Martinique and Guadeloupe are
two islands in the Western Atlantic colonised
by the French. In Louis Dupuis's Grammaire
franfaisetamoule, published in 1863, is found
the statement that there has been a demand for
a Tamil grammar in French even from such
distant places as Reunion and Martinique.
Sources
Since reading this statement about twenty years
ago, I have made enquiries concerning the
presence of Tamil descendants in these
countries, but obtained no precise information
until I was able to visit these islands,
Professor Guy Lasserre in his two-volume work
on Guadeloupe has devoted a chapter to the '
Indians' of Guadeloupe, and published also an
article in the Cahiers d'outre-mer in which he
states that until 1882 the migrants were
entered in a separate category from the rest of
the population, and they formed on 31st
December, 1882, a total of 21,084 immigrants
distributed mostly in plantations, especially
of sugar cane.
He mentions the Tamil names and
generally classes the migrants as Dravidians.
For Martinique, however, no study has been
made, and the impression both among the
majority of Indians and non-Indians was that
the immigrants came from India and were
Hindi-speaking. A study made of the history of
migrations to Martinique is contained in an
unpublished thesis presented to the Sorbonne in
1965, in which Eugene Revert has studied the
policy and the practice of migrations to the
Martinique.
The sources from which a study
of this kind may tse made are many, but the
present paper confines itself to the published
material, to the references in the Bulletin
Officiel de la Martinique, (BOM) the Annuaire
Martinique, and to the weekly newspapers, e.g.,
Le. moniteur de la Martinique-Journal officiel
de la colonie, the baptismal and school
registers, and to personal interviews.
Preliminary
Discussion
Slavery was abolished in Martinique in the
year 184S, and this was the occasion for many
slaves to abandon the sugar and other
plantations on which they had worked. The
negroes were particularly averse to working in
agricultural estates since it was in these
estates that they had been forcefully
employed.
The economy of the islands was
very much dependent on labour, and an attempt
was made to recruit labour from Madeira and
from Europe, but the experiment proved a
failure. The Governor and his advisers as well
as the Ministry for the colonies advocated the
introduction of Indian labour, which they
observed had been such a success in the Burbon
and Reunion islands.
The Moniteur stated in an
article on February 4, 1855 (Vol. I, No. 4)
that the British, having tried Germans, Irish,
Portuguese, Maltese and Africans, finally found
that the Indians were the saviours in Demerera,
Jamaica, Trinidad and ten other colonies.
On September 13, 1851 the
Governor of Martinique in a letter admitted
that immigration was " une des necessites de
l'epoque" and that it was indispensable and
urgent. It was estimated that more than 7,000
agriculturists were necessary to continue the
work on the plantations so that the economy
might not fail.
The planters themselves were
most anxious that Indian labour should be
recruited for Martinique and various reasons
were advanced, such as the success of Indian
labour in the Burbon islands; the need in
Martinique for an intermediary ethnic group
which would soften the ethnic rivalries already
found among existing groups in the island, and
that ' les noirs' were inconsistent and
irregular whereas the Indians were docile,
hardworking and belonged to an enlightened
country and people, and labour would be
cheap.
There were others who argued in
favour of immigration from Africa because the
Africans would be able to acclimatise
themselves more easily and would integrate
better with the existing population of African
origin. The opponents of Indian immigration
added that the Indians belonged to a soft and
lackadaisical race and would not be able to
stand the rigours of perpetual rain, cold and
fever. The Governors, however, of both islands
favoured simultaneous immigration (from Africa
and India).
A proprietor planter from Francois in
Martinique wrote to Mr. St. Remy in Paris (28th
August, 1851) that he would not demand
labourers from Europe since the few who had
been introduced in the colony had given a bad
example and spread nefarious doctrines, the
evil results of which they were experiencing.
He looked both to India and to Africa for
labour. Africa, Madeira, the Canary islands and
even the Azores were considered places which
could be exploited for labourers (BOM, p.
350).
Accordingly the necessary
legislation was passed and the conditions of
immigration, of repatriation, of re-employment
and of permanent residence were cautiously
stipulated. These decrees and contracts of
labour followed the same pattern as for
immigration to other countries, but were not
always so strictly observed in the Antilles.
Gradually, as the number of immigrants
increased, a committee for immigration was
instituted (1861) for the allocation of
immigrants.
Already by the decree of 1852,
a special agent had to be appointed at the
place of emigration, the recruits were subject
to a medical inspection and had to live in
depots prior to embarkation; the ship itself
had to be inspected in France prior to its
departure for the country from which the
immigrants embarked, and the food, clothing,
medical attention, separation of men from
women, and disciplinary action for indiscipline
during the voyage, were all provided for.
In order to ensure a safe working of the plans
of immigration, a commission was set up
consisting of M. M. L. Hayot and M. de Percin
Northumb, proprietor planters of sugar who were
authorised to travel to Trinidad and Barbados
on the ship " Chimere " to study the
agriculture and economy and the conditions of
Indian and Chinese workers, and to make "
practical and perceptible recommendations for
the exploitation of agriculture in Martinique."
(BOM. 1853, p. 271).
Franco - British Agreement,
1861
Since most of the recruitment of labour was
done in the British colonies, on 1st July,
1861, a convention was signed between France
and Great Britain concerning the conditions
under which labour could be recruited and
employed. The second clause of Article 9
provided for the repatriation of the labourer,
and of his wife, and children born in the
colonies. The labourer was required to work on
six days out of seven, and for nine and a half
hours each day (Art. 10). Sailings of emigrant
vessels to ports east of the Cape of Good Hope
were permitted any time of the year.
For other Colonies, the period
of sailing had to be between the 1st of August
and the 15th March. This restriction applied
only to sailing vessels; steamships, however,
could take immigrants any month of the year
(Art. 10). A European doctor and an interpreter
were provided for. Any person over ten years of
age was considered an adult emigrant, and two
children between the years of one and ten could
be counted as one adult. The women and children
were to be accommodated on the ship in
positions different from the men.
Because of complaints which
arose during periods of transportation, further
restrictions were imposed on the movement of
men to other parts of the ship and maistrys
were appointed to supervise discipline and be
intermediaries between the officers and the
emigrants (Art. 14). It was also defined that
the same convention applied to Indian
immigration to Reunion, Martinique, Guadeloupe
and their dependencies, and to French
Guiana.
The decree of 27th March 1852 said that in
order to augment the agricultural potential of
the island the business of transportation was
being confided to a Captain Blanc who already
had satisfactory experience of transporting
emigrants between India and Reunion.
Statistics of
Immigration & Conditions of
Recruitment
The first batch of Tamil labour
arrived in Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1852
and 1853, and until 1883 there were regular
sailings from India. Sometimes there was more
than one sailing a year carrying new
contingents of labourers, as well as sailings
from India of repatriated labourers.
Statistical tables are available for the years
1853 to 1899.
The importation of Indian labour was
discontinued after 1883 partly because of the
objections raised by the Government of India
against the recruitment of labour in its
territories and partly because of the high
mobility of Indian labour. Most of the recorded
sailings of Indian labour are from Pondicherry
and Karaikal. An agreement was signed dated
20th April, 1864 between the Government of
Martinique and the Compagnie Generale
transatlantlique for the transport of labourers
recruited in India.
The signatories were M. Gabriel
Contarier representing the Government and M.
Charles Borde representing the Company.
According to the agreement, in 1864 and 1865,
1400 immigrants were to be introduced. The
women were to be between 14 and 30 years; the
men between 16 and 36. Children over ten were
to be considered as adults, and children under
ten of both sexes were not to form more than a
tenth of the contingent. This classification
was to be made before their departure from
India, and the Company was not to refuse to
receive and transport all the children
accompanying their mothers.
Article 4 of the Agreement
explicity stated that workers from India
destined for Martinique were to be embarked
exclusively from the French ports of
Pondicherry, Karikal or Yanaon or from the
ports of the Madras Presidency. The company was
to provide each " engage " with some clothing
for the journey, a pair of trousers and a shirt
(pantalon, chemise) for the men, cloth (pagne)
for the women, a blanket sheet for each person,
and clothing of wool necessary for passing
through the lower latitudes. These articles of
clothing became the property of the immigrant.
The Company was to be paid for each living
adult immigrant they landed the sum of 415
francs and 45 centimes. Children under ten
years were not to be paid for.
The Company was to have a sailing to Martinique
at least once a year, and from 1865 were to
take back to India contingents of repatriates
for whom stipulated sums would be paid:
291 francs per person, if
total of repatriates was below 50;
242 francs 50 c. per person, if total of
repatriates was below 100;
194 francs per person, if total was below 100
or over.
That the vast majority of
migrants to Martinique and Guadeloupe were
Tamil speakers is also evident from the
provisions made for the celebration of the
Pongal festivities in Martinique. It was
stipulated in the " Contrat d'engagement de
travail " (1858) that every year at the end of
the year, a four-day holiday shall be given in
order that the " Indien " might celebrate the
feast of Pongal. The new weekly newspaper Le
Morliteur published on 14th January, 1855 (Vol.
I, No. 4, p. 2), a full account by a planter
from Francois in Martinique about the
celebration of the Pongal feast in his estate.
The chief priest chosen from among them was
adorned with flowers and two lambs adorned with
garlands were killed as a sacrifice. The
boiling of the rice and the cries of " Pongal "
are described by him in detail.
The sailings of ships from Karikal and
Pondicherry were followed with great concern in
Martinique and Guadeloupe, and the official
newspapers published lists of planters with the
number of labourers they were prepared to
employ. The demand was far in excess of the
supply and therefore the commission decided on
the number they would be prepared to assign
each year. The official newspaper gives the
dates of departure of ships from the Indian
ports, and the dates of their arrival in the
Antilles. For example, there is a record of the
Hampden which left Pondicherry on 22nd
September, 1856 with 570 persons - men 440,
women 81, children (m) non-adults 36, children
(f) non-adults 2, infants and " non-engages "
11. Again on the 11th December, the newspapers
announces that the Hampden has arrived at Saint
Pierre with 549 Indians and 4,430 sacks of
rice.
Integration
Since the cessation of migration and
repatriation in 1893, the history of the Tamil
community has been one of slow integration with
the rest of the Martiniquian and Guadeloupian
population.
The migrants did not find
themselves socially accepted even by the
population of African descent. For an Indian
migrant to be married outside his own community
was considered to be an elevation of social
status, and for such persons was applied the
term " Chappes-Coolies ", or one who had
escaped the disabilities of his own milieu.
On the other hand, in
Guadeloupe there was still a distinction, until
the last generation between the " Calcuttas "
or those of North-Indian origin and the "
Malabars " of South Indian descent.
Vis-a-vis those of African
descent, the " Indians " maintain that they
have closer affinities with the European than
with the African. Though intermarriage of
Indians with those of African and Creole
descent has reached a stage where only a few
Tamil families remain without any kind of
racial admixture, somatic characteristics such
as colour and hair, still make a type easily
recognizable as Indian and Dravidian.
The Indians themselves are completely
integrated culturally with the rest of the
population. They are now the third or fourth
generation, and bear no memories of India and
no kind of contact or affiliation with anything
Indian in or from India. A type of checked
cloth worn as head dress by the women is known
as " Madras ", probably from the cotton
imported from Madras. A number of terms used in
cooking are of Tamil origin.
Of a possible population of
Indian descent of 15,000 in Martinique and
20,000 in Guadeloupe, hardly 17 persons speak
Tamil. These are mostly above the age of 60 or
70. One of them, Albert Marimuttu, speaks it
extremely well, and recordings of his speech
were made.
The only clue to the region of their origin is
in the Tamil or Indian names which are used as
family names. From personal interviews,
baptismal registers and school registers were
collected the family names, but one has to note
that the spelling and pronunciation have been
very gallicized, sometimes beyond recognition.
In the process of gallicization, however, the
alveolar "l" seems to have been maintained and
the palatal " r" changed to "1". A name like
Naidu is written Nayaradou; Muththamal is
written Moutammalle. Some of the other names
are: Moutou, Moutoussamy, Sacarabany, Pavade,
Caroupin, Rangon, Ainama, Vaity, Kamatchy,
Vaillammal, Thangaman, Velaye, Virapin, Sinama,
Kouppy, Poonga, Carpin, Chinama, Rengasamy,
Govindin, Palvilli, Narainen, Subarayan,
Soupama.
There seems to have been interest in the study
of the Tamil language through private tuition
for some time. One elderly informant was able
to recite verses from plays which had been
staged in Martinique, such as Raama nhaaTakam,
HiraNiya nhaaTakam, Theecingka raaja nhaaTakam
and oppaari verses. There were others who tried
to remember Tamil songs they had sung in their
childhood, and they seemed to remember more and
more of the texts as they made the effort to
remember.
