A new history book on Chagos

‘Chagos, a History of Exploration, Exploitation and Expulsion’ is the new publication of Marina Carter and Nigel Wenban Smith published by the Chagos Conservation Trust in December 2016. The book of 560 pages contains 165 tables, maps and illustrations.

Nigel Wenban-Smith and Marina Carter – who decided to pool their researches after chancing to meet at the Mauritian national archives library – tell the story of the islands of the Chagos Archipelago from their discovery in the 16th century and the beginnings of human settlement in the next to the creation of the British Indian Ocean Territory, the establishment of a US military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia, and the removal of all Chagos islanders in the latter part of the 20th century.

News on Sunday contacted Marina Carter for more details as the Chagos issue comes to the limelight again with compensation offered by the British Government to the Chagossians. Unfortunately Marina declined to comment on current happenings as ‘my book dealt with the Chagos until 1973.’

She has rather sent the following which may be of some interest to our readers.

‘For those wishing to follow this story, told for the first time in all its fascinating detail, and to understand the intense current debate about these islands and their former inhabitants, Chagos: A History is essential reading.  This richly documented and illustrated book enables the reader to engage with the unfolding dramas and issues as they developed. 

Part One explores the gradual process of the Archipelago’s discovery and how settlement was prompted by the objectives of competing European nations – initially the Portuguese and Dutch, followed by the French and British.  Part Two contains the major part of the story, how and by whom the islands were exploited, and brims with many individual  descriptions of life in the 55 scattered islands of the Archipelago: beginning with the establishment of the plantations with first slave and then contractual imported labour under both French and – following the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo – British rule; and continuing with the emergence of settlers who owned and managed the plantations, which produced mostly coconuts, fish and turtles.  Much is revealed in first-hand accounts from these predominantly French-speaking plantation managers and their descendants. 

The gradual emergence of an island-born community, the Ilois, is recounted, along with the consolidation of individually held concessions into a single company enjoying proprietorial rights over the whole Archipelago. This part of the story ends with the company's collapse in 1961.

Part Three covers the lead-up to the secretive establishment of a strategic US military base on Diego Garcia and the removal of the islanders, an action that has been the subject of continuing controversy since the last person left in 1973.’ 

Carter and Wenban-Smith reveal absorbing detail of the discussion about the separation of the Chagos islands from Mauritian jurisdiction in that colony's progress to independence and about both principle and execution of the evacuation.

The reader is left to reflect on the causes of a long-gestating tragedy, in which geographical isolation, human incompetence and greed, administrative neglect and repeated episodes of strategic rivalry all played their roles; and invited to share the authors’ hope that ‘greater public awareness may assist all those involved in seeking a better future for the descendants of those whose employment in these islands profited only their employers.’

Note: The Chagos Conservation Trust is a charity devoted to the preservation and enhancement of the unique environment of the Chagos Islands, with their plentiful and hugely varied stock of marine life. It publishes the present work in order to help inform the world about the Archipelago. Content and any views expressed, however, are entirely the responsibility of the authors.

The authors

Reviews

‘This first and well-researched history of the Chagos provides a most valuable background of a people expelled by Britain from their land to accommodate the defence needs of the Americans in Diego Garcia. As they grapple with this injustice, Chagossians exiled in Mauritius, Seychelles and the UK can look to their future with a much deeper pride and knowledge of their past.’ | R. Hon. Lord Luce, Member of the Chagos Islands (BIOT) All Party Parliamentary Group and former FCO Minister

‘I just want to say this is a terrific book... a fine, fine contribution to Indian Ocean history.’ | Larry W. Bowman, PhD, Indian Ocean Books, Maps and Prints, USA

‘An impressive piece of historical reconstruction that gives the reader a sense of daily life on these isolated and largely neglected colonial possessions during the period of slavery and after... This book will be invaluable to scholars of the Indian Ocean and its Diasporas.’ | Professor Megan Vaughan FBA, Institute of Advanced Studies, University College, London