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Mauritius Ethnicity, Religion, and Language
The forebears of the various ethnic groups composing
Mauritian society arrived as settlers, slaves, indentured
laborers, and immigrants. Although the country's past
contains
dark chapters of inequality and exploitation, modern
Mauritian
history has been remarkable for its relatively smooth and
peaceful transition from colonial rule and the rule of
large
plantation owners to multiparty democracy.
"Harmonious separatism" is the way in which one writer
characterizes communal relations in Mauritius. The term,
however,
does not preclude the existence of tensions. Ethnicity,
religion,
and language have been important factors in shaping the
way
Mauritians relate to each other in the political and
social
spheres. And despite the fact that sectarian factors are
less of
a determining factor in people's social and political
behavior,
they remain an important clue to the people's past and
selfidentity .
The 1968 constitution recognized four population
categories:
Hindus, Muslims, Sino-Mauritians, and the general
population.
According to a 1989 estimate, of a total population of
1,080,000,
Hindus constituted about 52 percent (559,440); the general
population, about 29 percent (309,960); Muslims, about 16
percent
(179,280); and Sino-Mauritians, about 3 percent (31,320).
The ancestors of the Hindu and Muslim populations came
predominantly from the Indian subcontinent, and, from the
censuses of 1846 to 1952, were classified as
"Indo-Mauritians."
The ancestral language of most Hindus is Hindi or
Bhojpuri, with
a minority of Tamil or Telegu speakers. Hindu immigrants
brought
with them the caste system. Upon arrival to the island,
many
members of lower castes upgraded their status to join the
Vaish
middle caste. Although the caste system was not supported
by the
occupational structure as in India, minority members of
the high
Brahmin and Khsatriya castes sometimes joined with the
Vaish to
exclude lower castes from top civil service and political
jobs.
For the most part, however, the caste system is not an
important
factor in social organization and, if anything, lingers
mainly as
a basis for choosing spouses. Most of the Hindu population
adhere
to the orthodox rituals of the Sanatanist branch of the
religion.
These Hindus observe their rituals in rural community
centers
called baitkas. The Arya Samajists adhere to a
reform
branch of Hinduism popular with the lower classes and
instrumental in the Indo-Mauritian community's political
and
cultural development in the early years of the twentieth
century.
The Muslim population is approximately 95 percent Sunni
and
Hindi-speaking. Other languages include Bhojpuri,
Gujarati, Urdu,
and Arabic. The principal place of worship is the Jummah
Mosque
in Port Louis, but there are many smaller mosques in the
towns
and villages. Among the
Shia (see Glossary)
minority, some
have
their origins in different parts of India, others are
adherents
of the Agha Khan from East Africa, and still others are
Ahmadist
from the Punjab.
The earliest Chinese immigrants to the island came from
the
Canton region and spoke Cantonese, but most
Sino-Mauritians
descend from Mandarin-speaking settlers from Hunan. Some
adhere
to Buddhism and other Chinese religions, but many
converted to
Roman Catholicism in the twentieth century.
Unlike members of these specific population categories,
those
grouped under the general population rubric do not share
close
ethnic and cultural bonds. Members of the general
population have
in common only the fact that they do not belong to the
other
three groups. This category includes Franco-Mauritians,
other
European immigrants, and Creoles. The Creoles are
ethnically
diverse, some with black African ancestry, others of mixed
descent, and still others from parts of Asia. They share a
common
language, which is a patois based on French, and the Roman
Catholic religion.
In the past, a close association existed between
certain
occupations and ethnic groups. Although these patterns
persist,
they are changing. The Chinese, for example, predominate
in
commerce, as store owners and assistants, and in the
restaurant
and casino businesses. Hindus form the majority of
agricultural
workers, and members of the Muslim and Creole populations
are
artisans. African Creoles tend to be dockworkers, fishers,
transportation workers, or service employees.
Franco-Mauritians
dominate the sugar industry and own most of the hotels,
banks,
and manufacturing industries. The civil service attracts
educated
members of all groups.
Mauritian society is noteworthy for its high degree of
religious tolerance. Mauritians often share in the
observances of
religious groups other than their own. In part as a result
of the
multiplicity of religions, Mauritius has more than twenty
national holidays. In addition, the government grants
subsidies
to all major religious groups according to their
membership.
According to the 1990 census, 49 percent of the population
was
Hindu, 27 percent Roman Catholic, 16 percent Muslim, and
0.5
percent Protestant; 7.5 percent belonged to other groups.
Language is perhaps the most complex and perplexing
aspect of
the Mauritian social mosaic. This intricacy derives from
the
number of languages spoken combined with the uses to which
they
are put and the sociopolitical connotations they bear.
Philip
Baker and Peter Stein, scholars studying language use in
Mauritius, have found that English is associated with
"knowledge," French with "culture," Creole with
"egalitarianism,"
and other languages, "ancestral heritage." Consequently,
although
Creole is the most widely spoken language in the country,
French
predominates in the media, and English is the official
language
of government and school instruction.
The growing use of Creole by non-Creole Mauritians
reflects a
widespread movement away from ethnically based language
use.
Among Muslims and Sino-Mauritians, for example, Creole is
the
principal language. According to the 1983 census, the top
five
languages were: Creole, 54.1 percent; Bhojpuri, 20.4
percent;
Hindi, 11.5 percent; French, 3.7 percent; and Tamil, 3.7
percent.
These figures indicate the principal language used in the
home.
Most Mauritians, however, speak several languages.
Data as of August 1994
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