritius and the Seychelles in the Vitality Democracy Project of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, explains that sugar cane was introduced from Java by the Dutch who thus laid the economic foundation of Mauritius as a sugar colony.<\/p>\n

Slaves were used in the field to produce sugar that he describes as \u201cwhite gold\u201d. Peerthum is convinced that without forced labour, the sugar industry would never have taken off in Mauritius.<\/p>\n

Chan Low, who is also a former member of the Indian Ocean office for the Slave Route project of the UNESCO, adds that Mauritian Creole is another direct legacy of slavery.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreole is a meeting between the master and their slaves. The master had to communicate with their slaves.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a debate however between Robert Chaudenson, who claims that our Creole is from Reunion, and Philip Baker, who contends that Mauritian Creole is of West African origin as it resembles Haitian Creole,\u201d says Chan Low.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Chan Low points out the other contributions of slavery to Mauritius like brede songe and the technique of fishing using traps which both originate from Madagascar.<\/p>\n

Setting fire to sugar cane fields to ease sugar cane harvest and mining techniques were also introduced to colonists by slaves according to Chan Low. For Peerthum, slaves also took part in the peopling of Mauritius.<\/p>\n

\u201cCamp Yoloff on the outskirts of Port Louis for example is named after West African slaves who lived there,\u201d says the researcher at the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund.<\/p>\n

The latter also recalls that slaves were not only Africans, but also Indian, Malay, Chinese and so on. Mauritians seem unaware of many of the aspects of slave history.<\/p>\n

Harmon blames our educational system. \u201cWhen we study some history topics at primary level, it\u2019s more textbook knowledge for exam purposes. We don\u2019t give the opportunity to our teachers and pupils to connect with the national history.<\/p>\n

Even the nine-year schooling reform has failed to lay emphasis on history,\u201d deplores the researcher. Chan Low blames textbooks too, where \u201cslaves are always depicted as maroons on the loose while La Bourdonnais is praised.<\/p>\n

\u201d For Peerthum, while slaves did all the harsh manual work to develop Port Louis under La Bourdonnais, the latter had the vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t forget the context of Mahe\u0301 de La Bourdonnais\u2019 arrival in Mauritius. At the time, the viability of the colony was questioned.<\/p>\n

By the end of La Bourdonnais\u2019 governorship, Isle de France \u2013 as Mauritius was known under the French \u2013 was viable,\u201d argues Peerthum. Peerthum, who nonetheless agrees that Mauritians do not know about their history as it is not taught at school.<\/p>\n

He illustrates his claim by stating that the Aapravasi Ghat had 200,000 visitors from November 2014 till today, most of whom were Mauritians \u201ceager to learn about their history\u201d.<\/p>\n

What can be done to popularise the contributions of slaves to Mauritius? In its report, the TJC considered that the slaves \u201ccontribution to Mauritius [should be] recognised and publicised in permanent and public spaces .
\n\u201d The report has made numerous recommendations.<\/p>\n

Some of them include: the creation of a database gathering lists of ships calling at Mauritius and their cargo, a national genealogy centre to enable Mauritians of slave descent to recreate their genealogical trees, the introduction of Mauritian history at all levels in the school curriculum, and the establishment of an intercontinental slavery museum.<\/p>\n

For Harmon, developing popular education is important. For instance, on 27 January, members of the 1st February Diocesan Committee of the Catholic Church and Vijaya Teelock, the recently-appointed president of the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route project, were at Cassis to interact with the inhabitants on their history.<\/p>\n

Harmon advocates \u201cdeveloping a sense of shared history\u201d. \u201cSlavery and indenture are two important events that have shaped Mauritius. We cannot learn about these two historical tragedies in isolation because there\u2019s a continuum in terms of economic disempowerment and social dynamics.<\/p>\n

It is an awareness of both that can help us better understand our present,\u201d posits the researcher. Both Chan Low and Peerthum argue that slavery, and by extension indenture and the path to independence, should be better taught at school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gather that the new nine-year schooling curriculum includes slavery only up to grade 7.<\/p>\n

Instead of removing history from our school curriculum, we should teach it at secondary level too. You can\u2019t make a nation without its history,\u201d Chan Low believes.<\/p>\n

He is also of the opinion that documentaries, conferences, press articles and institutions like the Nelson Mandela Centre for African Culture and the Centre for Research on Slavery and Indenture of the University of Mauritius have a role to play in popularising our history.<\/p>\n

As independent Mauritius turns 50, let\u2019s not forget the men and women brought into servitude to this island and who, with their labour, helped lay the foundations of modern Mauritius. Our history is primordial in understanding our present and building our future.
\n
\n<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. Slavery and its abolition in 1835 seem so distant. Yet, tangible remnants of this period still exist in modern Mauritius. Historians Jocelyn Chan Low and Satyendra Peerthum first mention the infrastructural legacy of slaves. \u201cThe contributions of slaves are manifold. The ones most visible today are all the buildings erected in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":25761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,11],"tags":[233,245,241,2368],"class_list":["post-25762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-photo","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius","tag-slaves"],"yoast_head":"\nSlaves: how they built Mauritius - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Slavery and its abolition in 1835 seem so distant. Yet, tangible remnants of this period still exist in modern Mauritius ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Slaves: how they built Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Slavery and its abolition in 1835 seem so distant. Yet, tangible remnants of this period still exist in modern Mauritius ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-04T08:31:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-04T09:21:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"330\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Slaves: how they built Mauritius\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-04T08:31:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-04T09:21:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius\"},\"wordCount\":990,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mauritius\",\"Mauritius\",\"Slaves\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"photo\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius\",\"name\":\"Slaves: how they built Mauritius - Mauritius\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-04T08:31:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-04T09:21:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Slavery and its abolition in 1835 seem so distant. Yet, tangible remnants of this period still exist in modern Mauritius ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":330,\"caption\":\"Slaves: how they built Mauritius\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Slaves: how they built Mauritius\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/\",\"name\":\"Mauritius\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Slaves: how they built Mauritius - Mauritius","description":"Slavery and its abolition in 1835 seem so distant. Yet, tangible remnants of this period still exist in modern Mauritius ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Slaves: how they built Mauritius","og_description":"Slavery and its abolition in 1835 seem so distant. Yet, tangible remnants of this period still exist in modern Mauritius ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius","og_site_name":"Mauritius","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-02-04T08:31:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-04T09:21:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":330,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Slaves: how they built Mauritius","datePublished":"2023-02-04T08:31:46+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-04T09:21:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius"},"wordCount":990,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Mauritius","Mauritius","Slaves"],"articleSection":["all news","files","photo"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius","name":"Slaves: how they built Mauritius - Mauritius","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-04T08:31:46+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-04T09:21:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Slavery and its abolition in 1835 seem so distant. Yet, tangible remnants of this period still exist in modern Mauritius ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1675487450.81.jpg","width":620,"height":330,"caption":"Slaves: how they built Mauritius"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/slaves-how-they-built-mauritius#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Slaves: how they built Mauritius"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/","name":"Mauritius","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}