Mauritius Historical Background

Believe it or not, this beautiful island was uninhabited until the end of the 16th century (although Arab, Malay and Portuguese mariners stopped here several times before that). Mauritius was finally settled by the Dutch in 1598, who stayed till 1710, and gave Mauritius its name after the Dutch king Maurice. The period of Dutch colonial rule was environmentally disastrous for Mauritius—it resulted in massive deforestation due to the setting up of sugarcane plantations, the destruction of existing biodiversity and the extermination of indigenous wildlife (most famously, the dodo).

The next phase of colonization belongs to the French—they imported African slaves and administered profitable plantations that produced sugar, cotton, indigo, cloves, nutmeg and other spices. The French found Mauritius a convenient base to torment British ships on their way to India. This merry game of ‘imperialists and pirates’ continued till 1810, when the British finally defeated the French. To add insult to injury, the French were forced to cede Mauritius to the British at the end of the Napoleonic wars, although the British promised to retain many existing French customs.

1835—slavery was abolished on the island, leading to a massive labour shortage. Solution? Simple—import indentured labourers from India. This was carried out on such a large scale that the ethnic composition of the island was altered forever--today, about 70% of the population is of Indian descent.

The main political resistance to colonial rule was carried on through the Labour Party that was formed in 1936 and was initially dominated by Franco-Mauritian planters. By 1953, however, a coalition of Indo-Mauritians had come to dominate the party and under the call to ‘defend the Hindu interest’, secured an electoral majority. In reaction, most of the Creole population joined the conservative PMSD, thus fracturing working class unity.

Formal independence came in 1968, by which time Seewoosagar Ramgoolam’s Labour Party-CAM (Muslim) had formed a pro-South Africa, pro-France conservative ruling coalition with the PMSD. A leftist alliance between the far-left MMM and the PSM led by Anerod Jugnauth from 1983-95 gave Mauritius an alternative from the pre-exisitng semi-authoritarian rule. However, the conservatives came back to power in 1995, led by Navin Ramgoolam, the son of former Prime Minister Seewoosagar Ramgoolam.