Blacks in the Indian Ocean

[djoser-xyyman]

Did the Indonesians navigate to Madagascar?

The idea of creating this thread came to me when recently I looking to British Territory in the Indian Ocean. So I decided to look at the Indian Ocean. At first glance on Google it looks like the Indian Ocean in a vast open stretch of water with no and mass. When I zoomed in I was shocked to see Islands littered that Ocean. These Islands are actually tops of mountains that are now submerged. Of course the follow-up question is “were these Islands ever occupied and who were the indigenous peoples?”.





And usual even more surprises.

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Quote from Wiki:
“The Chagossians (also Îlois or Chagos Islanders) are people of African, Indian and Malay ancestry who inhabited the Chagos Islands, specifically Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, and the Salomon island chain, as well as other parts of the Chagos Archipelago, from the late 18th to the late 20th century. Most Chagossians now live in Mauritius and the United Kingdom after being forcibly evicted by the British government in the late 1960s and early 1970s so that Diego Garcia, the island where most Chagossians lived, could serve as the location for a United States military base. Today, no Chagossians live on the island of Diego Garcia, as it is now the site of the military base Camp Justice.

The Chagossian people's ancestry is mostly African, particularly from Madagascar, Mozambique and other African nations including Mauritius. There is also a significant proportion of Indian and Malay ancestry.[1][full citation needed] The French brought some to the Chagos islands as slaves from Mauritius in 1786. Others arrived as fishermen, farmers, and coconut plantation workers during the 19th century.

The Chagossians speak Chagossian Creole, a French-based creole language whose vocabulary also incorporates words originating from various African and Asian languages and is part of the Bourbonnais Creole family. Chagossian Creole is still spoken by some of their descendants in Mauritius and the Seychelles. Chagossian people living in the UK speak English. Many settled in the town of Crawley in West Sussex, and the Chagossian community there numbered approximately 3,000 in 2016.[2]

In 2016, the British government denied the right of the Chagossians to return to the islands after a 45-year legal dispute.”


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[djoser-xyyman]

Maldives

The Maldives archipelago is located atop the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge, a vast submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean, which also forms a terrestrial ecoregion, together with the Chagos and the Lakshadweep.[13] With an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level,[14] it is the world's lowest country, with even its highest natural point being the lowest in the world, at 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in).[14] Due to the consequent risks posed by rising sea levels, the government pledged in 2009 to make the Maldives a carbon-neutral country by 2019.[15]

The first Maldivians did not leave any archaeological artifacts. Their buildings were probably built of wood, palm fronds and other perishable materials, which would have quickly decayed in the salt and wind of the tropical climate. Moreover, chiefs or headmen did not reside in elaborate stone palaces, nor did their religion require the construction of large temples or compounds.[27]

Comparative studies of Maldivian oral, linguistic and cultural traditions and customs confirm that the first settlers were people from the southern shores of the neighboring Indian subcontinent,[28] including the Giraavaru people mentioned in ancient legends and local folklore about the establishment of the capital and kingly rule in Malé.[29]

A strong underlying [n]layer of Dravidian population and culture survives in Maldivian society[/b], with a clear Tamil-Malayalam substratum in the language, which also appears in place names, kinship terms, poetry, dance, and religious beliefs. Malabari seafaring culture led to the settlement of the Islands by Malayali seafarers.[2]

The earliest written history of the Maldives was marked by the arrival of Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka and the Maldives (Mahiladvipika) circa 543 to 483 BC, as reported in the Mahavansa. Their settlement marks a significant change in demographics and the development of the Indo-Aryan language Dhivehi language.[citation needed]

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Seychelles

The Seychelles were uninhabited throughout most of recorded history. Some scholars assume that Austronesian seafarers and later Maldivian and Arab traders were the first to visit the uninhabited Seychelles. This assumption is based on the discovery of tombs, visible until 1910.[7]









Quote:

“Cocos Islanders to be Indigenous Australians?
Residents of Cocos (Keeling) Islands are seeking recognition from the Australian Federal Government to be acknowledged as indigenous Australians

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are a remote territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. Situated 2,750 kms north west of Perth the group of coral islands form two atolls. Only two of the 27 islands are inhabited. And, the current population numbers about 500 people.

Cocos Malays are the first known inhabitants of the islands, who are seeking to be acknowledged as indigenous Australians. They count amongst their ancestors the 98 slaves who belonged to the English merchant Alexander Hare who came to the islands in 1826. In 1857 Britain declared the islands part of the British Dominions. The islands then became an Australian Territory from 23 November, 1955 with the proclamation of the Cocos (Keeling) Island Act 1955.”

Christmas Island, officially Territory of Christmas Island, island in the Indian Ocean, about 224 miles (360 km) south of the island of Java and 870 miles (1,400 km) northwest of Australia, that is administered as an external territory of Australia. The island is the summit of an oceanic mountain whose highest point on the island is Murray Hill, rising to 1,184 feet (361 metres) in the western part of the island. The main settlement and chief port is at Flying Fish Cove on the northeastern part of the island.

It is **NOT** widely known that Australia possesses a unique and longstanding Southeast Asian community with its own ethnic identity and dialect. However, for thirty years, the Malays of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, have been citizens of Australia. In this article, I recount how the islands and their residents became part of Australia.”


The Republic of Mauritius (is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) off the southeast coast of the African continent.
The UK gradually depopulated the archipelago's **local population** and leased its biggest island, Diego Garcia, to the United States. Access to the archipelago is prohibited to casual tourists, the media, and its former inhabitants. Mauritius also claims sovereignty over Tromelin Island from France.
The Human Development Index of Mauritius is the highest in Africa. Along with the other Mascarene Islands, Mauritius is known for its varied flora and fauna, with many species endemic to the island. The island is widely known as the only known home of the dodo, which, along with several other avian species, was made extinct by human activities relatively shortly after the island's settlement. Mauritius is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the largest religion. The administration uses English as its main language.

However, the island might have been visited well before by sailors of ancient times; wax tablets were found on the shores of Mauritius by the Dutch, but since the tablets were not preserved, it cannot be said whether they were of Greek, Phoenician or Arab origin.

The Creole language, which is French-based with some additional influences, is spoken by the majority of the population as a native language.[99] The Creole languages which are spoken in different islands of the country are more or less similar: Mauritian Creole, Rodriguan Creole, Agalega Creole and Chagossian Creole are spoken by people from the islands of Mauritius.