Until about 400 years ago, Mauritius was uninhabited.
Its earliest discoverers were probably Arab traders in the 10th century
A.D. They did not settle on the island, but it is thought that they buried
treasure there. In the 16th century, the Portuguese discovered the island.
They did not establish settlements, but Portuguese ships frequently stopped
there to collect food and water on their way to India. In 1598, the Dutch claimed the land for the Netherlands and named the island Mauritius, after Prince Maurice of Nassau. Dutch settlement of the island began in 1638. The Dutch cut down the ebony trees and cultivated sugar cane, using convicts from Indonesia and natives of Madagascar as slave labour. In 1710, the Dutch abandoned the island, leaving many slave workers behind. |
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The nearby island of Réunion had been settled
by the French in the late 17th century. In 1715, Captain Guillaume Dufresne
d'Arsal came from Réunion and claimed Mauritius for France, renaming
it Ile de France. In 1721, the French established a permanent settlement
on the island. They built roads, harbours, a hospital and a sugar mill. In the late 18th century, the British began to dominate the trade routes of the Indian Ocean. In 1810, the British invaded the island. They changed the island's name back to Mauritius, but allowed the people to keep the French language, religion and legal system. In 1835, slavery was abolished. |
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The British brought people from India to work as
indentured labourers on Mauritian sugar plantations. Eventually, the
Indians represented the majority of the population and demanded greater
political rights. The Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi visited the island
in 1901 to support the Indians in their struggle for civil rights. In 1936, Dr. Maurice Curé founded the Parti Travailliste (Labour Party) to fight for workers' rights. In 1959, the Labour Party, under the leadership of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, came to power. Under the Labour government, roads and reservoirs were constructed, and the harbour at Port Louis was modernized. The Labour Party also pressed for self-government. |
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In 1968, Mauritius declared its independence, but remained
a member of the British Commonwealth. Ramgoolam was the first prime minister.
Today, he is remembered as "The Father of the Nation." In 1982, the Mauritian Militant Movement, a leftist party, came to power. Aneerood Jugnauth became prime minister. He established the Militant Socialist Movement in 1983 and, in 1987, won a landslide election victory. However, in 1995, he lost the election to Navin Ramgoolam, the son of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. On March 12, 2022 Mauritius became a republic. |