Mauritius was a
Crown colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
off the Southeast coast of Africa. Formerly part of the
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
, British rule in Mauritius was established de facto with the
Invasion of Isle de France
The Invasion of Isle de France was a complicated but successful British amphibious operation in the Indian Ocean, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. During the operation, a substantial military force was landed by the Royal N ...
in November 1810, and de jure by the subsequent
Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France:
Treaties
1200s and 1300s
* Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade
* Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France
* Trea ...
. British rule ended on 12 March 1968, when Mauritius became independent.
History of british
Isle de France, which consisted of
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
and some other islands had been under French rule since 1715. However, during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, despite the French naval victory in the
Battle of Grand Port
The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Isle de France (now Mau ...
on 20–27 August 1810,
Mauritius was captured on 3 December 1810 by the British under Commodore
Josias Rowley
Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet, (1765 – 10 January 1842), known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was an Anglo-Irish naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in ...
. British possession of the island was confirmed four years later by the
Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France:
Treaties
1200s and 1300s
* Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade
* Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France
* Trea ...
in 1814. Nonetheless, French institutions, including the
Napoleonic Code of law, were maintained, and the French language was still more widely used than English.
The
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
administration, with
Robert Townsend Farquhar as the first governor, brought about rapid social and economic changes. One of the most important was the abolition of slavery on 1 February 1835. Around 3,000
Franco-Mauritian
Franco-Mauritians are an ethnic group from Mauritius who trace their ethnic ancestry to France and ethnic French people. Franco-Mauritians make up approximately 2% of the country's population.
Origins
The first French settlers arrived in Maurit ...
planters received their share of the British government's compensation of 20 million pounds sterling (£20m) for the liberation of about 20,000 slaves, who had been imported from Africa and Madagascar during the French occupation.
The
Mauritian Creole people
Mauritian Creoles are the people on the island of Mauritius and in the wider overseas Mauritian diaspora who trace their roots to continental and Malagasy Africans who were brought to Mauritius under slavery from the seventeenth to the ninetee ...
trace their origins to the plantation owners and slaves who worked in the sugar fields.
Indo-Mauritian
Indo-Mauritians are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to Indian subcontinent or other parts of South Asia.
History
During the administration of the French East India Company (until 1767) and subsequent French rule at least 12,000 work ...
s are descended from Indian immigrants who arrived in the 19th century via the
Aapravasi Ghat
The Immigration Depot ( hi, आप्रवासी घाट, ISO: ''Āpravāsī Ghāta'') is a building complex located in Port Louis on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, the first British colony to receive indentured, or contracted, la ...
in order to work as indentured labourers after slavery was abolished. Included in the Indo-Mauritian community are Muslims (about 17% of the population) from the Indian subcontinent. In 1885,
a new constitution was introduced. The Franco-Mauritian elite controlled nearly all of the large sugar estates and was active in business and banking. As the Indian population became numerically dominant and the voting franchise was extended, political power shifted from the
Franco-Mauritian
Franco-Mauritians are an ethnic group from Mauritius who trace their ethnic ancestry to France and ethnic French people. Franco-Mauritians make up approximately 2% of the country's population.
Origins
The first French settlers arrived in Maurit ...
s and their Creole allies to the Indo-Mauritians.
Conflicts arose between the Indian community (mostly sugarcane labourers) and the Franco-Mauritians in the 1920s, leading to several (mainly Indian) deaths. Following this, the
Mauritius Labour Party
The Labour Party (french: Parti Travailliste, PTr) is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Mauritius. It is one of four main Mauritian political parties along, with the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), the Militant Socialist Mo ...
was founded in 1936 by
Maurice Curé
Maurice Curé (1886-1977) was one of the founders of the Labour Party in Mauritius in 1936.
Early life
Jules Maurice Curé was born on 3 September 1886. He completed his secondary education at Royal College Curepipe where he was a "Laureate" in ...
to safeguard the interest of the labourers. Curé was succeeded a year later by
Emmanuel Anquetil
Emmanuel Anquetil (1885-1946) was a Mauritian trade unionist, and the second leader of the Mauritius Labour Party.
Early life
Emmanuel (Jean Baptiste Caromi) Anquetil was born on 18 August 1885 at the Bassin Estate, Plaine Wilhems, to Jean Volmy a ...
, who tried to gain the support of the port workers and was thus exiled to the island of Rodrigues in 1938. After his death,
Guy Rozemont
Guy Rozemont (1915–1956) was a Mauritian trade unionist and the third leader of the Mauritius Labour Party. He fought for workers' rights and voiced against the injustice done against them. He played a crucial role in shaping the government, ...
took over the leadership of the party. Following the
Uba riots of 1937
The Uba riots of 1937 or simply the Mauritian riots of 1937 refers to an outbreak of riots and civil disturbances that broke out amongst small scale sugar cane growers on the island of Mauritius in August 1937. The riots led to the death of 4 pe ...
the local British government instituted significant reforms that un-banned labour unions, improved channels of arbitration between labourers and employers, and improved working conditions.
However even deadlier riots broke out again in 1943 which became known as the
Belle Vue Harel Massacre
The 1943 Belle Vue Harel Massacre refers to a significant strike which escalated into riots amongst labourers working in the fields of the Belle Vue Harel Sugar Estate, near the village of Belle Vue Harel on the island of Mauritius in September ...
.
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 series of ethnic riots such as the
1965 Mauritius race riots,
August 1967 riots and
ten day period of violent riots (January 1968) that resulted from ethnic tensions.
See also
*
Governors of Mauritius Mauritius has been administered by various colonial head since it was discovered until it became an independent state;
* Governor of Dutch Mauritius (Opperhoofd of Mauritius) – 1598 to 1718
* Governor of Isle de France (Mauritius) (Gouverneur d'I ...
References
External links
*
{{British overseas territories
History of Mauritius
1810 establishments in the British Empire
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
1968 disestablishments in Africa
1810s establishments in Africa
States and territories disestablished in 1968