They eventually abandoned their settlements in
1710.Mauritius was known to the early traders, the Arabs, as it can be found marked on their maps, but the first visitors from Europe were the Portuguese who landed in 1510.
They used the island as a victualling stop on the way
to Goa and Malacca but did not settle. The first attempt
at colonisation was made by the Dutch who arrived in 1598
and named the island Mauritius after Prince Maurice of
Nassau. They introduced sugar, Malagasy slaves and a
heard of Javanese deer. But they were also heedlessly destuctive
and are said to be responsive for the disappearance
of the magnificent ebony forests and the extinction of the
DODO.
They eventually abandoned their settlements in
1710.
The French occupied the island which they renamed "Ile de France" between 1715 and 1810 and many place names are reminders of this period. In 1810 with the British take-over, the name reverted to Mauritius. The abolition of slavery led to the importation of the Chinese and the Indian indentured labourers, who were followed by traders of their own nationalities. Mauritius gained independence from the British on 12 March 1968 and since then has been an independent sovereign nation within the British Commonwealth.
On March 12 1992, Mauritius became a republic.
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