Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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History
Mauritius had no native population predating the European colonisers (unless you count
the ill-fated dodo), and so unlike many other small islands for which colonisation resulted
in the savage destruction of the native inhabitants a short period later, Mauritius' initial
history is pleasantly guilt-free (again, unless you count the dodo), at least until the advent
of slavery. This historical point is important to understanding the country's inclusive cul-
ture of tolerance and easy acceptance of all people: there's nobody in the ethnic melting
pot able to claim precedence over the others. Broadly speaking, Mauritius experienced
four distinct historical periods in its colonisation leading up to full independence from the
UK in 1968.
The First Colonisers
Although Arab traders knew of Mauritius - which they rather unfairly called Dina Arobi
(Isle of Desolation) - perhaps as early as the 10th century, the first Europeans to discover
these uninhabited islands were the Portuguese, around 1507. They, too, were more interes-
ted in trade and never attempted to settle.
In 1598, a group of Dutch sailors landed on the southeast coast of the island at what is
now called Vieux Grand Port, and claimed the island for the Netherlands. For the next 40
years the Dutch used Mauritius as a supply base for Batavia (Java), before deciding to
settle near their original landing spot. Settlement ruins and a museum (
Click here
)
can still
be seen at Vieux Grand Port, near Mahébourg.
The colony never really flourished, however, and the Dutch abandoned it in 1710.
Nevertheless, they left their mark: the Dutch were responsible for the extinction of the
dodo and for introducing slaves from Africa, deer from Java, wild boar, tobacco and,
above all, sugar cane.
Île De France
Five years later it was the turn of the French, when Captain Guillaume Dufresne d'Arsel
sailed across from what is now Réunion and claimed Mauritius for France. The island was
rechristened Île de France, but nothing much happened until the arrival in 1735 of the dy-
namic governor Bertrand François Mahé de Labourdonnais, Mauritius' first hero. He not
