Editing History of Mauritius (section)

==British rule (1810–1968)==
[[File:Isle of France, 2 December 1810.jpg|thumb|''The taking of the Isle of France 2 December 1810'', G. Thompson]]
[[File:Curepipe Cerfs.jpg|thumb|Deer-hunting in [[Curepipe]], circa 1900]]
{{main article|British Mauritius}}
Despite the only French naval victory (during the Napoleonic Wars) of [[Battle of Grand Port]] on 19 and 20 August 1810 by a fleet commanded by [[Pierre François Etienne Bouvet de Maisonneuve|Pierre Bouvet]], [[Invasion of Île de France|Mauritius was captured]] on 3 December 1810 by the British under [[Commodore (rank)|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 of British Mauritius|governor]], was followed by rapid social and economic changes. An important figure of the 19th century was [[Rémy Ollier]], a journalist of mixed origin. In 1828, the colour bar was officially abolished in Mauritius, but British governors gave little power to coloured persons, and appointed only whites as leading officials. Rémy Ollier petitioned to [[Queen Victoria]] to allow coloureds in the council of government, and this became possible a few years later. He also made Port Louis become a municipality so that the citizens could administer the town through their own elected representatives. A street has been named after him in Port Louis, and his bust was erected in the [[Jardin de la Compagnie]] in 1906.<ref name="Toussaint">''A short History of Mauritius'', P.J. Barnwell & A. Toussaint</ref> One of the most important events was the abolition of slavery on 1 February 1835. The planters received compensation of two million pounds sterling for the loss of their slaves who had been imported from Africa and Madagascar during the French occupation.
[[George Bowen|Sir George Ferguson Bowen]] was [[Governor of British Mauritius|governor]] from 1879 to 1883.

Mauritian [[Creole peoples|Creole]]s trace their origins to the plantation owners and slaves who were brought to work the sugar fields. 
When slavery was abolished on 1 February 1835, an attempt was made to secure a cheap source of adaptable labour for intensive sugar plantations in Mauritius. Indentured labour began with Chinese, Malay, African and Malagasy labourers, but ultimately, it was India which supplied the much needed laborers to Mauritius. This period of intensive use of Indian labour took place during [[British rule]], with many brutal episodes and a long struggle by the indentured for respect. The term applied to the indentured during this period, and which has since become a derogatory term for Mauritians of Asian descent, was [[Coolie]]. The island soon became the key-point in the trade of indentured laborers, as thousands of Indians set forth from [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] or [[Karikal]]; not only did they modify the social, political and economic physiognomies of the island, but some also went farther, to the West Indies.

[[Indo-Mauritian]]s are descended from Indian immigrants, most of whom arrived between 1835 and 1924 via the [[Aapravasi Ghat|Coolie Ghat]] to work as [[Indian indenture system|indentured labourers]] after slavery was abolished in 1835.<ref name="coolitude">{{cite web | last = Torabully | first = Khal | title =Coolitude and the symbolism of the Aapravasi ghat | date=2 November 2007 | url = http://www.potomitan.info/torabully/aapravasi.php|access-date=10 September 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Arrival of indentured labourers |url=https://www.coquillebonheur.com/en/news/arrival-of-indentured-labourers.html |publisher=Coquille Bonheur |access-date=2020-08-07}}</ref> Included in the Indo-Mauritian community are [[Muslim]]s (about 17% of the population) from the Indian subcontinent. Events such as the [[1850 Yamsé Ghoon Riots]] indicated the prevalence of ethnic tensions against the newly arrived Muslims from India. 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. In November 1901, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] visited Mauritius, on his way from South Africa to India. He stayed on the island for two weeks, and urged the Indo-Mauritian community to take an interest in education and to play a more active role in politics. Back in India, he sent over a young lawyer, [[Manilal Doctor]], to improve the plight of the Indo-Mauritians.<ref name="Dinan">''Mauritius in the making across the censuses 1846–2000'', Monique Dinan. {{ISBN|99903-904-6-0}}</ref>

The meeting of a mosaic of people from India, China, Africa and Europe began a process of hybridisation and [[intercultural]] frictions and dialogues, which poet [[Khal Torabully]] has termed "coolitude".<ref>Khal Torabully, ''Coolitude : An Anthology of the Indian Labour Diaspora'' (with Marina Carter, Anthem Press, London, 2002) {{ISBN|1-84331-003-1}}</ref> This social reality is a major reference for [[Cultural identity|identity]] opened to [[Alterity|otherness]] and is widely used{{clarify|for what|date=December 2022}} in [[Mauritius]] where it represents a [[humanism]] of [[Multiculturalism|diversity]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ng Tseung-Wong |first1=Caroline |last2=Verkuyten |first2=Maykel |date=January 9, 2015 |title=Multiculturalism, Mauritian Style: Cultural Diversity, Belonging, and a Secular State |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002764214566498 |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |language=en |volume=59 |issue=6 |pages=679–701 |doi=10.1177/0002764214566498 |s2cid=144906729 |issn=0002-7642}}</ref>

[[File:Visual Art of the first indentured Indian labourers arriving in Mauritius (1834).jpg | thumb|220x124px | right|Painting depicting the first indentured Indian labourers arriving in Mauritius, by Raouf Oderuth]]

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 reduced the number of ships transiting via Mauritius. This had a detrimental impact on the local economy.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jeannot |first1=Alain |title=Les femmes, la transmission et la mission de la cohésion nationale |date=25 March 2021 |url=https://www.lemauricien.com/le-mauricien/les-femmes-la-transmission-et-la-mission-de-la-cohesion-nationale/411846/ |publisher=Le Mauricien |access-date=2021-03-25}}</ref>

[[Violence|Conflicts]] arose between the Indian community (mostly sugarcane labourers) and the Franco-Mauritians in the 1920s, leading to several{{spaced ndash}}mainly Indian{{spaced ndash}}deaths. Following this, the [[Mauritius Labour Party]] was founded in 1936 by [[Maurice Curé]] to safeguard the interest of the labourers. Curé was succeeded a year later by [[Emmanuel Anquetil]] who tried to gain the support of the port workers. After his death, [[Guy Rozemont]] took over the leadership of the party.

The Mauritius Territorial Force, comprising [[coastal artillery]] and infantry formations was created in 1934.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mauritius-Territorial-Force-Regulations-1934/dp/B0014TXSYG|title=Mauritius Territorial Force Regulations, 1934|first=Island of Mauritius Mauritius Territorial|last=Force|via=Amazon}}</ref> Due to the escalation of the [[World War II|Second World War]], the force expanded to comprise two battalions.<ref>p. 325 Jackson, Ashley ''The British Empire and the Second World War'', A&C Black, 9 Mar 2006</ref> It was renamed the Mauritius Regiment in 1943.

During the [[World War II]], thousands of Mauritians volunteered or were conscripted as military labourers, construction workers or infantry soldiers. Many served in the [[Royal Pioneer Corps]] in the Middle East and Southern Europe. Several Franco-Mauritians were killed while serving as agents of the [[List of SOE agents|Special Operations Executive]], regular British forces or the [[French Liberation Army|Free French Forces]]. In December 1943, the 1000-strong Mauritius Regiment mutinied on Madagascar when the soldiers felt betrayed for being sent abroad, as they had enlisted for service only in Mauritius.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Ashley |title=War and Empire in Mauritius and the Indian Ocean |date=2001 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London }}</ref>

Mauritius was an important base for cable and wireless [[Signals intelligence|information gathering]] as well as a base to counter the activities of Japanese submarines and the German [[Monsun Gruppe|Monsoon Group]].

More than 1500 Central European jews were denied entry to Palestine in 1940 by the British and instead [[History of the Jews in Mauritius#Patria and World War II|detained in Beau Bassin]] until 1945.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jewish Detainees Mauritius |url=https://jewishdetaineesmauritius.com/ |website=The Beau Bassin Jewish Detainees Memorial & Information Centre}}</ref>

[[1948 Mauritian general election|Elections in August 1948]] for the newly created Legislative Council (under the revised 1947 Constitution) marked Mauritius's first steps toward self-rule.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brief history of Mauritius |url=http://www.un.int/mauritius/history.htm |website=Mauritius Mission to the UN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927024140/http://www.un.int/mauritius/history.htm |access-date=2006-10-02|archive-date=2010-09-27 }}</ref> It was the first time that women were represented and a significant number of Indo-Mauritians and Creoles were elected. The previous Council of Government was replaced by the new Legislative Council composed of 19 elected members, 12 members nominated by the Governor and 3 ex-officio members. The first sitting of the Legislative Council took place on 1 September 1948.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mauritius: A Country Study |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-8615.html |website=Country-Data.com |access-date=2020-06-07}}</ref>