Mauritius remained uninhabited until Dutch sailors arrived in 1598 and named the island after Prince Maurice of Nassau. The Dutch established a settlement in 1638 at Grand Port on the southeast coast, introducing sugarcane and importing slaves from Madagascar and mainland Africa to clear the ebony forests. They abandoned the colony in 1710 after cyclones destroyed crops and the ebony supply diminished. The French claimed the island in 1715, renaming it Ile de France, and appointed Mahé de Labourdonnais as governor in 1735. Labourdonnais built Port Louis as the administrative capital and developed sugar plantations using enslaved labor from Mozambique, Senegal, and Madagascar. The British captured the island in December 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars through naval action in Grand Port harbor. Under the Treaty of Paris in 1814, Britain retained the island but allowed French planters to keep their land, the French language to continue in administration, and the Code Napoléon to govern civil law.
The British abolished slavery across their empire on February 1, 1835. Mauritian plantation owners received compensation from London while 66,000 formerly enslaved people gained legal freedom. Most refused to continue working on sugar estates under the new apprenticeship system. To maintain sugar production, the British colonial administration authorized large-scale importation of indentured laborers from India starting in 1834. Between 1834 and 1920, approximately 450,000 Indian workers arrived at Aapravasi Ghat, the immigration depot built in Port Louis in 1849. Most came from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh under five-year contracts that promised return passage. The workers received monthly wages ranging from five to eight rupees, housing in estate camps, and rations of rice and lentils. Many chose to remain after their contracts expired, accepting small plots of land instead of return passage. The Aapravasi Ghat complex received UNESCO World Heritage designation in 2006 as the first site where the modern indentured labor system began.
Hindu and Muslim workers brought their religious practices to the estates. Tamil workers established temples near sugar mills, and Bhojpuri-speaking North Indians built mandirs in the central plateau. In the 1890s, a priest named Pandit Jhummon Giri Gosagne declared that a crater lake in the Black River district was a manifestation of the Ganges River. He named it Ganga Talao. The site became the primary Hindu pilgrimage destination in Mauritius. In 1972, water from the Ganges in India was poured into the lake, and pilgrims began annual foot pilgrimages during Maha Shivaratri, walking from various towns to reach the lake before dawn. A 108-foot statue of Shiva was erected at the lake in 2008. The festival now draws approximately 500,000 participants each February or March depending on the lunar calendar.
Père Jacques-Désiré Laval arrived in Mauritius in 1841 as a Catholic missionary. He focused on converting and providing education and medical care to freed slaves living in Port Louis slums. He learned Mauritian Creole and conducted mass in the language rather than French or Latin. When he died on September 9, 1864, approximately 40,000 people attended his funeral. The Catholic Church declared him Blessed in 1979. His tomb at Sainte-Croix became a pilgrimage site, with an annual gathering of 100,000 people each September 9. The shrine complex includes the original chapel and a larger basilica completed in the mid-20th century.
The Jummah Mosque in Port Louis was built between 1850 and 1853 using funds donated by Muslim merchants, primarily Gujarati traders who had arrived as free immigrants during the indentured labor period. The mosque features Mughal architectural elements including white plaster domes and decorative arches. Chinese immigrants arrived in smaller numbers starting in the 1780s as traders and craftsmen. A second wave came in the mid-19th century, primarily from Guangdong province. They established shops and restaurants in Port Louis and later expanded into retail across the island. The Chinese community built temples in Chinatown and maintained clan associations. Chinese Mauritians numbered approximately 30,000 by the early 21st century.
The Franco-Mauritian population descended from French colonists retained ownership of most sugar estates and dominated the economy after British rule began. They maintained French language, Catholic faith, and endogamous marriage patterns. By independence in 1968, Franco-Mauritians comprised less than two percent of the population but controlled approximately 60 percent of agricultural land and major commercial interests. The Creole population descended from African slaves and also included mixed-race individuals. Many Creoles remained economically marginalized, working as laborers or in service positions. Tensions between the Indo-Mauritian majority and the Creole minority persisted over political representation and economic opportunity.