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discover moka
In the footsteps of
indentured labourers
On 2 November, we commemorated the arrival of indentured labourers in Mauritius. A total of 454,000 coolies arrived on the island between 1834 and 1910 with the hope of a better life in their hearts and an immigrant ticket hung around their neck. They came to replace freed slaves and were promised a monthly remuneration of five rupees.
The Indian Immigration Museum and Archives of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI) in Moka follow the traces of the first Indian immigrants who landed on the island, and their priceless legacy.
The Museum of Indian Immigration
X The MGI promotes Indian culture through conferences, exhibitions, research and schools. There could therefore have been no better place to house the museum of indentured labour. It was inaugurated in 1991 to highlight the history of these coolies who transformed the demographic landscape of the island.
A whole wing is dedicated to their journey from the ports where they embarked in India to the steps of
the Aapravasi Ghat in Port Louis. Some personal effects are on display between these bits and pieces of history: a sword, a purse or a metal tube that contained the immigrant ticket which would give them access to a new life.
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There are also images and installations documenting the indentured labourers’ life on the sugar estates. Their huts offered poor living conditions – highlighted by a re-creation of a kitchen of the time – but resilience was key to their everyday survival. Continuing with the visit, we enter a baitka, a gathering place where the popular languages and values of the Indian sub-continent were taught to the young generation.
This migratory wave also included Muslim merchants from North and South India. Their history and that of advocates of the immigrants’ cause like Adolphe de Plévitz and Manilal Doctor has not been ignored. There is
a last cultural stop on the first floor of the museum where traditional clothing, musical instruments and precious traditional jewellery are on display.
“These collections are made up
of donations from descendants of immigrants or religious institutions, as well as exhibits on loan from the Indian and Mauritian governments. These centuries-old objects and artefacts testify to our history,” says Vishwanaden Govinden, who is responsible for the museum and archives. P
68 MOKAZINE / NO 3 / 2021