Mauritians of Indian origin

Last updated
Indo-Mauritians
Mauritian-Indians
Total population
812,769
65.7% of the population of Mauritius ("Population of Non-resident Indians country wise". Government of India. 2019.)
Languages
Religion
Predominantly: Om.svg Hinduism 48.5%
Minority: Star and Crescent.svg Islam 17.2% [1]
Related ethnic groups
Bihari Mauritians  · Tamil Mauritians  · Malbars  · Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa  · Indian South Africans  · Indo-Seychellois  · Indo-Caribbeans  · Indo-Fijians  · Indian people  · Indian diaspora  · Bihari diaspora  · Marathi diaspora  · Tamil diaspora  · Telugu diaspora  · Gujarati diaspora  · Bengali diaspora  · Odia diaspora  · Awadhi diaspora  · Punjabi diaspora  · Nepali diaspora  · Pakistani diaspora

Indo-Mauritians are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to the Republic of India or other parts of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia now known as Nepal and Pakistan. [2]

Contents

History

During the administration of the French East India Company until 1767 and subsequent French rule at least 12,000 workers arrived from India between 1721 and 1810 before the abolition of slavery. [3] These first Indian immigrants came from various parts of India such as Pondicherry, Karikal, Yanaon, Bengal and others. They worked under contract as skilled stonemasons, blacksmiths, and carpenters although hundreds of them were slaves. Some Malbars from Reunion (Bourbon) Island were also brought to work with them. [4] [5] After the legislative changes of 1767, these Indian immigrants were allowed to start their own businesses, buy a land and have slaves too. [6]

Following the November 1810 British Invasion from the northern coast, the island came under British rule. With the liberation of about 65,000 African and Malagasy slaves after the 1833 abolition of slavery the Franco-Mauritian plantation owners and sugar oligarchs resorted to indentured labourers, or Coolies, from various parts of India to work in their fields. Between 1834 and 1920, nearly 700,000 Indian indentured labourers arrived at Aapravasi Ghat, an embankment located in the harbour of Port-Louis. [7] Mauritius thus became the British colony's largest recipient of Indian indentured migrants.

Indian indentured labourers were mostly brought from the Bhojpuri speaking regions of Bihar State and Uttar Pradesh State in India as well as from the Terai region of Madhesh Province in Nepal before its independence, with a large number of Tamils from Madras, Telugus from Hyderabad and Marathis from Bombay amongst them. A small number of Bengalis from Calcutta, Odias from Puri and Awadhis from Awadh also came along who were mostly Hindu priests. The descendants of these indentured labourers make up two-thirds of the island's current population and are dominant political figures in Mauritius. [8] [9]

As free immigrants, these later arrivals were commonly employed by the British in the armed forces, police forces, as security personnel with a substantial portion of Hindu Rajput immigrants from Rajasthan State, Gujarat State mostly of Kutch region and Sindh Province arriving as traders, businessmen, and merchants before the Partition of India. A tiny portion of Punjabi Hindu and Sikh immigrants from Punjab State were also brought along them as soldiers. [10]

In the late 19th to early 20th century, Chinese men in Mauritius married Indian women due to both a lack of Chinese women and the higher numbers of Indian women on the island. [11] [12] The 1921 census in Mauritius counted that Indian women there had a total of 148 children fathered by Chinese men. [13] [14] These Chinese immigrants were mostly traders. [15]

Demographics

Today the population consists of predominant Hindus with Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Taoists, Confucianists, Sikhs, Jews and Baháʼí Faith minorities. The mother tongue of almost all Mauritians is the Mauritian Creole, while a minority of Indo-Mauritians still use both their ancestral language and Mauritian Creole at home. The latters mostly use their native languages during religious activities, some of them include Mauritian Bhojpuri, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Telugu, Gujarati, Awadhi, Bengali, Odia and Punjabi.

As from age six, all Mauritian children must learn a third language at school (French and English are already compulsory). The languages learnt at schools in decreasing order are Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Mandarin Chinese, Marathi, Telugu and Bhojpuri. Mauritian Creoles can opt for the Mauritian Creole as a third language. Choice is usually based on ethnoreligious background with Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu and Bhojpuri chosen by Hindus belonging to the respective ethnicities, Urdu by Muslims from parts of the Indian subcontinent and Mandarin Chinese by Chinese from China.

Indian influence

Indo-Mauritians have influenced Mauritian culture, dominating the economic, public sector and political faces of the island. [8] Mauritian politics have been historically dominated by the Indo-Mauritian community [16] due to their majority as a whole on the electoral platform. All presidents except Karl Offmann and all prime ministers except for Paul Berenger have been members of this community. Most Hindu festivals are public holidays. Indian influence is not only felt in religions, cuisines and arts but also in the local music of the island where it has its own groups of Bhojpuri bands and Tamil bands. [17] Indian films such as Bollywood and Tollywood are also widely popular. [18]

Caste system

Due to local demographic realities, the Indian caste system was not directly implemented in the Mauritian context. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]

Ravived

Ravived is a caste that is mainly found among Hindus in Mauritius. [24] The origin of this caste lay in an Indian caste named Chamar. [25] This same caste is referred to as Ravidassia outside Mauritius, and this terminology is very seldom used in Mauritius. [26]

During the 19th century (1834 onward), many Dalits, including Chamars (leather-working caste), migrated to Mauritius as indentured laborers under British rule. Those who were followers of Guru Ravidas began identifying collectively as Ravived to affirm a dignified identity. With time the term 'Ravived' became the preferred name in Mauritius to distance from the derogatory label of 'Chamar.' [27] [28]

In the ship records on which Indian laborers migrated to Mauritius, around ten percent of the boarded people mentioned their caste as Chamar. After the establishment of caste hierarchies in Mauritius, the Chamar community families turned to the religious songs of Kabir and Ravidass for their own religious outlet. Slowly, they started adopting religious-sounding names from these devotional songs. [29]

Notable people

See also

Notes and references

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Mauritian - Religion". Cultural Atlas. 2017-01-01. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  2. ↑ Ravi, Srilata (2010). "Indo-Mauritians: National and Postnational Identities". L'Esprit Créateur. 50 (2): 29–45. ISSN   0014-0767. JSTOR   26289646. Archived from the original on 2024-06-29. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  3. ↑ Srilata Ravi (2010). "Indo-Mauritians: National and Postnational Identities" . L'Esprit Créateur. 50 (2): 29–45. doi:10.1353/esp.0.0236. ISSN   1931-0234. S2CID   162237049.
  4. ↑ "Présence des Tamouls dans une Société Pluriethnique et Multiconfessionelle: Le Cas de Maurice". Le Mauricien. 10 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-06-26. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  5. ↑ Boodhoo, Sarita (8 November 2015). "The Tamil Presence in Mauritius". Mauritius Times. Archived from the original on 2024-07-13. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  6. ↑ "Tamouls, les Racines de l'Histoire". L'Express. 5 February 2004. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2004-02-05.
  7. ↑ Lal, Vinay (2021). "Indo-Mauritians and the Innocents: A Photo Gallery". University of California, Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 2021-04-10. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  8. 1 2 "The legacy of Indian migration to European colonies". The Economist . 2 September 2017. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "Indo-Mauritians - Hansard - UK Parliament". UK Parliament.
  10. ↑ Younger, Paul (2009). New Homelands: Hindu Communities in Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad, South Africa, Fiji, and East Africa. Oxford University Press. p. 33. ISBN   978-0199741922. Archived from the original on 2016-05-22. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  11. ↑ Carter, Marina; Ng Foong Kwong, James (2009). Abacus and Mah Jong: Sino-Mauritian Settlement and Economic Consolidation. Vol. 1 of European expansion and indigenous response, v. 1. Brill. p. 199. ISBN   978-9004175723. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  12. ↑ Nave, Ari. "What Inter-Ethnic Marriage in Mauritius Tells Us about the Nature of Ethnicity" (PDF). AriNave.com. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 18, 2014.
  13. ↑ Huguette Ly-Tio-Fane Pineo, Edouard Lim Fat (2008). From Alien to Citizen: The Integration of the Chinese in Mauritius. Éditions de l'océan Indien. p. 174. ISBN   978-9990305692. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  14. ↑ Huguette Ly Tio Fane-Pineo (1985). Chinese Diaspora in Western Indian Ocean. Ed. de l'océan indien. p. 287. ISBN   9990305692. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  15. ↑ Dinan, Monique (2002). Mauritius in the Making: Across the Censuses, 1846-2000. Nelson Mandela Centre for African Culture, Ministry of Arts & Culture. p. 41. ISBN   9990390460. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  16. ↑ "India Mauritius Bilateral Brief". HciMauritius.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2024-01-12. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  17. ↑ Servan-Schreiber, Catherine (2011-01-24). "Indian Folk Music and 'Tropical Body Language': The Case of Mauritian Chutney". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. doi: 10.4000/samaj.3111 . ISSN   1960-6060. Archived from the original on 2024-06-29. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  18. ↑ "Stars Arrive in Mauritius for Zee Cine Awards 2006 | Photo of Twinkle Khanna, Akshay Kumar from the Stars Arrive in Mauritius for Zee Cine Awards 2006 Images - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama . Archived from the original on 2024-07-13. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
  19. ↑ Claveyrolas, Mathieu (2013). "Au 'Pays des Vaish'?". Archives de sciences sociales des religions . 163 (163): 191–216. doi:10.4000/assr.25272. Archived from the original on 2024-07-13. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  20. ↑ "Portrait: Atma Doolooa, un chamar fier de l'être". Le Mauricien. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  21. ↑ G., R. (7 June 2017). "The fallacy of the caste system in Mauritius". L'Express. Archived from the original on 2024-07-13. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  22. ↑ Hollup, Oddvar (1994). "The Disintegration of Caste and Changing Concepts of Indian Ethnic Identity in Mauritius". Ethnology. 33 (4): 297–316. doi: 10.2307/3773901 . JSTOR   3773901.
  23. ↑ "Autrefois orateur vedette du MMM: Prem Koonjoo devenu un "ton"". L'Express. 2 June 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  24. ↑ "Understanding the caste system in Mauritius". 6 April 2021. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  25. ↑ "Journal of Indian research" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-09-27.
  26. ↑ Claveyrolas, Mathieu (2015). "The 'Land of the Vaish'? Caste Structure and Ideology in Mauritius". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. doi: 10.4000/samaj.3886 .
  27. ↑ Rāmaśaraṇa, Prahlāda (2001). Glimpses of the Arya Samaj in Mauritius. Sarvadeshik Prakashan Limited. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  28. ↑ Colonial Research Studies. H.M. Stationery Office. 1960. p. 137. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  29. ↑ Younger, Paul (30 November 2009). New Homelands: Hindu Communities in Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad, South Africa, Fiji, and East Africa. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-974192-2 . Retrieved 30 August 2024.

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