Tag: History

Last Voyage of Le Coureur The Wreck of a Slave Ship off the Mauritius Coast View of the wreck site March 1821. Night had just fallen and there was a full moon. A small lugger was waiting offshore to deliver a cargo of slaves to French colonists residing on the British colony of Mauritius. Unfortunately,… Continue reading Last Voyage of Le Coureur

An eye witness account of the 1968 riot Plaine Verte is a suburb of the capital of Mauritius. Until 1968, it was home to a heterogenous community of Muslims and Christians. This closely intertwined community of two ethnic/religious groups who co-existed for over a century found itself at the centre of the riots which took… Continue reading An eye witness account of the 1968 riots

  The Biharis of Mauritius: Past and Present To be a Bihari, or a person of Bihari descent, may seem a simple concept, free from confusion or distortion. Yet the state of Bihar itself has undergone modifications, whilst the absorption of other minority ethnic groups into the present-day self-defined community of Biharis has been a… Continue reading The Biharis of Mauritius: Past and Present

  Captain Matthew Flinders  at the Isle of France [Mauritius], 1803-1810 On 15th December 1803 Captain Matthew Flinders sailed into a quiet bay of the Isle of France, a small French outpost in the southwest Indian Ocean, in the Cumberland.  Only a few weeks earlier, a French ship had brought news of the rupture of… Continue reading Captain Matthew Flinders at the Isle of France [Mauritius], 1803-1810

  Why is ‘Grand Port’ important? History will always be a key subject for study because of the lessons the past can teach us, but the study of history will and should always engender discussion and controversy because of the many ways in which a single event can be interpreted. The bicentenary has provoked a… Continue reading Why is ‘Grand Port’ important?

It was, unfortunately, not that uncommon for individuals of Indian and African origin to be tricked into slavery in the early 19th century Mascarenes.  There were cases of Indians embarking on ships as crew only to find themselves sold as slaves in Mauritius, while the story of Furcy, recounted below in his own letters, raised… Continue reading WRONGFUL ENSLAVEMENT: THE HEARTFELT PLEA OF FURCY

The Church of St Francis at Pamplemousses is the oldest standing edifice of the Catholic faith on the island, and dates from the 1750s. It features in a number of prints and sketches of the eighteenth century Isle of France. This sketch of the church is held in the Le Havre collection: Inside the Church… Continue reading Pamplemousses Church and its Mysterious Bell

Hidden Treasures of Mauritius An Aerial View of the Landing Spot   1.The Hidden History of the Northern Coastal resorts As you enjoy a swim or a stroll along the beach, spare a thought for the soldiers who, two hundred years ago this month, landed in their thousands along this stretch of coast, carrying muskets… Continue reading Hidden Treasures of Mauritius

Capitulation of Mauritius, 1810 1810 was a year of immense significance to Mauritius and Mauritians. The ongoing Anglo-French wars had not only helped a handful of merchant-adventurers to amass huge profits; the activities of the corsairs brought in their train people of diverse origins: traders and agents from neutral nations, captured seamen, dispossessed Indian Ocean travellers, so… Continue reading History & Heritage

The Chateau Labourdonnais in Mapou has opened its doors to the public following nearly three years of renovation and now offers a fascinating glimpse of the world of the 19th century sugar planter. The château de Labourdonnais was built in 1858 by Christian Wiehe, an insightful man, whose numerous descendants still mostly live in Mauritius… Continue reading Chateau Labourdonnais