Which colonial power governed Mauritius before the British?
"Governor of Isle de France (Mauritius) The Governor of Isle de France was an official who ruled Isle de France (now Republic of Mauritius) during the French colonial period between 1721 and 1810. After the Dutch abandoned Mauritius, the island became a French colony in September 1715 when Guillaume Dufresne d'Arsel landed and took possession of it, naming the island ""Isle de France"". The French government turned over the administration of Mauritius to the French East India Company, but the island remained bereft of Europeans until 1721. Furthermore, until 1735, Isle de France was administered from Île Bourbon, now known"
"reforms that un-banned labour unions, improved channels of arbitration between labourers and employers, and improved working conditions. In the period just before the official declaration of independence and hand over of power to an independent government the island was rocked by a ten day period of violent riots that resulted from ethnic tensions. British Mauritius British Mauritius was a British crown colony off the Southeast coast of Africa. Formerly part of the French colonial empire, the crown colony of Mauritius was established after a British invasion in 1810 and the subsequent Treaty of Paris that followed. British rule ended on"
"on 19 and 20 August 1810 by a fleet commanded by Pierre Bouvet, Mauritius was captured on 3 December 1810 by the British under Commodore Josias Rowley. Their possession of the island was confirmed four years later by the Treaty of Paris (1814). French institutions, including the Napoleonic code of law, were maintained. The French language was at that moment still used more widely than English. The British administration, which began with Robert Townsend Farquhar as governor, was followed by rapid social and economic changes. One of the most important events was the abolition of slavery on 1 February 1835."
"1803 till 2 September 1810 the French colony of Indes-Orientales, under a ""capitaine général"" (captain-general), included Réunion and (nominally) the Seychelles. Mauritius was formed 8–10 million years ago, and is geographically one of the oldest remaining islands in the group. It was discovered in the 10th century by the Arabs and was first named Dina Harobi, but the first permanent settlement was by the Dutch in 1638. It was seized in 1715 by France, who remained in control of it until the British took over in 1810. Mauritius gained independence in 1968. Rodrigues was formed at around the same time"
"settlers arrived in Mauritius (then Isle de France) in 1722, after the previous attempts of settlement by the Dutch had failed, and the island had once again become abandoned. They lived and prospered on the island, ruling it until the British invasion of 1810. The French by now strongly identified with the island, and the terms of capitulation allowed the settlers to live on as a distinct francophone ethnic group for the next 158 years under British rule before Mauritius attained independence. Not all Franco-Mauritians have pure French lineage, many also have British or other European ancestors that came to"
"mainly Great Britain (United Kingdom), Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France and Ireland. Mauritians Mauritians (singular Mauritian; ; Creole: ""Morisien"") are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multiethnic society, descended from Indian, African, Chinese and European (mostly of French origin) ancestry. Mauritian Creoles trace their origins to the plantation owners and slaves who were brought to work the sugar fields. When slavery was abolished on 1 February 1835, an attempt was made to secure a cheap source of adaptable labour for intensive sugar plantations in Mauritius. Indentured labour began with Chinese, Malay, African"
"History of Mauritius The known history of Mauritius begins with its discovery by Arabs, followed by Europeans and its appearance on maps in the early 16th century. Mauritius was successively colonized by the Dutch, the French and the British, and became independent in 1968. Mauritius was first discovered by the Arabs. This is corroborated by the earliest existing historical evidence of an island, now known as Mauritius, which is on a map produced by the Italian cartographer Alberto Cantino in 1502. Cantino shows three islands which are thought to represent the Mascarenes (Réunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues) and calls them Dina"
"Mauritians Mauritians (singular Mauritian; ; Creole: ""Morisien"") are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multiethnic society, descended from Indian, African, Chinese and European (mostly of French origin) ancestry. Mauritian Creoles trace their origins to the plantation owners and slaves who were brought to work the sugar fields. When slavery was abolished on 1 February 1835, an attempt was made to secure a cheap source of adaptable labour for intensive sugar plantations in Mauritius. Indentured labour began with Chinese, Malay, African and Malagasy labourers, but ultimately, it was India which supplied the much"
"settlement. The first permanent colony in Mauritius was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1638. The Dutch maintained a small presence on Mauritius, with a brief interruption, until 1710 at which point the Dutch East India Company abandoned the island. Following the Dutch departure, the French government took possession of Mauritius in 1715, renaming it the Ile de France. The Chagos Archipelago was known during this period, appearing on Portuguese charts as early as 1538, but remained largely untouched. France progressively claimed and surveyed the Archipelago in the mid-18th century and granted concessions for the establishment of coconut"
"illegally trading with English ships, and slaves revolting commonly, the Dutch left the island in 1710. After the French settled Mauritius in 1721, the British took over the island and Port Louis in 1810. Not only was Mauritius used as a stopping point for ships traveling to British India and other parts of Asia, but now it was also used as a major exporter of goods back to London. While the most popular good from Mauritius was sugar by far, the British did harvest a large portion of the ebony forests. The wood was presumably used for carving and decor"
"Mauritius (1968–1992) Between independence in 1968 and becoming a republic in 1992, Mauritius was an independent sovereign state that shared its head of state with the United Kingdom and other states headed by Elizabeth II. In 1968, the United Kingdom's Mauritius Independence Act 1968 granted independence to the British Crown Colony of Mauritius. The British monarch, Elizabeth II, remained head of state as Queen of Mauritius, as well as being Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The monarch's constitutional roles in Mauritius were mostly delegated to the Governor-General of Mauritius. The Governors-General were: Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and"
"Mauritius islands in the Indian Ocean as the country having highest percentage of Hindus in Africa and third highest percentage of Hindus in the world after Nepal and India. The European colonial powers banned slave capture and trading in the first half of the 19th century, with the British Empire banning it in the early decades. However, the demand kept rising for low cost, high intensity labor in colonial plantations of sugarcane, cotton, tobacco and other cash crops. The British Empire substituted the slave labor supplies from Africa with indentured labor supplies from India. The indentured people brought from India"
"Dutch Mauritius Mauritius was an official settlement of the Dutch East India Company on the island of Mauritius between 1638 and 1710, and used a refreshing station for passing ships. It was already frequented by Dutch ships from 1598 onwards, but only settled in 1638, to prevent the French and the British from settling on the island. It has been frequently hypothesized that Mauritius was first discovered by the Arabs, who named the island Dina Harobi. The first historical evidence of the existence of an island now known as Mauritius is on a map produced by the Italian cartographer Alberto"
"of Mauritius to form the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). A general election took place on 7 August 1967, and the Labour Party and its two allies obtained the majority of seats. In January 1968, six weeks before the declaration of independence the 1968 Mauritian riots occurred in Port Louis leading to the deaths of 25 people. Mauritius adopted a new constitution and independence was proclaimed on 12 March 1968. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam became the first prime minister of an independent Mauritius with Queen Elizabeth II remaining head of state as Queen of Mauritius. In 1969, the opposition party Mauritian"
"plantations, leading to permanent settlement. Throughout this period, France administered the Chagos Archipelago as a dependency of the Ile de France. In 1810, the British captured the Ile de France and renamed it Mauritius. By the Treaty of Paris of 30 May 1814, France ceded the Ile de France and all its dependencies (including the Chagos Archipelago) to the United Kingdom. From the date of the cession by France until 8 November 1965, when the Chagos Archipelago was detached from the colony of Mauritius, the Archipelago was administered by the United Kingdom as a Dependency of Mauritius. During this period,"
"the island. On 18 November 2010, the Frederik Hendrik Museum was opened by Ad Koekkoek, ambassador of the Netherlands in Tanzania, and Mookhesswur Choonee, Minister of Culture of Mauritius. Dutch Mauritius Mauritius was an official settlement of the Dutch East India Company on the island of Mauritius between 1638 and 1710, and used a refreshing station for passing ships. It was already frequented by Dutch ships from 1598 onwards, but only settled in 1638, to prevent the French and the British from settling on the island. It has been frequently hypothesized that Mauritius was first discovered by the Arabs, who"
"however, was never applied with any vigor in Mauritania, where a system that corresponded more to Britain's colonial policies of association and indirect rule developed. Colonial administrators relied extensively on Islamic religious leaders and the traditional warrior groups to maintain their rule and carry out their policies. Moreover, little attempt was made to develop the country's economy. After World War II, Mauritania, along with the rest of French West Africa, was involved in a series of reforms of the French colonial system, culminating in independence in 1960. These reforms were part of a trend away from the official policies of"
"(now Mauritius, in 1715). The French began issuing permits for companies to establish coconut oil plantations on the Chagos in the 1770s. On 27 April 1786 the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia were claimed for Great Britain. However, the territory was ceded to Britain by treaty only after Napoleon's defeat, in 1814. The Chagos were governed from Mauritius, which was by that time also a British colony. In 1793, when the first successful colony was founded on Diego Garcia, the largest island, coconut plantations were established on many of the atolls and isolated islands of the archipelago. Initially the workers"
"planned in 1904. Mauritania was part of French West Africa from 1920, as a protectorate and, then, a colony. French rule brought legal prohibitions against slavery and an end to inter-clan warfare. During the colonial period, 90% of the population remained nomadic. Many sedentary peoples, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier, began to trickle back into Mauritania. The previous capital of the country under the French rule, Saint-Louis, was located in Senegal, so when the country gained independence in 1960, Nouakchott, at the time little more than a fortified village (""""ksar""""), was chosen as the site of the new"
"up all its colonies with the exception of Hong-Kong, Gibraltar and the Falklands. In fact, the die had already been cast as early as 1959 when Harold Macmillan had made his famous “Wind of change blowing over Africa” speech. After the general election of 1963, Gaetan Duval, then deputy-leader of the Parti Mauricien, again lobbied for Integration with Britain. But this was once more rejected by the British who did not consider I\integration as “a practical proposition for Mauritius, even if the majority of parties in Mauritius wanted it”. Many historians have claimed that Dr Ramgoolam fought the British and"
"then Sir Anerood Jugnauth held office as Prime Minister of Mauritius. Elizabeth II visited Mauritius 24–26 March 1972. The Republic of Mauritius was proclaimed on 12 March 1992. Following the abolition of the monarchy, the last Governor General of Mauritius, Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo became the first President of Mauritius. Mauritius (1968–1992) Between independence in 1968 and becoming a republic in 1992, Mauritius was an independent sovereign state that shared its head of state with the United Kingdom and other states headed by Elizabeth II. In 1968, the United Kingdom's Mauritius Independence Act 1968 granted independence to the British Crown Colony"
"African slaves and Indian contractors brought by Franco-Mauritians to found coconut plantations. In 1810, Mauritius was captured by the United Kingdom, and France ceded the territory in the Treaty of Paris. In 1965, the United Kingdom split the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius and the islands of Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches (Des Roches) from the Seychelles to form the British Indian Ocean Territory. The purpose was to allow the construction of military facilities for the mutual benefit of the United Kingdom and the United States. The islands were formally established as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom on 8 November"
"as a distinct francophone ethnic group for the next 158 years under British rule before Mauritius attained independence. By 1920 the French Mauritian population on the island was between 70,000 to 80,000 out of 375,000 inhabitants representing around 20% of the total population. Not all Franco-Mauritians have pure French lineage, many also have British or other European ancestors that came to Mauritius and were absorbed in the Franco-Mauritian community or the ""gens de couleur"" (Coloureds). There are an estimated 15,000–20,000 Franco-Mauritians; French lineage is also found within the gens de couleur community with many having predominantly French ancestors—a further 30,000"
"plantations that brought the indentured Hindus and other migrants from India to Mauritius, and other island countries such as Fiji, Jamaica, Trinidad, Martinique, Suriname and others. The Hindus, and non-Hindus, who accepted indentured labor contracts and were brought to Mauritius, faced difficult conditions in India. Poverty in colonial India, starvation, epidemics and severe periodic famines in British Raj were rampant during the colonial rule. Millions of Indians died from mass starvation during the 19th-century British India. The extreme circumstances broke families, villages and triggered migrations. By 1839, Mauritius already had 25,000 Indians working in slave-like conditions in its colonial plantations,"
"Mauritian of French origin A Mauritian of French origin, as the name implies, is a Mauritian person whose ancestors are from France. A member of such group is usually identified as a Franco-Mauritian. The first French settlers arrived in Mauritius (then Isle de France) in 1722, after the previous attempts of settlement by the Dutch had failed, and the island had once again become abandoned. They lived and prospered on the island, ruling it until the British invasion of 1810. The French by now strongly identified with the island, and the terms of capitulation allowed the settlers to live on"
"Queen of Mauritius Elizabeth II was Queen of Mauritius from 1968 to 1992. Mauritius was a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth as head of state. The Queen was also the monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. Her constitutional roles in Mauritius were delegated to a Governor-General. The Parliament of the United Kingdom's Mauritius Independence Act 1968 transformed the British Crown Colony of Mauritius into an independent sovereign state. Unusually, no member of the British royal family attended the independence ceremony on the island because of security concerns. Princess Alexandra was due to attend but after communal violence"
"Mauritius Mauritius (; ), officially the Republic of Mauritius (), is an island nation in the Indian Ocean. The main Island of Mauritius is located about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) off the southeast coast of the African continent. The Republic of Mauritius includes the islands of Rodrigues, Agalega and St. Brandon. The capital and largest city Port Louis is located on the main island of Mauritius. In 1598, the Dutch took possession of the Mauritius. They abandoned Mauritius in 1710 and the French took control of the island in 1715, renaming it the Isle de France. France officially ceded Mauritius"
"at SSR Botanical Garden, and the Line Barracks. Isle de France (Mauritius) Isle de France (""Île de France"" in modern French) was the name of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius and its dependent territories between 1715 and 1810, when the area was under the French East India Company and part of France's empire. Under the French, the island witnessed major changes. The increasing importance of agriculture led to the importation of slaves and the undertaking of vast infrastructural works that transformed Port Louis into a major capital, port, warehousing, and commercial centre. During the Napoleonic wars, Île de France"
"of a MSM-PMSD-ML coalition (known as ""L'alliance Lepep"") and Sir Aneerood Jugnauth became Prime Minister while Kailash Prayag remained the president until 2016 when Mrs Ameena Gureeb Fakim became the first female president. History of Mauritius The known history of Mauritius begins with its discovery by Arabs, followed by Europeans and its appearance on maps in the early 16th century. Mauritius was successively colonized by the Dutch, the French and the British, and became independent in 1968. Mauritius was first discovered by the Arabs. This is corroborated by the earliest existing historical evidence of an island, now known as Mauritius,"
"The planters received a compensation of two million pounds sterling for the loss of their slaves which had been imported from Africa and Madagascar during the French occupation. Sir George Ferguson Bowen was governor from 1879 to 1883. Mauritian Creoles trace their origins to the plantation owners and slaves who were brought to work the sugar fields. When slavery was abolished on 1 February 1835, an attempt was made to secure a cheap source of adaptable labour for intensive sugar plantations in Mauritius. Indentured labour began with Chinese, Malay, African and Malagasy labourers, but ultimately, it was India which supplied"
"accounted for 40 percent of Mauritius's arable lands. They eventually took control of a substantial part of the agricultural economy, leading to the growth of rural villages and giving rise to a bourgeoisie that would continue to influence to island's post-colonial politics. Meanwhile, the second-generation Indian immigrants, who were exposed to the cultures of foreign land and were more attuned to British policies, were able to work beyond the agricultural sector. These Western-educated skilled professionals were employed by the British in the Colonial Service. In the British territories bordering the Indian Ocean, they took up a large share of the"
"of Mauritian derives from the Portuguese element in European maritime jargon (such as the Mediterranean Lingua Franca) or from enslaved Africans or Asians who came from areas in which Portuguese was used as a trade language. Similarly, while the Dutch had a colony on Mauritius between 1638 and 1710, all the Dutch settlers evacuated the island to Réunion, leaving behind only a few runaway slaves who would have no discernible impact on Mauritian. The French then claimed Mauritius and first settled it between 1715 and 1721. As they had done on Réunion and in the West Indies, the French created"
"government commissioner where appeal from neighbouring Seychelles was also allowed. Despite winning the Battle of Grand Port, the only French naval victory over the British during these wars, the French could not prevent the British from landing at Cap Malheureux during 1810. They formally surrendered the island on the fifth day of the invasion, 3 December 1810, on terms allowing settlers to keep their land and property and to use the French language and law of France in criminal and civil matters. Under British rule, the island's name reverted to Mauritius. The British rule established a two tier system where"