History

Discovery
As per the common hypothesis, the island of Mauritius was first discovered by the Arabs, who named the island Dina Harobi. Moreover, it appears that the medieval Arab world called the Indian Ocean island region as WAQWAQ… On the other hand, the Arabs did not settle in the island, but used it as a port of call only. . The first historical evidence proving existence of Mauritius can be traced on a map produced by the Italian cartographer Alberto Cantino in 1502

Portuguese sailors (1507–1513)

		Mauritius was discovered and visited by the Portuguese between 1507 and 1513. Along with the other present Mascarene Islands, Mauritius was discovered by a mere chance during an exploratory expedition of the coast of the Gulf of Bengal led by Tristão da Cunha; their expedition ran into a cyclone, forcing them to change their course. Thus, the ship ‘’Cirne’’ of the captain Diogo Fernandes Pereira, came into view of Reunion island on 9 February 1507. They called the island Santa Apolonia ("Saint Apollonia") in honor of that day’s saint. Mauritius was discovered during the same expedition and received the name of ‘’Cirne’’ and Rodrigues that of ‘’Diogo Fernandes’. Five years later, Dom Pedro de Mascarenhas, who left the name Mascarene for the whole region, visited the islands. The Portuguese took no interest in this isolated island as they were already established in several regions such as GOA/INDIA, coast of Malabar, island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and on the Malaysian coast. Hence, the Portuguese established no permanent colony on the island.

Dutch sailors (1598–1637)

		On 17 September 1598, under the orders of Admiral Van Warwick, the five Dutch ships out of eight ships on expedition towards Indian Subcontinents came into view of an island. On 20 September, they entered a sheltered bay which they named’ Port de Warwick’’ (present name is “Grand Port”). They landed and decided to name the island "Prins Maurits van Nassaueiland", after Prince Maurits of the House of Nassau, the stadtholder of Holland (Latin version: Mauritius), since then the name Mauritius remained. Since then, the Dutch used their newly discovered “Port de Warwick’’ as a stopover port. In 1606, for the first time, two expeditions took off towards the northwest of the island. The group, consisting of 11 ships and 1,357 men under the orders of Admiral Corneille came into the bay, which they named “Rade des Tortues” (literally meaning Harbor of the Tortoises) because of the great number of terrestrial tortoises they found there. Later, this became to known as Port Louis.
		As of that day, Dutch sailors reallocated their harbor to “Rade des Tortues”. In 1615, on his way back from India, governor Pieter Boths’ ship wrecked in the Bay, bringing his unfortunate death, causing the Dutch sailors to consider that route as cursed and forcing them to avoid it as much as possible. In the meantime, the British and the Danes had already started invading the Indian Ocean. Those who landed on the island, freely cut and took with them the precious bark of the Ebony trees, then found in profusion all over the island. Dutch colonization started in 1638 and ended in 1710, with a brief interruption between 1658 and 1666. Numerous governors were appointed, but continuous hardships such as cyclones, droughts, pest infestations, lack of food and illnesses finally took their toll, and the island was definitively abandoned in 1710. Leaving behind the trail of permanent disaster such as extinction…


Input/output of the Dutch

Contributing the name of the country and many regions over the whole island, some examples include the ‘Pieter Both’ mountain, the ‘Vandermeersh’ region near Rose-Hill, as well as many other names. Introduction of sugar cane plants Introducing Deers from Java Responsible for extinction of dodo birds, and decimating of giant tortoises for food, Clearing of large swaths of forests for Ebony bark exploitation

Treatment of slaves The ill treatment of Slaves was common by the colonists; revolts or any such acts were severely repressed and punished. Some punishments consisted of amputation of various parts of the body and exposure in the open air for a day as example to others, eventually culminating in condemned slaves’ execution at sunset.

French Colonization (1715- 1810)

		In the year 1715, French took possession of the island and re-named it 'Isle de France'. Governor Mahe de Labourdonnais founded Port Louis, which later became the capital. He changed the face of the island. It became a flourishing French colony with Port Louis as a naval base and built roads and bridges. Among the present heritages that were accomplished by him are the Government House, the Line Barracks, and Chateau Mon Plaisir at Pamplemousses Botanical Gardens. In the year 1814, Treaty of Paris sanctioned the tenure of Mauritius and its allied Rodrigues and Seychelles, to the British. Nevertheless, Réunion Island, which was also captured by the British, was returned to France the Island took its former name of Mauritius, and English became the official language. However, according to the Treaty of Paris, the population was to keep its language, religions, and the laws. This is the reason why French is still widely spoken despite the fact that the British ruled the island for 158 years.
		The year 1835 saw a golden moment of Mauritian History, British Abolished Slavery As the newly freed slaves refused to work in the plantations; indentured laborers were imported from India. Chinese and Muslim traders were also attracted to these shores.

Independence

		Finally, in 1968, Mauritius gained its Independence following the revolutionary movement. Sir Seewosagur Ramgoolam became the first Prime Minister of Mauritius. He is also sobriquet as “father of Nation” for his contribution towards the achievement of Independence. Mauritius still forms part of the British Commonwealth and follows the Westminster pattern of Government. Moreover, in the year 1992 Mauritius was declared Republic nation.