The mixture of languages, cultures and ethnicity in Mauritius is due to its marvelous history, from its discovery to its independence.
Mauritius, a small volcanic island found in the Indian Ocean, was first discovered by Arab sailors before the 16th century and was referred to as Dina Robin. It is only later, during the 16th century that Portuguese explorers found two other islands nearby which they named as the Mascarenes Island, after their navigator Pedro Mascarenhas. Today, the Mascarenes islands are known as Reunion Island, Mauritius and Rodrigues, which is a dependency of Mauritius.
Arrival of the Dutch
Dutch sailors were the first to set foot on the island in 1598. They tried to settle down in the island, which they named Mauritius after their prince Maurits Von Nassau. During cyclones they used the island as a safe harbor and also to replenish their ships on fresh food and water. They lead the dodo to its extinction as they gorged themselves on it and furthermore cut down ebony trees for trading. At the same time they introduced the sugar cane, the deer and monkeys.
The Dutch never came back since their departure in the year 1710.Their sudden lack of interest in Mauritius might have been due to natural disasters such as droughts, floods and cyclones. Further guesses have mentioned that the Dutch were unable to satisfy their basic needs such as food and shelter; which rendered their stay in Mauritius a real predicament.
Followed by the French
The island was again deserted until the French landed in 1715. They called the island l’Ile de France and made a serious and successful attempt to settle down. By then, the geo-location of the island had taken political importance as Mauritius was on the Indian Trade Route. The French and British were busy fighting the spoils in this area of the world and whoever controlled Mauritius would have a clear advantage of the sea route. Thus the French persevered in their attempt to further develop the island. In July 1735, Mahe de Labourdonnais was named governor of the island and is widely credited for having developed the island. Under his rule, forests were cleared for roads to be built, land was turned over to agriculture, in particular to sugar cane cultivation.
As the geo-political importance of Mauritius grew, The British made more and more frequent attempts at taking over the island for themselves. The French settlers built defense around the island and remains are still visible today. Signal Mountain near Port-Louis was used as a lookout over the harbor to signal attacks from the sea, thus its name. In August 1810, the British launched an ambitious sea raid at Grand Port to take over the whole island. Unfortunately, it ended in disaster.
Then the British
The British did not give up trying to take possession of the island and finally, in December 1810, they launched and won a successful attack from the north of the island. They renamed the island Mauritius. Among the terms of the surrender of the French, the British allowed them to stay on the island, to keep their culture, language and religion as laid out in the Treaty of Paris. This is the historical reason why today English is the official language of Mauritius, rarely spoken, yet widely understood and written while French is more widely spoken yet not being an official language.
During the British occupation, Mauritius became part of the British Empire. The French developed the island with the help of slaves from Africa but in 1835, slavery was abolished. Under the British, labor was brought from India and China especially to work in the fields and to develop the island.
At last, Mauritians…
The way for independence was paved in 1948 when general elections were held and a newly-created Legislative Council convened. A ministerial system was introduced in the 1950s and constitutional reviews took place throughout the 1960s. After the 1967 General Elections, a new constitution was adopted which led to Mauritius being granted independence from Britain in 1968.
In 1992, Mauritius ceased all official ties with The United Kingdom by becoming a Republic. Today, the Republic of Mauritius covers the island of Mauritius, the island of Rodrigues, a few other small and remote islands and a vast sea territory.
