British Mauritius

Mauritius
Crown Colony
← 1810–1968 →   →   →   →
Flag Coat of arms
Motto "Stella Clavisque Maris Indici"  (Latin) "Star and Key of the Indian Ocean"
Anthem God Save the Queen
Location of the Crown Colony of Mauritius
Capital		Port Louis
Languages		English, French, Mauritian creole, Chagossian creole, Bhojpuri
Government		Crown Colony
Governor
-	1810–1823	Robert Townsend Farquhar
-	1962–1968	John Shaw Rennie
Chief Minister
-	1961–1968	Seewoosagur Ramgoolam
Legislature		Legislative Assembly
History
-	Established	3 December 1810
-	Treaty of Paris	30 May 1814
-	Seychelles separated as a crown colony	1903
-	Agreement between the British and the French for Tromelin Island	1954
-	Detachment of the Chagos Archipelago and BIOT formed	8 November 1965
-	Independence	12 March 1968
Area
-	1952	2,103.17 km² (812 sq mi)
Population
-	1952 est.	516,556
Density		245.6 /km²  (636.1 /sq mi)
-	1962 est.	701,016
Density		333.3 /km²  (863.3 /sq mi)
Currency		Mauritian dollar (1820–1877) Mauritian rupee (1877–1968)
Today part of		Mauritius Seychelles French Southern and Antarctic Lands British Indian Ocean Territory

British Mauritius was a British crown colony. Despite the only French naval victory (during the Napoleonic Wars) of Battle of Grand Port on 20–27 August 1810 by a fleet commanded by Pierre Bouvet, Mauritius was captured on 3 December 1810 by the British under Commodore Josias Rowley. Their possession of the island was confirmed four years later by the Treaty of Paris (1814). French institutions, including the Napoleonic Code of law, were maintained. The French language was at that moment still used more widely than English.

The British administration, which began with Robert Townsend Farquhar as governor, was followed by rapid social and economic changes. One of the most important events was the abolition of slavery on 1 February 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 Mauritian Creole people trace their origins to the plantation owners and slaves who were brought to work the sugar fields. Indo-Mauritians are descended from Indian immigrants who arrived in the 19th century via the Aapravasi Ghat in order to work as indentured laborers after slavery was abolished in 1835. Included in the Indo-Mauritian community are Muslims (about 17% of the population) from the Indian subcontinent. 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-Mauritians and their Creole allies to the Indo-Mauritians.

Sir George Bowen was governor from 1879 to 1883.

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 was founded in 1936 by Maurice Cure to safeguard the interest of the labourers. Cure was succeeded a year later by Emmanuel Anquetil who tried to gain the support of the port workers. After his death, Guy Rozemond took over the leadership of the party.

See also

• British governor of Mauritius