History of the Meeting

Chronology

Before the 16th century, only the Arab S and Austronésiens (living the Indonesia and the Malaysia of today) know the Indian Ocean. The first name given to the Meeting was it well by the Arabs before 1450: Morgabim dined.

In 1498, Vasco de Gama arrives in this ocean, goes up the Canal of Mozambique, explores Madagascar, the island of Mozambique and goes until Calicut, in India. In the passing, it destroys the town of Kingani in the north of Madagascar. The European colonization of the Indian Ocean starts with this first great forwarding.

1502/1664 Of discovered with the settlement

After the Portuguese, the English, the Dutch and finally the French engages in the colonial adventure. They “discover” the islands and settle there, using labor Esclave, bought mainly in Africa and with Madagascar…

; 1513: At the time of discovered sea routes by Europeans, Pedro de Mascarenhas discovers the Mascareignes the February 9th and baptizes the Réunion name of the Saint of the day: Santa Apollonia. ; 1613: The March 23rd, the admiral Dutch Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff ( Pierre-Guillaume Veruff ), of return of Java, made stopover with the Meeting and baptizes the still uninhabited island England' S forest . It describes a virgin paradisiac island with rivers, animals: tortoise S, Turtle-dove S, Parrot S, Ibis of the Meeting (or recluse), Eel S, Duck S, Goose S, all extremely easy to kill. ; 1638: The June 25th: First taking possession of the Mascareignes islands by the France. ; 1642: The June 29th: Second taking possession of the Mascareignes islands. First unloading in roads of Saint-Paul. ; 1646: 12 mutineers of Fort Dolphin (small counter towards the road of the Indies in the South of Madagascar) are abandoned with the Meeting until August 1649. The September 7th, one brings back them to Fort Dolphin, but some are annoyed to return. A first chart of the island is drawn up with the information of these mutineers. HTTP: /www.reunionweb.org/comment.php?def=decouv first chart. ; 1649: December: Flacourt is allured by the description of the island by the mutineers. The island takes interest then. On the boat the St. Lawrence , Flacourt takes possession for the third time of the Meeting. He baptizes it Île Bourbon . He unloads four heifers there, a bull and he returns with salted pigs. The Bourbon island is always virgin. ; 1654: The second colonization of the island Bourbon by people of “bad company”. ; 1663: The November 10th: the Saint-Charles damping with the Cave of the First French with Saint-Paul. The Bourbon island is definitively occupied by the French. Two French settle there, Louis PAYEN and a colleague, and with them 10 Malagasy servants including 3 women. It becomes colony with whole share and also the first French base of the Indian Ocean.

1665/1764 the period of the Company of the Indies

During one century, the Compagnie of the Indies directly manages the Bourbon island which is conceded to him by the King of France. In 1665, the island accommodates its first governor, Etienne Regnault, agent of the Company of the Indies. The administration creates the first districts, exploits the richnesses (tortoises, game…) and grants the first concessions. In 1667 is born the first known child from Bourbon, but it is probable that the first Malagasy women made in 1663 with Louis Payen already put at the world children. The final colonization of the island starts with the arrival of the first French colonists accompanied by a Malagasy labor which is not yet officially controlled. The “servants” are with the service of the colonists of the Compagnie of the Indies.

; 1665: Etienne Regnault becomes chief of the first true colony. The Bourbon island counts 30 to 35 people. The colony is based with the Jacques Camp on the right mouth of the Étang of Saint-Paul. ; 1667: Holy-Suzanne birth of Saint-Denis and . ; 1671: The Bourbon island counts 76 people. ; 1674: The Bourbon island accommodates the survivors of the massacre of Fort Dolphin, and becomes the only French stopover then on the road of the Indies. The island counts 150 people then. During six years, the island will fall into the lapse of memory and the colony will thrive… ; 1680: The Father Bernardin tries to interest Louis XIV in the Bourbon island. ; 1686: The Bourbon island counts 216 people. ; 1689: Mr. De Vauboulon becomes the first administrator and legislator of the island. ; 1700: Versailles takes into account this stopover on the road of the Indies. The island is attended more and more. ; 1704: The island counts 734 people. ; 1718: New richness of the island, the Café inserts Bourbon in the great adventure of economic prosperity. The development of this resource is accompanied by a fort running of importation of slaves. ; 1719: Until 1735, the annual export of coffee reaches the 100.000 books. The Bourbon island “accommodates” 1.500 additional slaves per annum. They come from Africa, the India and Madagascar. ; 1735: Bertrand-François Mahé of Bourdonnais becomes the first general governor of the islands of Bourbon and of France. The island of France becomes more important than Bourbon: it profits from a natural port, Port-Louis, bases naval ideal for the maritime fight that England and France for the domination of India deliver themselves. The Island Bourbon is confined with the role of provider of the Ile de France and the fleets of war and trade in foodstuffs. ; 1738: Saint-Denis becomes the Chef-lieu of the island to the detriment of Saint-Paul. ; 1741: The young people of the Bourbon island are recruited for the war against the British in India. ; 1744: The production of coffee reaches 2.500.000 books. The island counts 2.500 inhabitants. ; 1756: Until 1763, the Bourbon island takes part in the conflict opposing France to the British in India. ; 1764: The king repurchases the Mascareignes with the Compagnie of the Indies after the bankruptcy of the latter. The island between during 30 years during one economic time very ostentation with the export of the spice S and the Coffee.

1764/1788 the royal period

During this time, the island knows many administrative and legal changes. On the economic plan, it is the period of spices. The governor Pierre Poivre introduces in particular spices (clove, nutmeg) which bring a modest complement to the culture of the coffee. The action of Pierre Poivre considerably enriched and diversified the flora of the Island.

; 1767: The July 14th, France recovers officially the Mascareignes. ; 1768: The Bourbon island counts 45.000 free slaves and 26.284 inhabitants (White and free of color). ; 1772: Plantation of the first girofliers in the island. ; 1788: The island counts 47.195 inhabitants.

1789/1815 the revolutionary and imperial period

These two periods are turbid periods for the island, which undergoes the by-effects of the wars of the Revolution and the Empire. The tensions are born especially when the Colonial Parliament created by the Revolution refuses to abolish the Esclavage.

The Bourbon island becomes in 1793 the island of the Meeting. However Napoleon again transforms the statute of the island while placing it under the authority of a general captain residing in island of France. The colonial assembly is removed and the slavery restored in 1802.

The island takes the name of Bonaparte island in 1806. It will take again the name of Bourbon in 1814.

; 1789: Revolution: the colonial assembly seizes the power with the hands of the royal administration. ; 1793: Until 1795, the island knows a serious shortage of foodstuffs, but thanks to the corsairs, she manages to remain. ; 1794: The April 8th, the island breaks with the past and adopts the name of island of the Meeting following the Meeting of the revolutionists who drove out king Bourbon of the throne. The royalist governor is stopped. ; 1795: The island refuses the abolition of slavery but adopts a more flexible system. The Meeting is subjected to the revolutionary mode Montagnard. ; 1796: Official refusal of the abolition of the Slavery. ; 1798: The Meeting becomes outlaw with respect to the metropolis and is locked up in an autonomy. ; 1799: The colonial assembly imposes on the island a true dictatorship. ; 1801: The Meeting returns under the control of France after the takeover of Bonaparte. ; 1806: August, the Meeting takes the name of Bonaparte island. ; 1807: Exceptional natural disasters devastate all the cultures of Café and giroflier. These events precipitate the abandonment of the coffee, whose economic interest declines. The owners turn to the Canne to sugar, whose outlets in metropolis were acroissent considerably since the loss, by France, of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and with the passage of the Ile de France (Mauritius) under English domination. ; 1808: The island, without defense, undergoes the blockade of the British fleet. ; 1809:

* From August 16th to 25th, the British unload with Holy-Rose and are pushed back by the national guard of Saint-Benoît.
*Le September 21st, Saint-Paul is conquered by the British, who withdraw themselves immediately.
; 1810:
*Le July 7th, the British unload with the Large Launch and travel towards Saint-Denis.
*Le July 8th takes place the battle of Redoute. The Meeting capitulates. The July 9th, the island takes again the name of Bourbon island. Until 1815, the British occupation is carried out without notable event.
*Le first establishment of higher education opens with Saint-Denis: it is the Royal college.
; 1815: Following the Treaty of Paris of 1814, the British reassign the island in France the April 6th: it is the only island of the Indian Ocean which is returned to France. The island counts 68.309 inhabitants then. The culture of the Canne to sugar develops, but the island cannot provide any more for its food needs.

1815/1848 Of the Restoration to the abolition of slavery

More than 45.000 slaves are introduced in Bourbon between 1817 and 1831. The clandestine draft is tolerated by the authorities of Bourbon in spite of the official prohibition of 1815 (Congrès of Vienna). In 1830, after the Glorious Three, the Monarchy of July control surface in metropolis. The draft is vigorously fought. The laws Mackau (1845) soften the mode of the Esclave S.

; 1820: Epidemic of Cholera. ; 1825: The first displacement of Europe to the Meeting by Steamer takes 113 days. ; 1829: New cyclone which devastates the island. ; 1831: Creation of the chamber of commerce. ; 1832: The first General advice is elected. ; 1840: Discovered artificial insemination of vanilla by Edmond Albius. ; 1845: Preparatory measurements with the abolition of the Slavery. ; 1848:

1849/1946 Of the abolition of slavery to the departmentalization

Slavery is abolished but the island remains a French colony until in 1946. A new system of control of the men - “the Engagisme” or concept more adapted the “servilism” - is at the base of the new economic and social organization of the island. At January 1st 1848, the population slave rises with 62.151 individuals is 60% of the total population. Released the December 20th 1848, freed will have each one a name (allotted by the colonial administration) added with their old name of slave. A minority of them agree to remain near their former Masters, the others rove misérablement in the island or take refuge in the heights of the island in the search of free grounds to clear.

More than 100.000 " engagés" Madagascans, Indians (Hefty fellows) and Africans (Kaffirs) will be introduced into the colony by the owners of former slaves to replace those on the plantations. The island takes the name of island of the Meeting after the promulgation of the decree of the March 7th 1848, the July 9th, 1848 with the Meeting…

; 1849: First elections by the vote for all. ; 1852: Hubert-Delisle becomes Gouverneur the August 8th. ; 1855: Opening of the Natural history museum of natural history. ; 1859:

; 1860:
  • Le April 21st: inauguration of the town hall of Saint-Denis.
  • L' island does not count 179.190 habitants.
  • La crossed in boat from Europe does not ask for any more but one around fifty of days, against the double in 1840.
; 1865: Epidemic of Typhus. ; 1868: Large fire of Salazie. Riot and state of siege to Saint-Denis for six months. ; 1870: The October 22nd: voluntary departure of Creoles for the war against the Prussia. ;: The island counts 193.360 inhabitants. ; 1878: Work for the construction of the port and the Railroad. ; 1882: Delivery of the first two railway lines: Saint-Beno4it cheese - Saint-Denis, the February 11th, and Saint-Louis - Saint-Pierre, the June 19th. ; 1885: End of Indian immigration. ; 1886: Delivery of the Port of the Point of the Rollers. ; 1890: The crossing in boat from Europe takes nothing any more but 21 days. ; 1894: Delivery of the suspended bridge of the River of the East. ; 1897: The Meeting counts 173.190 inhabitants. ; 1900: First car in the island. ; 1901: The island exports 41.500 tons of Sucre. ; 1907: Saint-Gilles entirely burns. ; 1910: Set fire to college of the Meeting, the current college Leconte de Lisle, rebuilt. ; 1911: Creation of the museum of Beautiful arts, the current museum Leon Dierx. ; 1913: Creation of the Academy of the Meeting. ; 1914: The legislative election bloodiest of the Meeting (14 died, 300 wounded). The Creoles take part in the Great War. ; 1923: The Meeting exports the products according to: sugar, Vanilla, Manioc, géranium, Ylang ylang, vétyver, Coffee, Cocoa, The, Tobacco, Pet, aloe, Corn, Fruit S and Vegetable S. ; 1924: Birth of Raymond Barre to Saint-Denis, the April 12th. ; 1925: A connection the Port - Marseilles in Paquebot is inaugurated. ; 1929: November 26th: Landing of the first plane on the island in a field of 300 meters Sainte-Marie. ; 1936: December 19th - December 28th: first air-mail connection Le Bourget - Gillot. ; 1939: The Second world war. ; 1942: The November 30th, the Meeting adopts the free France. ; 1946: The March 19th, the colony is integrated in the French State and becomes French department of overseas. It follows a rapid modernization of the island: education, health, economic growth, demographic expansion…

1947/Today Of the departmentalization to today: the time of the great changes…

Of 1947 at our days, the island of the Meeting knows an acceleration of its history. In one half-century, the social, economic, political upheavals are considerable. The company of plantation of the colonial time leaves the place to the consumer society, but the economy réunionnaise remains fragile, artificial, unbalanced with a hypertrophied tertiary sector and abundant welfare transfers which maintain an assistantship with the catastrophic consequences. In the one half-century space, the population (227 000 inhabitants in 1946) has triplet (740 000 inhabitants in 2004), result of considerable medical progress involving a spectacular fall of mortality while the birthrate remains strong, and, more recently of a gravitational capacity of the Island which attracts more and more immigrants of the metropolis, Europe and Indian Ocean! The economic growth, although strong, is not enough to give activity to all this population, from where importance of unemployment rate. ; 1948
a cyclone devastates the Meeting: winds of 300 km/h make 165 dead and 3 frank billion CFA of damage
; 1952
Beginnings of the Sakay with Madagascar.
; 1960
the cyclones from now on are baptized by female names
; 1962
the island counts 354.294 inhabitants
; 1963
the May 6th, Michel Debré is elected for the first time at the Meeting with the legislative elections.
Michel Debré creates BUMIDOM.
; 1964
Construction of the hydroelectric stopping of Takamaka
; 1965
Saint-Pierre, “capital of the South” becomes Sous-préfecture of the island.
; 1975
marks It CFA franc the abandonment of with the profit of the Franc French.
; 1976
Monseigneur Gilbert Aubry becomes the first bishop réunionnais diocese of the Meeting
the Route of the Littoral, which connects Saint-Denis to the Possession in 11,7 km, is delivered the March 5th after 29 months of work. It cost 230 franc million.
; 1978
First Plays of the islands of the Indian Ocean.
; 1983
the March 2nd, the first District council French is elected. He sits on the Area Meeting
; 1996
the 1 {{er}} January, the president of the Republic Jacques Chirac, founds the social equality with the metropolis.
; 1999
the Meeting counts 700.000 inhabitants.
; 2000
a project of Bidépartementalisation of the Meeting is abandoned.
; 2002
the Cyclone Dined passes to 45 km coasts northern the island (22 January 23rd, 2002).
; 2006
Epidemic of Chikungunya.

Interpretation

; maroon black slaves or, the settlement tops.

Les producing of cane had recourse to the Esclavage to exploit their plantations. The labor came especially from East Africa (the " cafres") , of Madagascar, Guinea and India. A small number of slaves managed to flee of the properties, and sought refuge in the mountainous areas. One calls these slaves the Chestnuts, term creole which means " fugitif" or " sauvage". These runaways were pursued by professional chestnut hunters and the gendarmerie. The considerable increase in manpower of slaves, the existence of chestnuts which were devoted to night plunders, created for the white an increasing climate of insecurity, from which resulted an antagonism growing between white and blacks, an always increased severity of the Masters, revolts of hard repressed slaves… The development of the exploitations coffee-plantations enriched certain owners, but of others, not being able to acquire as many slaves as necessary, saw themselves driven back to yield their properties, ruined by the fall of the courses of the coffee. They took refuge on the heights of the island, living poorly of food crops: they were named the " small white of the hauts". The population of the High increased with these new arrivals and the central zones of the island became populated: circuses of Salazie and Cilaos, the plate of the Plain of the Cabbage trees and the Plain of the Kaffirs.

External bonds

  • Heading History of the '' Journal of the Island of the Meeting ''
  • History of the Meeting, sayings, large mother Kal
  • historun.com - All history of the settlement of the Island of the Meeting
  • slavery and the marronnage with the Meeting - historical File
  • various names of the island
  • phila-reunion.com - postal History of the Meeting

See too

  • Departmental records of the historical Meeting
  • Museum of Villèle
  • Museum of natural history

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