Convicts in the Indian Ocean

Download or read book Convicts in the Indian Ocean written by C. Anderson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2000-01-27 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the British took control of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius soon after the abolition of the slave trade, they were faced with a labour-hungry and potentially hostile Franco-Mauritian plantocracy. This book explores the context in which Indian convicts were transported to the island and put to work building the infrastructure necessary to fuel the expansion of the sugar industry. Drawing on hitherto unexplored archival material, it is shown how convicts experienced transportation and integrated into the Mauritian social and economic fabric.