Mauritius research & history

GENERAL FACTS

HISTORY

Had no indigenous population predating European colonisers
Its history is pleasantly free of episodes of brutality until slavery – key to understanding the country’s culture of tolerance and easy acceptance of all people
Arab traders knew of the island as early as 10th century
First Europeans to discover the island were the Portuguese around 1507 – were interested in trade rather than settling
In 1598 Dutch sailors claimed the island for the Netherlands – eventually settled however the colony never really flourished and they abandoned it in 1710
Dutch were responsible for extinction on the dodo and for introducing slaves from Africa, deer from Java, wild boar, tobacco and sugar cane
The French claimed Mauritius in 1715 – they transformed Port Louis into a thriving seaport, built the first sugar mill and established a road network
The English gained the upper hand in the Indian Ocean in the later 18th century
British moved in on Mauritius in 1810 as part of grand plan to control Indian Ocean
New British rulers renamed the island Mauritius but allowed the Franco-Mauritians to retain their language, religion and legal system as well as sugar-cane plantations which the economy depended on
Salves were freed in 1835, by which time there were 70,000 people on the island
Independence was finally granted in 1968

MAURITIAN PEOPLE & RELIGION

2/3 of population is of Indo-Pakistani origin – most are desendents of indentured labourers brought to work in the sugar industry during 19th and early 20th centuries
1/4 of population is Creole (mixed French and African descent)
Also small numbers of people of Chinese and Franco-Mauritian descent
1/2 population is Hindu, 1/3 is Christian and a small remainder are Muslim or Buddhist
Ethnic and religious diversity of Mauritius means there are many holidays and festivals scheduled in the year – includes Hindu festivals (Maha Shivaratree and Divali), Muslim festival Id al-Fitr marking the end of Ramadan and many more.
The entire country observes Abolition of Slavery Day on 1st February, Republic Day on 12th March, Labour Day on 1st May and Arrival of Indentured Labourers Day on 2nd November

CULTURE

Known for Sega, a popular folk dance – can be traced back to the 18th century
Sega is combination of music and dance originally by African slaves
At the end of a hard day in the cane fields, couples danced the Sega around campfires on the beach to drums
The dance is traditionally accompanied by the beat of the ravanne – a goatskin drum
Mauritian cuisine is a rich mix of Indian spices and fresh local ingredients with strong influences from Chinese, French and African cuisine
Street food consists of dhal puri (lentil dhal served with chapatti) and boulettes (tiny steamed Chinese dumplings)
National drink is rum
Tea is very popular with the vanilla tea being the most famous – there is also a tea plantation called Bois Cheri (which I have visited!) in southern Mauritius
During Hindu and Muslim festivals, flavoured drinks such as lassi (Indian yoghurt drink) and almond milk (almond and cardamon-flavoured milk) are prepared
The Sari is a traditional dress for Mauritian of Indian origins – some traditional Indo-Mauritians wear Dhoti Kurta while others mixed the Dhoti Kurta with a Western-style shirt.
Bright jewellery is commonly worn among Indo-Mauritian women
The “Sundowner” (meaning the “sunset”) is a traditional weekend and holiday ritual where Mauritians meet on the beach to enjoy the last rays of the sun

NATURE & WILDLIFE

Mauritius is the peak of an enormous volcanic chain, however, has no active volcanoes
Has only one native mammal which is the fruit bat
Other animals on the island were introduced by colonists e.g. mongooses were introduced from India in late 19th century to control plague-carrying rats
There are also macaque monkeys, java deer and wild pigs
Spinner dolphins are the most common marine species and there are also bottlenose dolphins
Common species of shark include grey reef, bull, blacktip, leopard and white-tip
From July/August to October/November humpback whales migrate along the west coast
Mauritius once had the largest number of giant tortoises on the planet, the Galapagos giant tortoise
All tortoise species in Mauritius were driven to extinction during the colonial period – the only surviving species, the Aldabra giant tortoise, from the neighbouring island Seychelles was then introduced after the year 2000
Native reptiles include turquoise and red ornate day gecko and Telfair’s skink (a clawed lizard)
Dodo is Mauritius’ most famous inhabitant (also driven to extinction during early colonial period) – also many other species of bird
1/3 of 900 plant species are unique to Mauritius
Has coconut palm trees, casuarinas, eucalyptus, giant Indian banyan and royal poinciana
Anthurium is a common flower

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