History of Seychelles
Following the fall of Mauritius to British forces, Captain Phillip Beaver of the Nisus arrived at Mahé on 23 April 1811 and took possession of Seychelles as a permanent colony of Britain.
Arabs were trading the highly valued coco de mer nuts, found only in Seychelles, long before European discovery of the islands.
They found an uninhabited island with plentiful fresh water, fish, coconuts, birds, turtles and giant tortoises with which to replenish their stores.
Towards the end of the 17th century, pirates arrived in the Indian Ocean from the Caribbean and made a base in Madagascar, from where they preyed upon vessels approaching and leaving the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
On 21 November 1742, the Elisabeth and the Charles anchored off Mahé at Anse Boileau (not Baie Lazare, later mistakenly named as Picault's landing place).
In 1769, the navigators Rochon and Grenier proved that a faster route to India could safely be taken via the Seychelles, and thus the importance of the islands' strategic position was realised.
It was considered fortuitous when Brayer du Barré (unknown-1777) arrived on Mauritius with royal permission to run a settlement on St Anne at his own expense.
French colonists then brought large numbers of creole slaves from Mauritius to the Seychelles - they became the ancestors of the present population.
Mauritius sent as replacement a man of stronger mettle, Jean Baptiste Philogene de Malavois, who assumed command of the settlement in 1788.
The British frigate Orpheus commanded by Captain Henry Newcome arrived at Mahé on 16 May 1794, together with the Centurion, the Resistance and two prizes.
Seychelles acted as a haven for French corsairs (pirates carrying lettres de marque entitling them to prey legally on enemy shipping).
Quincy hoped this might go unnoticed, but in 1794 a squadron of three British ships arrived led by the frigate "Orpheus" commanded by Henry Newcome.
The British ship Victor was seriously disabled by damage to her rigging, but she was able to manoeuvre broadside to the French vessel La Flêche and rake her with incessant fire.
The opposing commanders met ashore afterwards, the Englishman warmly congratulating his French counterpart on his courage and skill during the battle.
It was but a small triumph amidst many frustrations, and Sullivan, complaining that the Seychellois had "no sense of honour, shame or honesty", The first civilian administrator of the British regime was Edward Madge.
The situation was only improved when planters realised they could grow coconuts with less labour and more profit than the traditional crops of cotton, sugar, rice, and maize.
Sultan Abdullah's son took home with him one of the popular local French tunes by the islanders, "La Rosalie" and incorporated it into the national anthem of his country.
After 1929, a more liberal flow of funds was ensured by the Colonial Development Act, but it was a time of economic depression; the price of copra was falling and so were wages.
The late James Mancham's Seychelles Democratic Party (SDP), created the same year, by contrast represented businessmen and planters and wanted closer integration with Britain.
The author John Perkins has alleged that this was part of a covert action to re-install the pro-American former president in the face of concerns about United States access to its military bases in Diego Garcia.
[5][better source needed] The government was threatened again by an army mutiny in August 1982, but it was quelled after 2 days when loyal troops, reinforced by Tanzanian forces and several of the mercenaries that had escaped from the prison,[6] recaptured the rebel-held installations.
The situation for Seychellois Creole people, who constitute the majority of the nation's population, also improved significantly due to domestic policies implemented by President René aimed at racial equity.
However, the white minority (mainly Franco-Seychellois) still occupied most important posts (ministerial and parliamentary) in the state administration and dominated the ranks of the party leadership.
In February 1992, Conrad Greslé, a local accountant, landowner and advocate of multi-party democracy in Seychelles was arrested and charged with treason for allegedly planning to overthrow President René's régime with the apparent aid of foreign mercenaries and with supposed CIA involvement.
The Greslé family were one of a few landowners of largely French descent to remain after the coup d'état of 1977 – most had their land confiscated and were exiled.
[citation needed] A number of Seychellois families are now calling for official acknowledgement of politically motivated violence subsequent to the 1977 coup.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, at an Extraordinary Congress of the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF) on 4 December 1991, President René announced a return to the multiparty system of government after almost 16 years of one-party rule.
By the end of that month, eight political parties had registered to contest the first stage of the transition process: election to the constitutional commission, which took place on 23–26 July 1992.
It commenced work on 27 August 1992, with both President René and Mancham calling for national reconciliation and consensus on a new democratic constitution.
Three candidates contested the 20–22 March 1998 presidential election: France-Albert René of the SPPF, James Mancham of the DP, and Wavel Ramkalawan.
