Mauritian History

Aapravasi Ghat: Port Louis, Mauritius, Indian Ocean, Colony, Indentured servant, Non- resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin, Indo- Mauritian, History ... Culture of Mauritius, World Heritage Site Alphascript Publishing Paperback (100 pages) List Price: $49.00* Lowest New Price: $45.26* Lowest Used Price: $48.48* Usually ships in 24 hours* *(As of 05:35 Pacific 29 Jul 2010 More Info) Click Here Product Description: The Immigration Depot is a building complex located in Port Louis, on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, which was the first British colony to receive indentured, or contracted, labor workforce from India. From 1849 to 1923, half a million Indian indentured labourers passed through the Immigration Depot, to be eventually transported to plantations throughout the British Empire. The large-scale migration of the laborers left an indelible mark on the societies of many former British colonies, with Indians constituting a substantial proportion of their national populations. In Mauritius alone, 68 percent of the current total population has Indian forebearers. The Immigration Depot has thus become an important reference point in the history and cultural identity of Mauritius. Unchecked infrastructural development in the mid-20th century however meant that only the partial remains of three stone buildings from the entire complex have survived. These are now protected as a national monument, under the Mauritian national heritage legislation.

The Mauritian Shekel By GeneviZve Pitot Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Paperback (272 pages) List Price: $34.95* Lowest New Price: $29.96* Lowest Used Price: $28.95* Usually ships in 24 hours* *(As of 05:35 Pacific 29 Jul 2010 More Info) Click Here Product Description: "In 1940 thousands of Jews were trying to flee Nazi persecution in Europe. This is the little-known story of a group of 1,600 Jewish refugees who, having escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe, were refused entry into Palestine by the British in 1940 because they were considered "illegal" immigrants. Their deportation after landing in the Promised Land, Eretz Israel, was unique. As a deterrent to others, they were deported to Mauritius, a remote island in the Indian Ocean. They were detained in a Mauritian prison until the end of the war and were deprived of all basic human rights even that of family life. This story sheds light on the British government's lack of understanding of the critical problem of Jewish refugees at that time."