History

Mauritius history is a relatively short one. Although uninhabited until the 16th century Malay and Arab mariners arrived before any Europeans. The Portuguese sailor Pedro Mascarenhas, whom the island was named after, was the first European to visit the islands. However, the Portuguese laid no claim to the islands leaving it open to the next Dutch party landing in 1598. Mauritius subsequently became an important port of call for the Dutch, French and English trading ships.

It was from Mauritius that the Dutch Captain, Tasman, set sail on his voyage that led to the discovery of Australia.

The Dutch settlement lasted until 1710 by which time the introduction of sugar cane and slaves to work it has taken its toll. The decimation of the island’s ebony forests and extermination of the Dodo and other indigenous birds was complete. In 1710 the island was abandoned leaving the French to claim it in 1715. Known as the Isle de France the French imported more slaves from the African mainland to work their sugar, cotton, indigo, clove, nutmeg and other spice plantations.

Mauritius was also proving a useful base from which the French ships could hassle English ships on their way to India. For nearly a hundred years Mauritius proved a constant problem to the British, and it was not until 1810 that the French forces were beaten by the British naval squadron which launched its attack from the nearby island of Rodrigues. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars the island was ceded to Britain, however, the French way of life, religion, custom and language have remained prominent ever since. The official languages are English (not widely spoken) and French, but the majority of people speak Creole, an interesting French-Bantu-Malagasy mixture.

The population continued to grow with the British importation of Indian workers. The majority of today’s inhabitants are descendants from Hindu and Muslim Indian immigrants who were brought over as contract labourers. Mauritius remained an extremely important port of call until the opening of the Suez Canal.

Mauritius gained independence in 1968 under Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam who led the independence movement. Since it became the Republic of Mauritius, with Ramgoolam as its leader Mauritian politics have been dominated by the Ramgoolam family and by the two principal figures of the Mauritian Left, Paul Bérenger and Anerood Jugnauth.