A brief glance at the history of Mauritius

Mauritius, officially known as the Republic of Mauritius, is an island found in the Indian Ocean. Mauritius is more precisely found in the South West Indian Ocean, around 900 km east of Madagascar. Other islands such as Reunion and Rodrigues are neighbours of Mauritius. This group of islands is known as the Mascarene Islands. The French island of Reunion is found around 200 km to the southwest of Mauritius. On the other hand, Rodrigues is found nearly 570 km to the East-Northeast of Mauritius. Rodrigues Island along with St Brandon islands and Agalega islands form part of the Republic of Mauritius.

The very first people believed to have reached Mauritius are the Malay and Arab Sailors back in the tenth century. Then came the Portuguese sailors in the year 1505. They did not do much development to the island finally leaving it uninhabited. As time passed by, the history of Mauritius continued to grow. Therefore, in the year 1958, three Dutch ships going to Spice Islands were damaged by a cyclone and ended up landing in Mauritius. They named the island after Prince Maurice of Nassau, the ‘place-keeper’ or the ‘Stadtholder’ of the Netherlands. Moreover, during the year 1638, there was a permanent Dutch settlement over the island. But due to harsh weather conditions, mainly cyclones the Dutch abandoned Mauritius after some decades.

Furthermore, in the year 1715, Mauritius was taken over by the French who at that time controlled Bourbon Island, now Reunion Island. The French later changed the name of Mauritius to Ile de France. A more significant development to Mauritius was made by the French. They established the sugarcane plantations and gave shape to the sugar production industry. This had boosted up the economy of Mauritius at that time. The man responsible for this development was known as François Mahé de Labourdonnais. The French also used Mauritius to give shelter to pirates who robbed British ships as they traveled between India and Britain. However, war was going to separate the French from Mauritius. Thus, in the year 1803-1815, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British set out to fight for the possession of Mauritius.

Additionally, Napoleon defeated the British by winning the Battle of Grand Port, his only victory over the French. But the French could not savour victory for a long time as they finally lost to the British in the North of Mauritius at Cap Malheureux (Hapless Cape). The French officially surrendered during the year 1810 on terms letting them to keep their land and property. They also stipulated the use of the French Language and law of France in criminal and civil matters. Later on the British restarted the use Mauritius rather then Ile de France. As years passed by, the history of Mauritius continued to become rich. Thus, in the year 1965, the United Kingdom broke the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius to form the British Indian Ocean Territory. This was mainly used for defence purposes by the UK and US.

Finally, in the year 1968, Mauritius gained independence. Then in the year 1992, the island became a republic within the Commonwealth. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam became the first Prime Minister of Mauritius. Since that time Mauritius had progressed both economically and democratically hence attaining one of Africa’s highest per capita incomes.

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