Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais

==Biography==

==Biography==

La Bourdonnais entered the service of the [[French Indies Company|French East India Company]] as a lieutenant. In 1724, he was promoted to captain, and he displayed such bravery in the capture of [[Mahé, India|Mahé]] on the [[Malabar Coast]] that the name of the town was supposedly added to his own as a result of this; however, an alternative account suggests that the town adopted his name, rather than the other way around. For two years, he was in the service of the Portuguese Viceroy, but in 1735 he returned to French service as governor of the [[Isle de France (Mauritius)|Isle de France]] (present-day [[Mauritius]]) and the Île de Bourbon (present-day [[Réunion]]). His first five years' administration of the islands was vigorous and successful.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=La Bourdonnais, Bertrand François, Count Mahé de|volume=16|page=6}}</ref> He significantly increased the enslaved African population in [[Isle de France (Mauritius)]], which grew from only 638 in 1735 by around 1,300 annually. Labourdonnais also brought 70 slaves for his own estate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Teelock |first1=Vijaya |title=Transition from slavery in Zanzibar and Mauritius a comparative history |date=2016-12-29 |publisher=Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa |isbn=9782869786806 |pages=25–43}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Truth and Justice Commission Report Vol.1 |url=https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/ROL/TJC_Vol1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615081832/http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/ROL/TJC_Vol1.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 15, 2016 |publisher=Government of Mauritius |access-date=2021-07-04}}</ref>

La Bourdonnais entered the service of the [[French Indies Company]] as a lieutenant. In 1724, he was promoted to captain, and he displayed such bravery in the capture of [[Mahé, India|Mahé]] on the [[Malabar Coast]] that the name of the town was supposedly added to his own as a result of this; however, an alternative account suggests that the town adopted his name, rather than the other way around. For two years, he was in the service of the Portuguese Viceroy, but in 1735 he returned to French service as governor of the [[Isle de France (Mauritius)|Isle de France]] (present-day [[Mauritius]]) and the Île de Bourbon (present-day [[Réunion]]). His first five years' administration of the islands was vigorous and successful.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=La Bourdonnais, Bertrand François, Count Mahé de|volume=16|page=6}}</ref> He significantly increased the enslaved African population in [[Isle de France (Mauritius)]], which grew from only 638 in 1735 by around 1,300 annually. Labourdonnais also brought 70 slaves for his own estate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Teelock |first1=Vijaya |title=Transition from slavery in Zanzibar and Mauritius a comparative history |date=2016-12-29 |publisher=Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa |isbn=9782869786806 |pages=25–43}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Truth and Justice Commission Report Vol.1 |url=https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/ROL/TJC_Vol1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615081832/http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/ROL/TJC_Vol1.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 15, 2016 |publisher=Government of Mauritius |access-date=2021-07-04}}</ref>

A visit to France in 1740 was interrupted by the outbreak of hostilities with Great Britain, and La Bourdonnais was put at the head of a fleet in Indian waters.<ref name="EB1911"/> In 1744, he assembled a squadron of 3,342 men, including 720 slaves, and led a military expedition from Isle de France to Madras in India. His victory increased the rivalry with Governor of Pondicherry, [[Joseph François Dupleix]]. Soon Labourdonnais was accused of receiving money from the British [[East India Company]] and in 1746 he was forced to return to France to face trial and was jailed at the [[Bastille]] for 3 years. He was replaced by Pierre Félix Barthelemy David, the son of a director of the [[French Indies Company|French East India Company]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vaughan |first1=Megan |title=Creating the Creole Island: Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Mauritius |date=2005-02-01 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham and London |isbn=9780822333999 |pages=46–48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kNK6nFrRwTMC&dq=labourdonnais+slave+owner&pg=PA46 |access-date=2021-07-04}}</ref> He was tried in 1751 and acquitted, but his health was broken by the imprisonment and by chagrin at the loss of his property. To the last he made accusations against Dupleix.<ref name="EB1911"/>

A visit to France in 1740 was interrupted by the outbreak of hostilities with Great Britain, and La Bourdonnais was put at the head of a fleet in Indian waters.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1744, he assembled a squadron of 3,342 men, including 720 slaves, and led a military expedition from Isle de France to Madras in India. His victory increased the rivalry with Governor of Pondicherry, [[Joseph François Dupleix]]. Soon Labourdonnais was accused of receiving money from the [[British East India Company]] and in 1746 he was forced to return to France to face trial and was jailed at the [[Bastille]] for 3 years. He was replaced by Pierre Félix Barthelemy David, the son of a director of the [[French Indies Company|French East India Company]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vaughan |first1=Megan |title=Creating the Creole Island: Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Mauritius |date=2005-02-01 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham and London |isbn=9780822333999 |pages=46–48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kNK6nFrRwTMC&dq=labourdonnais+slave+owner&pg=PA46 |access-date=2021-07-04}}</ref> He was tried in 1751 and acquitted, but his health was broken by the imprisonment and by chagrin at the loss of his property. To the last he made accusations against Dupleix.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Recognition and legacy==

==Recognition and legacy==