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A glance at how Mauritius developed through the centuries of its existence

By: Ralph Ramah

Mauritius is a volcanic island and was formed by a volcano called caldera a long time ago. As it was not yet discovered and given an official name, Mauritius stood uncivilized and a dense forest was all that could be seen. The forest contained wild animals such as tortoises, birds and the famous Dodo. The Dodo is now an extinct bird as it once served as meal for the Dutch people who visited Mauritius.

The history Mauritius is a very precious one, same to the history of any other country. This said, the history of Mauritius is quite a recent one as it was firstly mentioned on the Arabian maps. Let’s have a look. During the year 1598, the Dutch took possession of the island and named it Mauritius after Prince Maurice de Van Nassau. It was only during the year 1638 that settlement took place in Mauritius. The Dutch stayed in Mauritius for around 20 years and gave up following several other attempts to settle in Mauritius. It was during the year 1710 that the Dutch finally decided to leave Mauritius.

Then during the year 1715, the French era began over Mauritius. The French took possession of Mauritius as a means to protect their ships going to India. The real French settlement in Mauritius did not start until the year 1721. With the arrival of the Governor Mahe de Labourdonnais, development started over Mauritius in the year 1735. The development works done by Mahe de Labourdonnais is still visible in Mauritius nowadays. He constructed the Chateau de Mon Plaisir found in Pamplemousses, built the Line Barracks in Port Louis, developed Port Louis as a military port and created part of the Government House.

As time passed by, the French saw themselves threatened to lose control over Mauritius by the English. As a matter of fact, in the year 1810, a big naval battle took place at Grand Port between England and France. The English turned out winners of the battle and they eventually took full control of Mauritius in the same year. The English then brought considerable social and economical change over Mauritius. More change occurred in the year 1835, as the abolition of slavery was made official. Slaves who were brought to work in the sugar cane fields of Mauritius from African countries were set free. The Indian workers including Hindus and Muslims were as well set free.

The Indians who were brought to Mauritius constituted the majority of the population at that time. The culture of Mauritius was then categorized as it became a multinational community with Hindus, Muslims and Christians living all in the same country. The sugar cane industry proved to be a strong economic boost for Mauritius as the island was developed even further. Then, on the 12th of match 1968, Mauritius became an independent country. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam became the first ever Prime Minister of Mauritius. In addition to, on the 12th of March 1992, Mauritius became a republic state.

Since its first development, Mauritius has continued to develop and is still developing and evolving as a country.
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Mauritius is a volcanic island and was formed by a volcano called caldera a long time ago. As it was not yet discovered and given an official name, Mauritius stood uncivilized and a dense forest was all that could be seen. The forest contained wild animals such as tortoises, birds and the famous Dodo. The Dodo is now an extinct bird as it once served as meal for the Dutch people who visited Mauritius.

Mauritius welcomes you. The Official Web Site for Mauritius

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