It is a general belief that Portuguese discovered Mauritius, however Portuguese are the first Europeans to have discovered Mauritius.
However, in reality, it was the Arabs who discovered Mauritius in 1500. In the Alberto Cantino’s map of 1502, the Arab name for Mauritius Island appeared as “Dina Arobi – Abandoned Island.” Historians claim that the Arabs communicated this name to the Portuguese which clearly suggests that the Arabs had already discovered Mauritius by the time Portuguese came to Mauritius.
Inspite of discovering the island, both Arabs and Portuguese took no interest in settling there. The Portuguese took no interest in establishing settlements as they were already established in Asia in Goa, on the coast of Malabar, and on the island of Ceylon.
The Portuguese left no trace of their passage in Mauritius, except that it is believed they introduced wild boars to the island.
After Portuguese, it was the Dutch that settled in Mauritius but they abandoned the island in 1710 due to various discouraging factors including famine, diseases, droughts, and cyclones.
After Dutch, it was French that took over Mauritius followed by British. Finally, Mauritius gained their independence in 1968 and has been an independent country since then.