Mauritians
When slavery was abolished on 1 February 1835, an attempt was made to secure a cheap source of adaptable labour for intensive sugar plantations in Mauritius.This period of intensive use of Indian labour took place during British rule, with many brutal episodes and a long struggle by the indentured for respect.Indo-Mauritians are descended from Indian immigrants who arrived in the 19th century via the Aapravasi Ghat in order to work as indentured labourers after slavery was abolished in 1835.As the Indian population became numerically dominant after independence from British rule and the voting franchise was extended, political and economic power shifted from the Franco-Mauritians and their Creole allies to the Indo-Mauritians.The meeting of a mosaic of people from Europe, India, Africa and China began a process of hybridisation and intercultural frictions and dialogues, which poet Khal Torabully has termed "coolitude".