Archaeology of Indenture

Table of Contents Editorial and Messages Editorial 4 Message from the President of the Republic of Mauritius �� 7 Message from the Prime Minister �� 8 Message from the Minister of Arts and Culture �� 9 Message from the Lord Mayor of Port Louis �� 10 Article by the Director of the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund �� 11 Message from Professor Armoogum Parsuramen �� 14 1 AAPRAVASI GHAT WORLD HERITAGE SITE 15 The World Heritage Status �� 16 The Outstanding Universal Value of the Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Property �� 18 The Chronology on the evolution of the Aapravasi Ghat: from Immigration Depot to World Heritage Site �� 19 International Indentured Labour Route Project �� 21 AGTF Projects: 2003 to 2014...... �� 23 Research Programme...... �� 25 The Achievements of AGTF from November 2004 to October 2013 �� 28 The Aapravasi Ghat Conservation Project �� 32 Archaeological Research at the Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Site and other Indenture Sites �� 37 The “Archaeology of Indenture”: Mauritius as a Case-Study for a Global Investigation �� 39 Beekrumsing Ramlallah Interpretation Centre Project �� 42 Aapravasi Ghat: Personal Recollections and the Historical Perspective �� 44 Aapravasi Ghat Exhibits at 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas �� 47 Beekrumsing Ramlallah: the man behind Aapravasi Ghat �� 49

2 INDENTURE SITES 54 The Vagrant Depot Entrance Gateway �� 55 The Trianon Conservation Project �� 57 British Policy, Quarantine, and Colonial Mauritius �� 61 Overview of the History of Flat Island �� 64 Crimes against Humanity at Ilot Gabriel (1856) �� 66

3 INDENTURE IN THE WORLD 68 Discovering our History, Untold stories: The Emergence of an Endogenous Workforce & the Experience of the Mauritian Indentured Workers (1870-1910) �� 69 Les Engagés indiens de l’île de la Réunion �� 73 An overview of the History of Indentured Labour in Natal, South Africa (1860-1911) �� 75 Slavery and Indentured Labour �� 77 Overview of Indian Indentureship System in Trinidad, 1845 to 1920 �� 79 Fiji: the Girmit Experience...... �� 82 Indian Immigration and their Role in Surinamese Society 1873-1913 �� 85 History and Commemoration: a Heartfelt Tribute to the Martyrdom of the Indian Immigrants of Ilet Cabri, the Trials and Tribulations of the Indentured Labourers of Guadeloupe and a Special Reflection on Two Outstanding Historical Figures of Guadeloupe �� 89 An Overview of the Experience of the Indian Indentured Labourers in Guyana (1838-1917) �� 92 Commemorating the Making of our History: the Impact of the Indian Indentured Labour System on Colonial Mauritius (1829-1920) �� 94 The Dahaji Bhai...... �� 96 Honoring a Maker of our History: Remembering the Work and Struggle of Pandit Basdeo Bissoondoyal, 1906-1991 �� 97

2 Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund Souvenir Magazine - 180th Anniversary of the Arrival of Indentured Labourers in Mauritius Table of Contents

2e édition du colloque de l’ODI-Réunion 29-30 avril 2014 ��101 The Tamil Catholic Community Mauritius: Origin and Contemporary State ��104 Exploring the History of Indentured Labour: An Overview of the Living and Working Conditions of Indian Indentured labourers on the Mauritian Sugar Estates (1834-1888) ��107 The Futtay Salem of Bombay ��110 Basdeo Bissoondoyal: Service with a Missionary Zeal ��112

4 BUFFER ZONE 116 Formulating a Development Vision for the Historic Urban Landscape Surrounding the Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Property (Buffer Zone) ��117 La Contribution de l’Engagisme au Développement Commercial à Port-Louis ��122 Exploring a Rare Tangible Urban Heritage Site: the Historical and Heritage Value of the General Post Office in the Aapravasi Ghat Buffer Zone ��124

5 THE OUTREACH PROGRAMME 126 Frequently Asked Questions ��127 ICOMOS International Day for Monuments and Sites ��130 Visit of High Dignitaries at the Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Site, 1970s to present ��132

6 INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE 135 Applying the Best Practice in Managing and Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Indentured Labourers in Mauritius ��136

7 POST INDENTURE PERIOD 138 The Aapravasi Ghat and Le Morne: the Transcultural Landscape of Coolitude ��139 Dancing with the Gods: Intersecting Worlds ��142 The metamorphosis of the Indentured Labour Photographic Portraits ��145 L’aventure des noms indiens à l’île de la Réunion ��148 The Next Milestone: Many More Steps to Climb Yet… ��152 Tracing the Roots: A Mauritian’s Journey through his Ancestor’s Past ��155 Heroes of a Glorious Past...... ��157

EDITING COMMITTEE Mr. T. Garburrun, Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Arts and Culture Mr. D. Auleear, Board Member, AGTF Mr. B.P. Dinand, Board Member, AGTF Mr. J. Mohit, Director, AGTF Ms. C. Forest, Head Technical Unit, AGTF Mr. S. Peerthum, Historian, AGTF Ms. C. Miao Foh, Research Assistant, AGTF

COVER AND PAGE LAYOUT DESIGN: Mr. Meunier Jean Norbert, Graphic Designer

Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund 3 Souvenir Magazine - 180th Anniversary of the Arrival of Indentured Labourers in Mauritius

indentured archaeology reflects social aspects of the HE “ARCHAEOLOGY difference between slaves and labourers. One of the OF INDENTURE”: most visible such facets are architectural features in T the form of religious structures that dot the landscape. MAURITIUS AS A CASE- They represent the consequence of indenture STUDY FOR A GLOBAL labourers, in contrast to slavery, being allowed to keep their religions. Among other elements, regional INVESTIGATION and religious varieties of sacred structures helped immigrants to nurture their original identity. However, Krish Seetah1, Saša Čaval 2& Diego Calaon 3. akin to slavery, there are few material signatures, 1 Stanford University, Dept. of Anthropology and even from sites that are tied closely to the indentured Archaeology Center, Stanford, USA. system (Calaon, 2011). 2 Scientific-Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, In AD 1834, on the heels of abolition, Britain turned Ljubljana, Slovenia. to south-Asia, and India in particular, to find workers 3 IDEAS, Ca’Foscari, Venice. to replace the labour void. The evident success of this system catalysed the displacement of over two million Since 2008, the Mauritian Archaeology and people from Asia, Africa and Melanesia (Carter et al, Cultural Heritage (MACH) project has been working 2003) around the Indian Ocean, and to islands in the with the AGTF on numerous research ventures Pacific and Caribbean. The role played by Mauritius focused on indentured sites. In more recent years, gained international recognition in 2006, with the this collaboration has given birth to an appreciation for inscription of the Aapravasi Ghat as a UNESCO the extensive potential that archaeology could have World Heritage Site. for understanding the complexities of the indentured diaspora. What has become apparent is that the sites As the ‘laboratory’ where the system was initiated represent a collective of points within a theoretical and implemented, few places are more appropriate framework that has stimulated a wholly new research for commencing an archaeological interrogation of agenda for the discipline: the “archaeology of the indentured labour diaspora. Above all else, why indenture”. A range of important sites, marking the this transition was necessary may have underlying quarantining (Flat Island), disembarkation (Aapravasi drivers that archaeology is well equipped to address. Ghat), habitation (Trianon Barracks) and final resting Economic factors, principally the removal of place (Bois Marchand Cemetery) of incoming migrant preferential tariffs for West Indian sugar, intensified workers offers unique potential for an assessment production in Mauritius, ostensibly requiring more of labourer life-ways through bioarchaeological and labour. However, a number of factors complicate the material signatures. simplicity of this reasoning. A rife illegal slave trade continued well into the 1850s (Allen 2010). Coupled A first view of the ‘Archaeology of indenture’ with the apprenticeship system, which required six years’ service by emancipated slaves, these should Mauritius’ archaeology has utility for a greater have provided a buffer, which they no doubt did to a impact on the development of ‘global archaeological certain extent. practice’ through investigations of indenture. Considered by one historian as ‘a new system of Nonetheless, an archaeological viewpoint suggests slavery’ (Tinker 1974), others have emphasised the that nuances existed and a range of issues were considerable and nuanced differences (Allen 1999: likely to have impacted on the need for labour. In this 57-58). More so than slavery, this facet of the past regards, Bois Marchand Cemetery may be pointing us has remained virtually untouched by archaeologists; in the right direction. Bois Marchand was some 400 to our knowledge, no program of excavation currently acres when established in 1867 (Pike 183: 401), and exists into this globally significant diaspora (as distinct was created to accommodate the massive death toll from convict labour or movements of indentured resulting from epidemics of malaria and cholera. In Europeans). Though still very much in its infancy, 1867, 41,000 people (ibid: 110), 10% of the entire the outcomes are already revealing. In essence, population, died from these conditions. Thus, the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund 39 1 THE AAPRAVASI GHAT WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Figure 1: Flat Island Source: K. Seetah et Al role of disease, while figuring strongly in Atlantic research on labour provision (Pearson et al. 2012: 155), has (with notable exceptions, see Arnold 1991, and more recently, Boodoo 2010) remained heavily understudied within an Indian Ocean context, and could prove highly relevant to our understanding of this particular labour diaspora.

Excavations at Bois Marchand have unearthed a unique snap-shot of the island’s population at that time, and in combination with other sites, will help us draw a more complete picture in the future. Within the indentured paradigm, viewing the ‘island as site’ is proving particularly relevant. A landscape archaeological approach allows us to connect different nodes within the colonial administration. Connections and relations between Flat Island, a quarantine base complete with hospital and cemetery (Figure 1); Aapravasi Ghat, the landing point of immigrants (Figure 2), again, complete with Figure 2: Aapravasi Ghat hospital block and administrative centres; Trianon, Source: AGTF Photo Collection a set of barracks situated on a plantation and likely

Figure 3: Trianon Barrack Source: K. Seetah et Al

40 Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund Souvenir Magazine - 180th Anniversary of the Arrival of Indentured Labourers in Mauritius

Figure 4: Bois Marchand Cemetery Source: K. Seetah et Al

the dwelling of sirdars (Figure 3) (Calaon et al. changed from one administration to the next (Calaon 2012), the Vagrant Depot, a prison for labourers, 2011). On a greater scale, facets of indentured and Bois Marchand (Figure 4), a cemetery with archaeology being discovered on the island serve sections dedicated specifically to indentured workers, as an exemplar for regions around the world, where effectively encapsulate the entire trajectory of this similar system of indenture were applied as widely labour diaspora within a geographically contained and as Trinidad and Guyana, South Africa and Fiji. In this highly relevant test case. way, Mauritius sets the precedent for what promises to be a fascinating new chapter in archaeological We can begin to tease out the details of endeavour. administration, for example with dependence on quarantine and expansion of burial grounds to deal with disease, or the reaction to absenteeism, the development and expansion of the indenture religious networks, as well as more typical details of contract- labour-life: health, diet, and social practice. This also allows for an assessment of colonial mind-sets, e.g., NB: This article is based on a journal manuscript how the process of accepting labour onto the island currently under-review for Antiquity.

Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund 41