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The island had for a long time remained unknown and uninhabited. It was probably visited by Arab sailors during the Middle Ages, and on maps of about 1500, it is shown by an Arabic name `Dina Arobi'. The Portuguese sailor Domingo Fernandez Pereira was probably the first European to land on the island at around 1511. The island appears with a Portuguese name `Cirne' on early Portuguese maps, probably because of the presence of the Dodo, a flightless bird which was found in great numbers at that time.
In 1598, a Dutch squadron, under the orders of Admiral Wybrand Van Warwyck, landed at Grand Port and named the island Mauritius, in honour of Prince Maurice Van Nassau, "Stathouder" of Holland. However, it was not until 1638 that there was a first attempt of Dutch settlement. It was from here that the famous Dutch navigator Tasman set out to discover the western part of Australia. The first Dutch settlement lasted only twenty years. Several attempts were subsequently made, but the settlements never developed enough to produce dividends and the Dutch finally left Mauritius in 1710. They are remembered for the introduction of sugarcane, domestic animals and deer. La Bourdonnais established Port Louis as a naval base and a ship-building centre. Under his governorship, numerous buildings were put up, a number of which are still standing to-day - part of Government House, the Chateau de Mon Plaisir at Pamplemousses, the Line Barracks The island was under the administration of the French East India Company which maintained its presence until 1767. From that year until 1810, it was in charge of officials appointed by the French Government, except for a brief period during the French Revolution, when the inhabitants set up a government virtually independent of France. During the Napoleonic wars, the Isle de France had become a base from which French corsairs organised successful raids on British commercial ships. The raids continued until 1810 when a strong British expedition was sent to capture the island. A preliminary attack was foiled at Grand Port in August 1810, but the main attack launched in December of the same year from Rodrigues, which had been captured a year earlier, was successful. The British landed in large numbers in the north of the island and rapidly overpowered the French, who capitulated. By the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the Isle de France which regained its former name `Mauritius' was ceded definitely to Great Britain, together with its dependencies which included Rodrigues and the Seychelles. In the act of capitulation, the British guaranteed that they would respect the language, the customs, the laws and the traditions of the inhabitants. The British period (1810-1968) The British administration, which began with Robert Farquhar as governor, was followed by rapid social and economic changes. One of the most important events was the abolition of slavery in 1835. 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. The abolition of slavery had important repercussions on the socio-economic and demographic fields. The planters turned to India, from where they brought a large number of indentured labourers to work in the sugar cane fields. The Indian immigrants, who were of both Hindu and Muslim faith, were to change rapidly the fabric of the society. They were later joined by a small number of petty Chinese traders. Cultivation of sugar cane was given a boost and the island flourished, especially with the export of sugar to England. Economic progress necessitated the extension and improvement of means of communication and gradually an adequate infrastructure was created. On the constitutional plane, the Council of Government which was first established in 1825, was enlarged in 1886 to make room for elected representatives. The new council included 10 members elected on a restricted franchise. It was not until 1933 that the Constitution was again amended in a significant respect. The proportion of nominated members of the Council not holding public office was raised to two-thirds. However, franchise was still restricted to persons within a certain income bracket and to proprietors. A major breakthrough occured in 1948, when after years of protracted negotiations for a more liberal constitution, franchise was extended to all adults who could pass a simple literacy test. The Council of Government was replaced by a Legislative Council composed of 19 elected members, 12 members nominated by the Governor and three ex-officio members. General elections were held in August 1948 and the first Legislative Council met on 1st September 1948. Following constitutional conferences held in London in 1995 and 1957, the ministerial system was introduced and general elections were held on 9th March 1959. Voting took place for the first time on the basis of universal adult suffrage and the number of electors rose to 208,684. In 1961, a Constitutional Review Conference was held in London and a programme of further constitutional advance was established. It was followed in 1965 by the last constitutional conference which -paved the way for Mauritius to achieve independence. After general elections in 1967, Mauritius adopted a new constitution and independence was proclaimed on 12 March 1968. Mauritius achieved the status of Republic 24 years later -on 12 March 1992. The various population movements of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries have made Mauritius a unique blend of different races, cultures and religions. People of European, African, Indian and Chinese origins have created a multiracial society where the various cultures and traditions flourish in peace and harmony. The population started to grow under French rule in the 18th century. In 1735, the population had grown to almost a thousand and reached nearly 20,000 in 1767 (fifteen thousand of them slaves). When the British abolished slavery in 1835, the population stood at 100,000. The population increased rapidly with the importation of Indian labourers. Between 1835 and 1865, some 200,000 labourers were brought in. By the turn of the century, the population numbered 371,000 and in 1944 it stood at 419,000. After the Second World War, the increase was more rapid, particularly because of the baby-boom and the drop in the infantile mortality rate. The rate of natural increase which was about 3 per cent in the 60's has considerably dropped with family planning campaigns and greater awareness due to better education. During the last ten years, the population has grown at an average rate of 1.1 per cent annually. At the end of 2000, the population of the Republic of Mauritius was estimated at 1,189,825. The Republic of Mauritius is a sovereign democratic state within the Commonwealth with a long tradition of parliamentary democracy. The Constitution guarantees to the citizen his fundamental rights: right to liberty and protection of the law, freedom of conscience, freedom of association, of movement and of opinion, freedom of expression, freedom of creed and of religious belief as well as the right to private property. The Constitution establishes clearly the separation of powers between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. The National Assembly is the supreme body where its members vote laws, discuss the affairs of the nation and control the use of public funds. The members of the National Assembly are chosen during general elections which take place every five years on the basis of universal adult suffrage and secret ballot. The right to vote is at 18. For electoral purposes, the Mauritian territory is divided into 21 constituencies, the island of Mauritius having 20 constituencies and the island of Rodrigues forming the 21st. Each constituency returns three candidates with the exception of Rodrigues which returns two. The National Assembly comprises 70 members: 62 elected members as well as eight additional seats allocated to "best losers" so as to achieve communal balance without disturbing the political equilibrium established by the election results. The Constitution provides for the nomination of a Leader of the Opposition. The President appoints Leader of the Opposition, the member, who in his opinion, is best able to have the support of the opposition parties in the Assembly. The Head of State is the President of the Republic who is elected by the National Assembly. The President appoints as Prime Minister the member of the Assembly who appears to him best able to command the support of the majority of the members of the Assembly. Acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, the President appoints the Deputy Prime Minister and other ministers from the members of the Assembly. The Prime Minister is the Head of the Government. He presides over the Cabinet of Ministers which is collectively responsible to the National Assembly for any action taken by one of its members. The present government which came into power after general elections held in December 1995 is composed as follows: Responsibility for the conduct of any business of the government, including the responsibility for the administration of any department of any department of the government rests with the Prime Minister and other Ministers. A Minister who has been charged with the responsibility for the administration of any department of the government, exercises general direction and control over that department which is placed under the supervision of a Permanent Secretary or some other supervisory officer whose office is a public office. Government ministries
and departments are the main instruments for advising ministers, for policy
formulation and for the implementation of plans and policies. The term
Civil Service is commonly used to define all personnel holding an office
in the central government, i.e. Ministries and their departments. Civil
Servants are responsible to their
respective Ministers who are alone answerable to the National Assembly
for their policies and actions of their staff in the pursuit of those
policies. The power to appoint
persons to hold or act in any office in the Civil Service, to exercise
disciplinary control over persons holding such offices is vested in the
Public Service Commission. There is also a Disciplined Forces Service
Commission which operates on the same lines as the Public Service Commission.
The members of
both these commissions are appointed by the President of the Republic. Apart from the Civil Service proper as defined above, there are also a number of corporate bodies which are administered and controlled by Boards appointed by the responsible Minister. A few examples are the Central Electricity Board, the Central Water Authority and the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation. A General Manager or Director General is responsible to execute the policy of the Board and to control and manage its day to day business. Appointments of officers are generally the responsibility of the respective boards, The concept of the separation of powers, as defined by the Constitution, guarantees the independence of the judiciary. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the country, it is a superior court of record and the principal court of civil and criminal jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all other courts of the country i.e. District Court, Intermediate Court, Industrial Court and has special jurisdiction to protect the constitutional rights of the citizen. The Constitution has maintained the right of appeal against judgements of the Supreme Court to the Privy Council in Great Britain. Appointments in the judicial service are made by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission. The Ombudsman is appointed by the President of the Republic on the advice of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and of any other person whom he feels are leaders of parties in the Assembly. The Ombudsman has the Power to inquire into allegations of maladministraton which has caused harm to a member of the public as well as into allegations of fraud and corruption. The Constitution provides for a local government to manage local matters. For this purpose Mauritius is divided into towns, districts and villages. There are five municipal councils in the urban areas and in the rural areas there are four district councils under which fall 126 village councils. The five municipal councils are those of Port Louis, Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Quatre Bornes, Vacoas-Phoenix and Curepipe. The four district councils are: Pamplemousse-RiviSre du Rompart, Moka-Flacq, Grand Port-Savanna and Black River. The district councils consist of representatives of village councils. The village council is the smallest unit of local government and has its own constitution and powers to carry out certain functions. The representatives of local authorities are democratically elected during elections which are held every five years. |
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It
was another Portuguese sailor, Don Pedro Mascarenhas, who gave the name
Mascarenes to the group of islands now known as Mauritius, Rodrigues and
R‚union. The Portuguese did not stay long however as they were not
interested in these islands. 
