The Indian convicts in Mauritius, 1815-1853

A little known but important aspect of the early British administration of Mauritius was the establishment of a penal settlement on the island, for the reception of convicts from India. After the British took control of Ile de France in 1815, the first Governor – Robert Townsend Farquhar – was faced with a serious problem. The slave trade had been abolished across the British Empire in 1807, there was no indigenous population to exploit, and the island needed labour to stimulate the continuing expansion of sugar cane cultivation. Previously, Farquhar had been Lieutenant-Governor of Penang (also called Prince of Wales Island) in S.E. Asia. Penang had taken advantage of Indian convict labour since 1790, with transported offenders put to work on public projects and in private enterprise. With this in mind, shortly after he assumed office in Mauritius, Farquhar contacted the Bengal authorities and requested a supply of Indian convicts. The authorities granted his request and, subsequently, transported almost a thousand Bengal Presidency felons to the island [taken from introduction]