Commemoration of the Arrival of Indentured Workers: The Legacy of Aapravasi: When Memory Becomes Poetry

November 2nd marks a highly symbolic date in Mauritian history: the arrival of the first Indian indentured workers in Mauritius in 1834. On that day, 72 Indian laborers disembarked from the ship L'Atlas in Port-Louis, paving the way for a migration that would profoundly impact Mauritian society. Between 1834 and 1920, nearly 700,000 Indians crossed the oceans to work in sugarcane fields, writing an essential chapter in the history of the island.