Our article today actually began 8 million years ago, when a series of volcanic eruptions caused Mauritius to rise from the Indian Ocean, followed about 1 million years later by Rodrigues and Réunion. These three islands and the smaller ones around them are called the Mascarenhas archipelago. They were named after the Portuguese admiral Pedro Mascarenhas, who first visited them in 1513.
Volcanic eruptions shaped the islands’ mountains, coastline, and landscape, and reefs were formed later (and are still forming).
Life could only reach the island by air or water, which is why it has a rich flora and fauna. Millions of birds lived undisturbed and free of predators until humans arrived. This discovery led to the extinction of many species (including the dodo bird).
The first settlers
No, they weren’t the French, nor were they the British. 🙂
Already on 15th-century Arab maps, Mauritius was named Dina Arobi, and Rodrigues was named Dina Moraze, but there is no evidence that Arab explorers ever visited the island.
The first Europeans were the Portuguese in the 16th century, who quickly named Rodrigues after the Portuguese explorer Diego Rodriguez.
The Portuguese didn’t settle on the island, but used it as a stopover for years between South Africa and India, and when it was no longer needed, they abandoned it to pirates. Although they didn’t stay long, the Portuguese influence on the island is still felt today. They introduced cattle and monkeys to provide fresh meat for travelers (yes, they ate monkey meat too), but dogs and rats escaped from the ships, introducing predators and pests, disrupting the order of the ecosystem that had been developing undisturbed for millions of years, and condemning the cute dodo bird to extinction in the 17th century.
The Dutch arrive
In 1598, Dutch ships approached the island’s shores, landing at Vieux Grand Port (near Mahébourg). They quickly built a fort (excavated in 1997). They introduced several crops to the island, the most famous of which was sugar cane, and began clearing the native forests to export the wood.
They quickly realized that the east coast of the island was vulnerable to attack, so they sent the settlers to the west to establish a protected settlement. This became the current capital, Port Louis.
In 1658, they were forced to leave the island after cyclones and droughts caused them to starve.
In 1664, they set about colonizing the island again, after realizing that Mauritius could play an important role in the Indian Ocean trade. This time, they were “smarter”, they brought deer (no more starvation), they cleared even more forests, and they also had slaves.
Unfortunately, they still did not solve their disorganization, and pirates constantly attacked them, so they left for good in 1710.
French colony
The island did not remain empty for long. The Dutch had barely left when the French arrived. They took control of the area in 1715 and renamed it from Mauritius to Ile de France. The first French settlers landed at Mahébourg in 1722, but due to the wind and problematic reefs, they moved to Port Louis.
Piracy continued throughout the French period, but they instead signed a cooperative agreement with the pirates, who were free to attack non-French ships in the name of France and to rest in the area.
In 1735, Bertrand Francois Mahé de Labourdonnais became governor of the archipelago. He wanted to make Ile de France a thriving colony. He needed a lot of workers for his plan, so he brought tens of thousands of slaves from Africa and Madagascar.
Ships were built, plantations were developed, farms were built, roads were built, and forests were cut down (again) to make room for sugar cane.
In 1767, the colony was in financial trouble, and the British East India Company defeated the French. Labourdonnais was accused of embezzlement (falsely) and imprisoned. The island reverted to the Crown.
The French Revolution of 1789 had little effect on the island until 1796, when two officials arrived with news from home. Hearing this, Mauritius also had its own revolution, but it was quickly crushed.
Between 1793 and 1802, the French and their pirates captured hundreds of ships from the East India Company and took their cargo to Port Louis. The place gained a reputation for (fear) in the Indian Ocean, which greatly annoyed the British.
In 1803, Napoleon appointed a new governor, General Decaen, who became a member of the elite. Meanwhile, the British continued to lose hundreds of cargoes to pirates.
British colony
The British eventually blockaded the port of Port Louis for months, established a base on the island of Rodrigues, and then occupied neighboring Réunion.
Once they had this, they launched a naval attack on Mahébourg in 1810. The British were defeated in the four-day Battle of Grand Port, but the the losses on both sides were considerable. A few months later, in December, a large British fleet arrived, landed at Cap Malheureux, and from there took Port Louis by land. There was little French resistance, so the island fell into the hands of the English, who restored the name Mauritius.
The British were generous and promised free passage to anyone. Those who remained could keep their laws, religion, language, and possessions (which included their slaves).
The English Empire thus gained control of the Indian Ocean.
Robert Farquhar was the first British governor, and under him Port Louis became a free port, new roads were built, and trade was developed.
The sugarcane trade boomed, requiring a huge workforce to clear and replant the plantations, and slavery flourished, despite the fact that it had been abolished in the British Empire in 1807.
In 1832, Judge John Jeremie arrived on the island to free the slaves without compensation. The locals immediately chased him off the island, so the British built La Citadelle on a hill in the middle of Port Louis in revenge and as a show of force.
Finally, slavery ended on the island in 1835, replaced by cheap labor, the Great Experiment became a Great Success. In the 19th century, nearly half a million Indians arrived on the island to work long hours for almost nothing.
In 1872, the British Empire had to deal with the problem and managed to improve the living conditions of Indian immigrants (they now make up the majority of the population).
In 1936, Indians protested and went on strike for better working conditions. This way, they managed to bring the sugar industry to a standstill by 1943. The British promised reforms again, but the real turning point came in 1959, when the first elections were held. The Hindu doctor Seewoosagur Ramgoolam won as the leader of the Labour Party.
Independence
In 1968, the British Empire offered Mauritius independence if it handed over the Chagos Archipelago islands (located 1,930 km north of Mauritius) in return. These islands have been under British rule since 1814, when they were taken from the French.
In 1965, the British made a secret deal with the United States, and one of the islands was leased to Uncle Sam for 50 years, in exchange for an $11 million discount on Polaris submarines. Diego Garcia is still a US military base. (This is being renegotiated and will likely return to Mauritius)
Let’s get back to the island. At that time, many locals feared that the new government would pursue too much Indian politics, and they left for abroad. This is how Seewoosagur Ramgoolam became the first Prime Minister of Mauritius.
By the early 1980s, the Labor Party had lost its position in power due to a series of corruption scandals, high unemployment, and overpopulation.
Modern Mauritius
By the 1970s, the textile industry had become one of the island’s main industries, and after independence, the role of the sugar industry had declined. Today, the main buyers of textile factories have turned to other markets and cheaper goods, so many factories have closed.
Sugar production has declined significantly after international sugar prices fell. Most of the planters have stopped production and sold their properties to investors or switched to tourism.
Today, the island’s main source of income is tourism, as hundreds of thousands of tourists come to the island every year (haha, there are 4 of us). Luxury hotels, lodges, resorts have been built. There are cool golf courses and spas. Eco-tourists are also catered to with projects such as Ferney Valley Forrest, Wildlife Reserve, or Domaine de Bel Ombre. They are trying to show visitors that Mauritius is more than just an island with some really good beaches.
But we may not be calling it Paradise Island for much longer, but rather Cyber Island. In 2005, Ebene Cybercity was built in the middle of the island. The complex has attracted the financial elite of the Indian Ocean, created a lot of new jobs, and it is possible that we will soon be calling it the financial giant between Africa and India.
