2019-11-02 Sat

Mauritius celebrates the 2nd Day of the Month of November as the Indian Arrival Day to commemorate the arrival of Indian labourers in Mauritius. It was in 1834 that labourers were introduced under a private importation scheme which lasted until 1839. In the month of August of the same year, a batch of 39 free labourers on board the Sarah from Bombay arrived in the colony. These labourers reached the colony on Sunday 2 November 1834.

Permission for their landing was granted on Monday 3 November and on the following day, they set foot on Mauritian soil where they went to work at the ‘Antoinette’ sugar estate. Their monthly salary was five rupees and they received six months’ pay in advance. One rupee was retained for the passage. Food and clothing were provided according to a fixed scale.

From 1834 to 1910, Indian Immigrants originated from the Presidencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay. Today More than 68% of the Mauritian population is of Indian origin, most commonly known as Indo-Mauritians.

To commemorate The Indian Arrival Day, Mauritian Post issued a stamp in the year 1978 with the denomination of 1.50 Mauritian rupees. The stamp depicts a typical Indian settlement in a village of Mauritius. The name of the country and the denomination value is at the top and the event of commemoration is at the bottom.

Image Courtesy: http://philamirror.info

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