Indo-Mauritians

Population: ≈ 800,000, close to two-thirds of Mauritius

Location: Throughout the island, historically concentrated in the cane districts of Flacq, Grand Port and Rivière du Rempart

Language: Mauritian Kreol universally; Bhojpuri as an ancestral language in decline; Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Urdu taught and used liturgically

Language family: Indo-Aryan and Dravidian ancestral languages alongside French-lexified creole

Traditional governance: Republic; socio-religious federations and temple trusts are significant civic institutions, and the community has been politically dominant since independence.

Most African peoples are federations of named sub-groups — clans, sections, chiefdoms or sub-tribes — each with its own dialect, territory and traditions.

Clothing: Sari, kurta and dhoti for festival and temple; ordinary island dress otherwise; white for the Maha Shivaratri pilgrimage.

Food: Dholl puri and roti as the national street food, briani, cari, gato pima, achards; strict vegetarian observance in many households during festival periods.

Ceremonies: Maha Shivaratri, with hundreds of thousands walking to Grand Bassin carrying kanwar; Thaipusam Cavadee with body piercing and the milk offering; Divali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Eid; the Aapravasi Ghat commemoration on 2 November.

Marriage customs: Arranged and semi-arranged marriage still common, with elaborate multi-day ceremonies; caste retains social significance in marriage negotiation though it lost its occupational meaning in the crossing.

Initiation rites: Upanayana in some communities; the first temple offering and the Cavadee vow as personal rites of commitment.

“Ti pas ti pas, zwazo fer so nik.”

“Little by little, the bird builds its nest.”

The indenture generation's ethic, shared with the whole island.

“The one who eats alone dies alone.”

Obligation to kin and neighbour.

“Cane grows again from the root.”

Recovery after hardship, and a plain fact of the crop.

Creation: Hindu cosmology in its Puranic forms, carried and adapted; Islamic cosmology in Muslim households; both practised in a landscape without ancestral shrines, which made new sacred sites such as Grand Bassin necessary.

Beliefs: Hinduism in Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi traditions; Sunni and Shia Islam; firewalking and Cavadee vows; belief in nazar and protective ritual.

Ancestors: Shraddha rites and annual remembrance; the immigration registers at Aapravasi Ghat now function as genealogical scripture for families tracing an ancestor's ship and village.

Traditional settlements: Cane-belt villages with temple, mosque and school; the estate camps that housed indentured workers; suburban expansion since the 1970s.

Building techniques: Stone and lime construction in the camps; South Indian and North Indian temple styles in painted concrete; the vernacular Mauritian house with veranda and steep roof against cyclones.

Village layout: Village organised around temple and shop, with fields beyond; the estate camp laid out in supervised lines, some of which survive as heritage.

1. 1834

   Indenture begins at Aapravasi Ghat, months after the abolition of slavery.

2. 1834–1920

   Around 450,000 indentured workers arrive, mostly from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

3. 1871–1935

   Growth of village settlement, land purchase by former indentured families, and the beginnings of political organisation.

4. 1968

   Independence under Seewoosagur Ramgoolam.

5. 2006

   Aapravasi Ghat inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.