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Mauritius was first officially discovered by the Portuguese as corroborated by Portuguese maps. This is evident in the earliest existing historical evidence of the island on the Cantino Planisphere which was purloined by the Italian diplomat/spy Alberto Cantino from Portugal in 1502. [1]
The island of Mauritius was uninhabited before its first recorded visit by Arab sailors in the end of the 10th century. Its name Dina Arobi has been associated with Arab sailors who first discovered the island. Pedro Mascarenhas, Viceroy of Portuguese India and namesake of the Mascarene Islands.
It has been frequently hypothesized that Mauritius was first discovered by the Arabs, who named the island Dina Arobi. The first historical evidence of the existence of an island now known as Mauritius is on a map produced by the Italian cartographer Alberto Cantino in 1502. [2]
Rodrigues was first discovered by the Arabs but named after Portuguese navigator Diogo Rodrigues. It was under Dutch control in 1601 and settled by the French in 1691. Britain took possession of Rodrigues in 1809. When Mauritius gained independence in 1968, Rodrigues was forcefully joined to it.
Diego Garcia was discovered by Portuguese sailors in 1512 and remained uninhabited until the French began using it as a leper colony and for coconut plantations in the late 18th century. After the Napoleonic Wars, the island was transferred to British control. It remained part of Mauritius until 1965, when it became part of the newly formed BIOT.
Although visited earlier by Maldivians, Malays and Arabs, the first known settlement was a spice plantation established by the French, first on Ste. Anne Island, then moved to Mahé. It is the sovereign state with the shortest history of human settlement (followed by Mauritius). [122] East Pacific: Floreana Island: 1805: Black Beach
It was the first human settlement in Mauritius. The Vieux Grand Port Historic Site is a National Heritage site, which contains the ruins of Fort Frederik Henrik, named after Frederik Henrik, Prince of Orange. The Dutch discovered Mauritius in 1598, and built the fort in 1638. When the Dutch abandoned Mauritius in 1710, they destroyed the fort.
The first settlement on the islands was founded by M. de Rosemond. Upon his arrival in August 1808, he discovered the bodies of two castaways and a bottle containing notes written by one of them, the privateer Robert Dufour. The only hill on the islands, Montagne d'Emmerez, derives its name from the second shipwrecked sailor, a Mauritian called ...