Mauritius History

Early history

Although Arab sailors wrote about Mauritius and the surrounding islands as early as the 12th century, the island was uninhabited until 1638 when it was colonised by the Dutch.

They named the island after Prince Maurice of Nassau. However, due to cyclones, the deterioration of the settlement and constant warring with runaway slaves, the Dutch abandoned the island in 1658.

Ile de France - French Occupation

The Dutch made another attempt at colonisation in 1664 and remained until Mauritius was ceded to France in 1710 and renamed Ile de France (French Island).

For a century, the French had control over all of the islands in the area. The islands served several purposes including rest and repair stops for ships travelling to the Indies, as well as growing sugar and spices for export to Europe.

Reunion was the seat of the 'government' in the French Mascarene islands until 1735 when Mahe de Labourdonnais, the governor at the time, moved operations over to Port Louis on Ile de France.

This sparked major growth on the island and required labour. Large numbers of slaves were brought to the island from Africa, Asia and Madagascar. Port Louis grew into a sophisticated and prosperous trading port, and sugar and spice production was increased.

This rapid development was ultimately the start of the ecological degradation of the island and many turtles, tortoises and birds were plundered along with their habitats.

After the French Revolution in 1789, Colonial Assemblies were set up on the island and the colonists distanced themselves from France. This was largely due to a difference of opinion about the abolition of slavery.

This was relatively short-lived and by 1803, with Napoleon on the scene and slavery re-established, General Decaen was sent from France to run the island.

The British take over

In 1810, with Reunion already in hand, the British took control of Ile de France, and it reverted to its former name, Mauritius.

A primary reason for British interest in the island was its tactical position as a stop en route to India.

Also, the Indian Ocean had become a haven for pirates and the French often sanctioned attacks on foreign vessels. The British sought an end to this rampant piracy to secure the route eastwards, and soon after taking over Mauritius, they moved onto the Seychelles too.

Although the Mascarenes were controlled by Britain, there was no real British colonisation of the islands and that is, subsequently, why the French character of the islands remains to this day.

In 1835, the British emancipated the slaves on Mauritius after compensating the colonists financially. Then in 1842 in a bid to make Mauritius the main sugar colony, they allowed the import of Indian workers under an indenture system.

Soon it was the largest recipient of Indian labour in the British empire.

Modern Mauritius

Mauritius gained independence from Britain in 1968 and became a republic within the Commonwealth in 1992. Since the 1980s, Mauritius has been ruled by a coalition government of the four main parties who all take a pro-capitalist stance.

The nation has been a stable democracy with regular free elections since independence.

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