A Correction...

A correction is in order. In an old post for this site, we wrote about the tiny population of Asian Indians in Saint Domingue. In that brief foray into the slave trade of Asian Indians and their presence in the pre-19th century Caribbean, we repeated what we have recently learned is most likely an error about one of those exceptional voyages that allegedly carried captives from India to Saint-Domingue. Well, consulting the sources that are accessible has clarified the matter. 

In brief, we relied on Richard Allen's scholarship for insights on the nature of slavery and the slave trade in the Mascarenes. His work was invaluable for beginners like us who were (and are) still struggling to make sense of the Indian Ocean World and its ties to important Atlantic World colonies like Saint Domingue. Nonetheless, it appears like Jean Mettas, whose Répertoire des expéditions négrières françaises au XVIIIe siècle is an excellent source of information on the French Slave Trade, made a mistake with regards to at least one slave ship. This was La Cibele, or Cybele, a ship which arrived in Le Cap after a long voyage from the Indian Ocean. According to one archival source cited by Mettas, La Cybele reached Saint Domingue from the "coasts of India." However, Mettas or Allen did not consult Saint Domingue's newspaper for details on the human cargo of the vessel. 

According to Affiches americaines, the 400 or so slaves were actually acquired from Mozambique, not India. This is more logical and fits with the pattern of French slaving voyages to Mozambique, Madagascar and the Mascarenes acquiring goods from India for the purchase of slaves in Africa, then bringing said African captives to the Americas. The ship was also carrying Indian merchandise, so it likely did travel to India (or purchased the goods in the Mascarenes?). But the approximately 400 African slaves brought to Le Cap were, at least according to the press, from Mozambique. 

This suggests that ships which did travel from India to Saint-Domingue and brought slaves from the subcontinent were probably more akin to the cases we found in our past exploration of the newspaper. One at least 2 occasions ships coming from India to Saint Domingue included slaves for sale (40 and 16), but it is still not entirely clear said captives were actually from India. However, it is probable that some were, as the appearance of "Negro Indians" and references to specific regions of India for some runaway slaves or slave sale advertisements suggest. "Blacks" from the Malabar Coast, Bengale, the Coromandel Coast, or "black Indians" from Mauritius (Ile de France) and Bourbon or Madras undoubtedly prove the presence of said Indians in the colony.