THE DEVELOPMENT OF MARITIME ACTIVITIES OF ISLE DE FRANCE: ISLE DE FRANCE AS AN ENTREPOT OF ASIA
To understand the global perspective of maritime activities in isle de France as well as the development of the island as an ‘Entrepot’ of the Indian ocean. We are going to see firstly, what were the factors that led Isle De France to be made the Chef Lieu of France in this part of the world and to be named the star and key of the Indian Ocean as well as the development of Port Louis as a port. In this perspective we will also make a little incursion in the historical development of the port. Secondly, we will see the three axes of developments namely agricultural, commercial and military under the Royal administration. How and why were these axes given importance through the policies of the Royal administration? Thirdly, we will see how slave trade along with spice and other trades have helped to extend maritime activities. Finally, we will see how war affects the island’s economy and how they encourage corsair activities.
In 1764 King Louis xv decided to buy the Mascarenes and in 1767 the Royal administration started in the island. The French East Indian Company, which had ruled the island since 1725, was bound to failure due to its monopoly policies under the ‘Exclusive’ system. If for the Dutch and the French East India Company the only reason of interest in the island was to use it as a port of Call, the Royal government will be more interested in its strategic position in the Indian seas as a naval and military base.
Even in the time of the Dutch the fact that the Bay of Tortoise (which will later be named Port Louis) which had the potential to accommodate up to 50 ships seemed interesting to them but the fact that the ship of Pieter Both, who was the first Dutch Governor General, in the Indian Ocean wrecked at Tamarin made them lost interest in the port. It is only in 1735, under the French Governor Mahe De Labourdonnais that the port will know the first developments. He dredged away mud and marked out navigable channel with two lines of buoys and as for ships arriving at night, he posted men with navigation light at the top of Morne de la Decouverte. He built warehouses, quarters for officers, office buildings and administrative buildings. He also built powder magazine at the mouth of Caudan Basin. One of the most marvelous things he did, however, was the Naval Ship Yard.
“ Before my arrival it never occurred to anyone that boat building might be possible in the harbor” he said. In building at first small boats then one decked and later bigger ships was sheer ingenuity and far seeing for this would be the starting point for the naval and military base destiny of the island in the future. The Subtile, The Creole, The Necessaire, The Thetis, The Hirondelle all would extensively be used either in the slave trade or in Corsair activities. It is under Labourdonnais that the first commerce “d’Inde en Inde’ started. He also encouraged slave trades from India, Madagascar and the oriental coast of Africa.
However, the French East India Company which ruled the island at that time did not show much interest in his great vision and after his departure, his successors only administered the island as much as they could with the population most of the time on the verge of famine.
Future events, however, would give Mahe De Labourdonnais credit in his vision of the strategic location of the island in the Indian Ocean. The Austrian succession wars (1740-1748) and the Seven Years (1756 –1763) wars would deplete the island of its resources. The Company wanted the French Navy to be repaired, victualled and armed by the island though it has itself done so little to encourage agricultural development.
What could have led the King to take so much interest in Isle De France so as to make it the Chef Lieu of France on the East of Good Hope? What are the historical factors in the fight for power? Why was there such a fuss in the control of the Indian sea? The Portuguese, who were the first European to trade in the Indian waters knew such a decline in power so as to be reduced to be able just to retain only Goa as their colony. As for the Dutch they were more interested in the East Indian Archipelagos, so that India the object of ‘convoities’ was a subject of great competition between the French and the English, the two great powers of the time. They fought over the one who would reign over India for the Moghul Empire had decline with the death of its last Emperor. The Seven years war proved decisive for France against the British for the one who commanded the Bay of Bengal would command India as it commands the approaches to the Ganges Delta.
The French sent an expedition under Lally Tollendale who greatly depended on Port Louis as a naval base. But because the population was, itself, facing severe lack of everything, the island could help only little and in consequence the French lost the battle.
The King had understood the strategic importance of the island so after buying it from the company, he took interest in developing the island on three axes agriculturally, commercially and militarily.
When Pierre Poivre came, as the intendant of the island, he was mainly interested in firstly developing agriculture, secondly in improving the capital by giving the guarantee of free trade to the inhabitants thus preventing monopolies in sheer contrast with the policies of the French East India Company and thirdly in the development of the harbor of the island, where again the French East India Company has lamentably failed except under Labourdonnais.
He established a “Tribunal Terrier” which advised administrators about land grants but also controlled the sale of concessions. Under the company concessions were made without any control it resulted in 1788 that out of 210,880 acres of land given only 72,845 acres only were used. A real boost was given to agriculture. Emphasis were put on the production of rice, sugar and vegetables. Plants like breadfruit, apple, peach, coconut, avocado, mango, tea, sago, manioc, pepper, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and many medicinal herbs including Ayapana were introduced. Large number of cows, oxen, sheep goats and pigs were brought from the Cape, Madagascar and India. Under Desroche several improvements were made, he built three water mills producing 6000 pounds of flour per day. The bakery could make enough bread for the garrisons and the provision of ships.
New warehouses containing reserve stock of wheat, flour and rice were built. All these measures would encourage the coming of ships and set the base in making Port Louis a victualling port of excellence. There was revival of plantation agriculture. Even local merchants invested in country estate and acted as agents for absentee planters. They looked for profitable outlets for exportable commodities.
As for commerce, tariffs were introduced to control prices. The king even guaranteed two flutes for the transportation of cattle from Madagascar. The liberal administration and the uplift of the restrictions on commercial activities transformed the island into a trading center of international trade. Richard Morris wrote a letter to La Fayette asking for a Freeport to be established. In 1785 the minister for the Navy Des Castries proclaimed free trade and as from May 27, 1787 all foreign ships were welcome in Port Louis.
Though merchants were not allowed to export Indian goods to L’orient or sell French goods to India, they circumvent this with connivance of the French administration. Indian goods shipped from Isle De France were found in L’Orient. Between 1786 to 1788 by special permission and in 1790 free trade beyond the Cape Of Good Hope was extended to all French. The commerce consisted of long and short distance trades for imports. Ships from France would bring wine, bedsheet and other consumables. American ships brought salted meat and items related to navigation and shipping. Food supplies would come from Madagascar. Traders in arms on the African coast like Commarmond, for example were also present in the island as far as 1768 and in between 1781 to 1786. He had 8 ships. Thus a powerful and influential group of merchants would emerge in the colonial society. 183 merchants were reputed to be living ‘opulently’. Out of 58 new arrivals between 1803 and 1810, 46 were merchants and 12 traders. After 1783 there were further increase in Mauritian Traffic - In 1788 an average of 200 ships was entering Port Louis and it became the end stop for many ships. In 1785 ‘Derby’ the first American ship from Salem came to Ile de France. American was engaged in slave trading from Madagascar and was interested in the trade with China all these ships were thus encourage to come to the port. American as neutral came in large numbers to buy goods, for which, they would, otherwise, have to go all the way to Calcutta or Canton and pay higher price. In 1794 the first consul to Isle De France was John Mc Carthy, he encouraged American ships to come to Isle De France. 87 American ships arrived in Port Louis. There was a growing importance of the strategic role of Isle De France. Denmark and American ships travelled to Sumatra, to Coetivity isles , Manila, Muscat, Traquebar, Batana, Canton, Madras and Calcutta. From Boston and Baltimore, Salem and New York they provisions, spares oil and candles. They traded their items tin, pepper, and saltpeter, from Sumatra. Ginseng from Canton, Sugar from Calcutta. Coffee, cotton and drugs from Muscat. American goods were exchanged in Isle De France for other products, which were in turn exchange for other goods. Exchanged oil and candles from Boston were sold in Isle De France for Ebony and spices from the Spice Islands could be bought and sold. This saved the ships the trouble of going to canton or Malacca. Later under Decaen governorship Port Napoleon would know intense commercial activities. The Prairal an XI (22 May 1803) regulated the operations bring steady flow of cargo to Port Napoleon. It went on until the British tightened their blokade activities with the South East Asia became too dangerous.
Two important activities emerged with various degrees of fluctuations alongside with the development of the harbor and free port. Slave trade and Corsair activities emerged alongside other commercial and trading activities. The former started from the very beginning with the arrival of the French in the island, its commerce was in the time of peace, it was a lucrative activity and the later in times of wars were means of quick and easy fortunes.
Agriculture and slave trade went together. In the eighteenth century it was the French who dominated slave trade in the western Indian Ocean. The Mascarenes islands served as base to encourage the trade. Slaves were taken from Madagascar and the Eastern Africa to the Mascarenes isles, from South Africa and the Carribean. Slaves also arrived from India. With the royal policy of free trade, ships arrival from Madagascar tripled. Ships carried extensive cattle trade parallel to slave trade and at the beginning of the 19th Century 20,000 live cattle were brought per year from Foulpointe alone. Foulpointe, Fenerive, Mohambo, Tintingue, Ste Marie, Mananara and Antogil bay were French slave trading post dealing with the Mascarenes according to Toussaint. Slave trade has set the base for commercial and trading activities within the Indian Ocean and the world. It was a lucrative business as slaves provided both a cheap mean of production and could be sold as assets at higher price with consequent profit after one year. It continued till 1822 when the Alglo-Merina treaty was signed.
In time of wars between the British and the French, corsair activities became each time the main source of income for the island and with the policies of the royal government a new boost would be given to this activity. The king wanted to develop the port into a sophisticated naval base for the French in the Indian Empire to shelter warships and squadrons. Chevalier De Tromelin a naval engineer arrived in 1768 and by 1770 submitted a development scheme. It must be noted that not much work had been done in the harbor since the time of Labourdonnais. The harbor was full of carcasses of ships from shipwreck. It was blocked by fourteen shipwrecks. Dredging of the harbor from mud and diversion of streams were again necessary. It took 10 years to complete the task. The harbor could now accommodate up to ten ships and several frigates. Furthermore, camps for African seamen were built near Trou Fanfaron. So as to encourage ships to come, dues which were paid, on the entry of the port were abolished. Workshop of carpenters, ‘cordiers’, blacksmith, of ‘tonnelier’ and ‘armuriers’ were built along the length of the port. The royal administration put order in the port and around the port area. An Iron foundry was established and supplies of gunpowder cons and other materials for the army were produced. With the arrival of such people as The Duc De Berry, The Duc D’Acruitaine and Acaille as well as others a ‘bourgeoisie de la marine’ would emerge.
The peace of Amiens would provide fresh stimulus from inflow of prizes taken by the corsairs. In 1807 ‘La Semillante’ took part in five battles and her last prize was a merchant ship filled with sugar worth between 6000 to 7000 piastre. The American War of Independence broke out on February 1778, the American colonists were fighting against the British for Independence and the French saw in it the possibility to take revenge on what happened in India. Five ships under admiral Trojoly form the naval force to fight against the British in the Indian seas. During that period 116 ships left for India. Three more ships left for Batavia, Madagascar and Mozambique. All went with replenished stores. The ordinance of the first August 1768 proclaimed that all male residents aged between 15 and 55 years must serve in the militia. There were 111 raiding cruises – corsair activity was estimated by Milburn to some €2’500,000 the market was saturated with goods seized from British ships. The merchants often turned their ships into privateering. The most famous corsairs were Captain Deschien, De Kerulay, Dubignon and Chandeuil. We have the example of David a trader who owned powerful trading houses and this also proved that privateering and corsair activities gave a boost to commercial activities in the island making Isle De France the warehouse of the Indian Ocean. He armed two Corsair ships. The Salomon and the ‘Sainte Marie’ which attacked British ships. The ‘Merchant of Bombay’ in 1780 and captured a prize worth €1,500,000.
The Prefet Colonial was in charge of selling the goods and distributing the profits. Soldiers and sailors working for the government deserted to go for privateering activities. Those who carried attacks were given “letters De Marques” and were called ‘Corsair’ and were given the status of heroes. From 1803 to 1810 there were 82 expeditions. Famous names like Lemem, Lenouvel and Robert Surcouf emerged. Robert Surcouf captured 47 ships, he was known as the ‘king of Corsairs”. He suggested to Napoleon to attack the trading ship of British to annihilate British commerce. There was great inflow of goods with prices lower than in Europe. Warehouses were piled with colonial produce and cargoes of captured ships. To obtain supply or get rid of accumulated products and cargoes of captured British ship, goods were sent to France. By 1808 most corsairs were captured or kill, after the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806. This was the end of Isle De France as a Naval base.
It was the ports of the island which were the pole of attraction among the different nations wishing to control the Indian Ocean. The Dutch as well as the French early East India Company wanted a port of call for passing ships. However, the Royal government saw much more that a simple victualling station. Port Louis was to become a Naval base for France in the Indian Ocean and a powerful pole of attraction of commercial ships. In time of peace slave and spice trades would occupy the scene and in time of wars, the island was converted into a nest of corsairs. Corsair activities become a lucrative activity serving the political design of France. In so doing the island as a whole knew unprecedented development in terms of infrastructures and standard of living.
Bibliography
1- Ile De France 1747 – 1767
Hugette Ly Thio Fane-Pineo
2- Port-Louis a Tropical City
Auguste Toussaint
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5- HistoireDe La Colonie 1721 – 1968
Amedee Nagapen
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Tags: east india company, Freeport, Activities, Cape Of, Denmark, Calcutta
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