French adventurer transplants cloves, reshaping spice trade
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In the 18th century, Pierre Poivre, a French official working in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, successfully smuggled clove and nutmeg seedlings from the Moluccas islands.
European nations frequently tried to obtain spice seeds to break Dutch control of the market. Poivre learned from a Dutch informant about hidden spice plants grown by locals resisting Dutch authority.
He transported the seedlings to Mauritius and established a garden, eventually expanding clove production to Madagascar, Zanzibar, and Pemba, which now produce the majority of the world’s cloves. The English also moved cloves to the Caribbean island of St Kitts, likely from French holdings, and established nutmeg plantations on Martinique and Grenada, later becoming the world’s leading nutmeg producer. Portugal attempted similar transplants in Brazil, with varying success depending on climate.
Zanzibar, a large island off the coast of East Africa, had long been a trading hub connecting Africa, India, and Asia. In the 19th century, the Omani sultan moved his capital to Zanzibar and developed clove plantations there, relying on forced labor from the local Hadimu people. Indian merchants financed this trade, shipping cloves to Africa, India, and Persia. The growth of clove plantations on Mauritius depended on enslaved people brought from Zanzibar's slave markets.
