Detail InformationEdit
The Immigration Depot (Hindi: Aapravasi Ghat) is a building complex located in Port Louis, on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, which was the first British colony to receive indentured, or contracted, labor workforce from India. From 1849 to 1923, half a million Indian indentured labourers passed through the Immigration Depot, to be eventually transported to plantations throughout the British Empire. The large-scale migration of the laborers left an indelible mark on the societies of many former British colonies, with Indians constituting a substantial proportion of their national populations. In Mauritius alone, 68 percent of the current total population has Indian forebears. The Immigration Depot has thus become an important reference point in the history and cultural identity of Mauritius.
Unchecked infrastructural development in the mid-20th century, however, meant that only the partial remains of three stone buildings from the entire complex have survived. These are now protected as a national monument, under the Mauritian national heritage legislation. The Immigration Depot’s role in social history has also been recognized by UNESCO when it was declared a World Heritage Site in 2006. The site is under the management of the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund. Conservation efforts are underway to restore the fragile buildings back to their 1860s state.
The Immigration Depot was built on the east side of the bay of Trou Fanfaron, a locality within the Mauritian capital city of Port Louis. The historic complex currently consists of the partial remains of three stone buildings dating back to the 1860s that were built on the spot of an earlier depot site. This consists of the entrance gateway and a hospital block, remnants of immigration sheds, and vestiges of the service quarters. Subsequent land reclamations as a result of urban development have moved the Immigration Depot’s location further inland. The Caudan Waterfront, a marina being developed as an economic and tourist center, is situated beyond the site.
The uncontrolled urban development after the abolition of the indentured system and the late initiative to conserve the site in late 20th century meant that only the partial remains of the place have survived. From the complex founded in 1849, experts estimate that only about 15% still authentically exists today. However, records of the building plan and photographs, as well as recent archaeological evidence, allow for the precise reconstruction of the complex.
Immigrants arriving via the “”coolie ships”” on the wharf of Trou Fanfaron were led to the Immigration Depot via a series of 14 stone steps, which are presently intact. The walls protecting the wharf along the waterfront are made from a mosaic of dressed stones, as a result of continuous reconstruction over a long period of time. Land reclamations carried out over time to develop the Trou Fanfaron harbor have rendered the historic wharf unusable. The stone steps’ direct access to the sea, the first parts of the Immigration Depot seen by arriving migrants, has become part of history.
Mauritius was not the pioneering site for the use of indentured labor. In the 17th century, substantial numbers of indentured servants, of European origin, arrived in America, in what were then the British Thirteen Colonies. By the 18th century, it has been estimated that over half of the population of white immigrants in the English colonies of North America may have been indentured servants. However, the scale of the system that was put into operation in Mauritius was unprecedented. It immediately spread throughout the colonies of the British Empire, and was imitated by other European powers, while the Indian labor force was also employed beyond the sugarcane fields, in such workplaces as mines and even railways.
The indentured system also left a sizeable documentary heritage. A comprehensive record was kept of immigrants, from the contracts signed, their photographs, the transportation cost, the accommodation spending and the final destination of laborers. These registers are currently being managed by the Indian Immigration Archives, which is directly administered by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, an educational institution established in Mauritius, in cooperation with India.
UNESCO, the international organization responsible for the preservation and protection the world’s cultural and natural heritage, has recognized the 1,640 m2 site of the Immigration Depot for its outstanding universal importance. It was proclaimed as a World Heritage Site in 2006, citing the buildings as among the earliest explicit manifestations of what was to become a global economic system and one of the greatest migrations in history.
HistoryEdit
The area where the building complex is situated, Trou Fanfaron, was the landing point for the French East India Company, which took possession of Mauritius in 1721. Slaves were imported from Africa, India and Madagascar to construct defensive walls and a hospital during the early phase of settlement. By the mid-18th century, sugar plantations had been developed on the Island of Mauritius, utilizing slave labor.
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