FIFTY years ago, the publication of the Bibliography of Mauritius 1502 ? 1954 laid the foundation for historical research in Mauritius. This very important tool for research (884 pages) was going to open Mauritian history to an international audience for the first time. At that time, UNESCO was encouraging all countries of the world to set up their bibliographies.

After three years of intensive surveys and research involving seventeen countries of all the continents and the processing of sources from ninety five archive centres, Mauritius Archives (now the National Archives) were among the first to publish a bibliography in 1956. The authors, Drs Toussaint and Adolphe, both archivists, admitted that the work was incomplete. The history of Mauritius was linked to so many countries but all the countries did not have proper archives or their papers were not yet classified at that time. Several countries were therefore unable to contribute to the production of the work. Little was obtained from Madagascar, and Réunion which were still processing their records. Some countries asked for large sums of money to carry out research in papers concerning Mauritius, others however, did it freely. USA provided only brief listings. Countries like Jakarta were unable to provide any information.

Thus reference materials on many subjects including slavery are still lacking in the National Archives, and the search that did not finalise fifty years ago should continue. The process of the production of the Bibliography helped in the classification of the records found at the Mauritius Archives. Yet another benefit was the setting up of an important network of researchers, custodians and also friends who had a keen interest in the history of Mauritius. A great deal of information was thus exchanged and data relevant to Mauritius was included in the Bibliography.

Tracking sources

As far as slavery is concerned, records at the Archives deal with the French and British periods. There is very little material from Indian and African sources or from Indonesia. Even after the publication of the Bibliography the search went on.

An allusion to a particular search for material on slavery illustrates well the process of tracking sources that was set up by the Archivists. For example, a note in Dermigny?s book, Cargaisons Indiennes, 1960, page 111, on Indian slaves brought to the Mascarenes directed Dr Toussaint to look for papers belonging to a Swiss trader named Charles Samuel de Constant (1762 ? 1835) deposited at the Public University Library at Geneva. A correspondent Jackskon Haight, writer and researcher was contacted to carry out research in the papers belonging to Constant relating to Mauritius.

Information obtained helped Dr Toussaint to write a note in the Dictionary of Mauritius Biography (page 960) and include information on the visits of Constant to Isle de France in his book La Route des Iles. Dermigny published a study of the Constant papers in 1964 (Sevpen), with the hope that more research would come up.

This is how numerous scholars working in different archives centres have helped in one way or another in the evolution of research in many fields. This form of collaboration could be re-established to improve the Bibliography and help to find out missing records (slavery or other) scattered all over the world.

As it is in Mauritius, researchers in slavery (or in any other aspects), who base themselves on Mauritian archives run the risk of producing incomplete works because of missing information. The same is true for foreigners who work on Mauritius in overseas archives without consulting local records. They have to face the same problems of lacunae.

With the globalization of information, there is a hope in the future of a better collaboration in the sharing of archives? materials, especially between old colonies and European countries. For that to happen however, proper tools for research need to be created by different centres, for example, bibliographies and guides. This will definitely help to discover new dimensions in Mauritius history.