History History

The archipelago, located between the African continent and Madagascar, was an almost obligatory passage point for navigators using the Mozambique Channel. They found rest, food and fresh water there, at a time when the only means of propulsion were wind and elbow grease. This tiny area of the Indian Ocean was inhabited very early by nomadic tribes, growing civilizations in search of new territories, new riches, like King Solomon who was the first to cast off his ships.

The Austronesians, originally from the Indonesian archipelago, set sail from Southeast Asia to the Pacific Ocean, but also the Indian Ocean, as far as Madagascar and the Comoros. There they left their model of dugout canoes, slash and burn culture, love of rice, coconut milk and especially bananas. Their interbreeding with the Khoisans and Couchites (East Africa) and the Bantus (Great Lakes region), already present there, constitutes the foundation of the Comorian people.

The Arabs, then formidable traders, composed of the Swahili population, which means "coasts" or "shores", began a long and prosperous period of commercial and cultural exchanges, giving rise to another era of interbreeding.

Islamization of the Comoros.

In 1488, the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeo Dias discovered the passage south of Africa which opened the way to the Indian Ocean: the Cape of Good Hope. He would have landed in the Comoros between 1500 and 1503. But the Portuguese did not stay, since in 1505 they already left. Neither did the French, Dutch and English, who explored the region and only found these islands to be places of rest.

The Chirazian princes expelled from Persia first settled on the African coast and then, in 1506, a fleet under the authority of Mohamed ben Haïssa landed in the Comoros. The princes forged alliances with local Comorian chiefs and married their daughters to form the first sultanates. The Chirazian aristocracy wants to have power and will be helped by the arrival of other princes from Zanzibar, Yemen and Oman. Islamization thus made its appearance in the Comoros and, with the coming of wealth, the first mosques were built as well as houses. The first mosque of the Comoros was built in 1566 in Mayotte in the commune of Tsingoni.

These years of development, change and commercial prosperity did not fail to attract other peoples such as the Malagasy of the Sakalave ethnic group, led by their chief Diwa Mame, who settled in the Bouéni peninsula in Mayotte. Conflicts between the new arrivals (Chirazian and Malagasy princes) and the old populations will be long-lasting.

From 1750 onwards, the Malagasy changed their tone and methods and plundered, killed and kidnapped the inhabitants of the archipelago to turn them into slaves for the French sugar islands, which were then Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues.

In 1820, France only possessed the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, the English having taken over everything in this part of the world. Its sights were then set on the Comoros, strategically located in the Mozambique Channel and ideal for conquering Madagascar later on.

Mayotte is sold to France by the Malagasy Andriantsouli, then at war with the Sultan of Anjouan. Coming from Reunion Island to cultivate sugar, the Creole settlers initially adapt rather badly to Mayotte, a poor land with an unhealthy climate and ravaged by Malagasy invasions. Slavery was officially abolished in April 1847 in Mayotte, and voluntary workers from neighbouring islands and the African coast were called in. The expected start-up arrives in 1850, with the opening of the first sugar factory. From then on, the French residents progressively took over the political power, imposed the French language and let the Creole settlers dispossess the Comorian peasants of their lands.

Grande Comore and Anjouan are placed under French protectorate. Mohéli, which was under the domination of Mayotte, was placed under French protectorate in 1892. The French efforts turn again to Madagascar which, despite a long and bloody war of resistance, is finally completely colonized in 1896. The Comoros Islands were no longer of strategic importance from that moment on and were attached to Madagascar in 1908. A province chief was appointed, as for all the regions of Madagascar. Based in Dzaoudzi, he commanded all the Comoros and was directly dependent on the Governor General who was in Tananarive.

Tired of always being under the dependence of Madagascar, a first autonomist feeling awakened in the Comoros at the end of the Second World War. Saïd Mohamed Cheick, who succeeded in 1945 in being elected deputy to the Constituent Assembly to represent "Madagascar and Dependencies", first asked for a law abolishing forced labour, and then fought for the Comoros to cease to depend on Madagascar and become an autonomous overseas territory, which he also obtained. The Comoros were then directly represented in the French Parliament and, for the first time, decisions were submitted to the approval of councillors representing the four islands.

In accordance with its policy of decolonization, the French Constitution offers all the overseas colonies and possessions the possibility of voting in a referendum on independence or on three statuses maintaining them within the French Republic: member state of the French community, overseas territory or overseas department. The elected representatives of Mauritania opt for the third proposal, but they must bow to the majority who decide for the status of TOM in the perspective of independence in the medium or long term.

Organization of a referendum for "the Comorian people" with a view to independence. On Grande Comore, 0.02% of the population refused independence, 0.02% on Anjouan, 0.12% on Moheli, 67.82% on Mayotte. But Mayotte is at the time 10 times less populated than Grande Comore, the overall result (and not island by island) that emerges from the referendum is therefore independence at 94.56%.

A French law is passed providing for the possibility of different constitutions for each island. The Comoros, feeling their integrity threatened, declared their independence unilaterally. Moroni, who does not intend to lose Mayotte, decrees an embargo against the rebellious island and tries to occupy Petite-Terre, which is countered by the French military and the Maori women. From then on, the history of the four islands of the archipelago splits. On one side, the independent Comoros which will sink into misery and will evolve from coups d'état to political assassinations. On the other hand, Mayotte evolving from law to law towards an integration to the Metropolis always more advanced.

Two votes were held in Mayotte to confirm its choice to be attached to the Republic and then its status. The island is set up as a territorial collectivity with a special status, but 80% claim to want to become a DOM. For 25 years, Mayotte will develop and wait for a new status until 2001, France postponing the deadline several times. In the Republic of the Comoros, twenty-five years of coups d'état and mercenaries ruined the three islands.

Edouard Balladur introduced a visa for Comorians for Mayotte. The free movement between islands does not exist any more, it is the beginning of the mass illegal immigration.

Anjouan and Moheli secede and declare their independence from the Union. Anjouan also demanded to be reintegrated into France, which refused. Civil war raged and the regular Comorian army was pushed back. Two years later, talks with the OAU for a peaceful settlement lead to a new constitution in which Grande Comore and Moheli are integrated. Anjouan refuses and remains in rebellion to power.

The OAU decrees a total embargo to punish Anjouan. Thousands of deaths, war, cholera, boat people. The following year the talks lead to the creation of the Union of the Comoros, a federal state where the three states will be autonomous: Anjouan, Grande Comore and Mohéli. The embargo on Anjouan is officially lifted in January. At the same time, Mayotte received the status of departmental community after a new consultation to which 73% of the voters of Mayotte said "yes".

In the referendum held on 29 March 2009, the Mahoran people overwhelmingly answered "yes" to the question: "Do you approve the transformation of Mayotte into a single collectivity, called a department, governed by Article 73 of the Constitution, exercising the powers devolved to departments and regions? With the renewal of the local assembly in the spring of 2011, Mayotte is officially the fifth DOM and the first single-department region in the French overseas territories. The DOM status puts an end to the cadial system in place in Mayotte since the arrival of the Chirazians in the 16th century. The written, secular and republican law replaces the Muslim judge. The Mahorais had been waiting for a long time for the social benefits of Metropolitan France to be applied, but, at the same time, the tax system also began to apply.

With the entry into force of the new status, Mayotte becomes the 101st French department governed by Article 73 of the Constitution.

First day of the unlimited strike against the high cost of living in Mayotte, which led the following year to the establishment of a level of 25% of the amount of the Metropolitan France and the DOM for social benefits.

Mayotte becomes the ninth ultra-peripheral region (RUP), along with the four other French overseas departments (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana and Réunion) and Saint-Martin. Mayotte now benefits from European funds for regional development, fisheries, agriculture, education and training, which should enable it to catch up on its development, but obtaining them is not easy in the face of administrative rigour and texts. To make things easier, on 15 December 2015, the Luxembourg Court of Justice (ECJ) recognised Mayotte's right to derogate from European regulations on a number of subjects... until 2031.

General strike movement to demand real equality with the Metropolis. It began on 30 March. On the night of 11 to 12 April, urban violence broke out.

Six weeks of strike against insecurity paralyze the department following several episodes of violence in schools. The Mahorais express their feeling of being abandoned by the State, overwhelmed by illegal immigration (40% of the population of Mahorais is foreign) and demand more budget for culture, sports, roads, housing, water purification and schools.

The National Assembly adopted the law known as "for controlled immigration, an effective right of asylum and successful integration", which includes a measure on the limitation of the right of citizenship in Mayotte. The text stipulates: "Only children of whom at least one of the two parents has been legally resident on the island for more than three months prior to their birth will henceforth be able to apply for French nationality". Barely five days later, an appeal against this new law was lodged with the Constitutional Council. In September, however, the Constitutional Council ruled in favour of the law, which was promulgated on 10 September 2018.

The Secretary of State Christelle Dubos announced that Mayotte will benefit from 1.9 million euros in aid as part of the 2020 Poverty Plan, supplemented by an envelope of 1.5 million euros, to support the island's inhabitants, more than 70% of whom live below the poverty line. Part of the funds will be devoted to training and access to employment.

The first case of coronavirus is detected on March 14, 2020. The island then applies the same rules of confinement as in Metropolitan France, fearing the impact of the epidemic on this territory whose medical system cruelly lacks means. At the same time, an epidemic of dengue fever was raging and causing several deaths. The confinement will then be prolonged and the air links interrupted during several months, allowing to contain the contaminations.

Following a new wave of epidemics, Mayotte reconfigures in February 2021. The health crisis rekindles social tensions: the informal economy is undermined by the confinements, reinforcing the impoverishment of an already very precarious population. On the eve of the baccalaureate, new attacks on school buses lead to strikes.

Requested by a section of the population of Mahoran, the "Place nette" operation, dubbed " Wuambushu", to demolish certain shantytowns took place in two phases, in 2023 and 2024. With the arrival of numerous police reinforcements on the island, bangas were demolished and their owners, depending on their residency status, evicted. Nevertheless, the success of the operation decided on by the Ministry of the Interior has to be put into perspective, due to the closure of the Comoros borders. The result is a mixed picture, with some areas back in the hands of the authorities, but the problem is far from entirely resolved.

Cholera returns. The island's most precarious categories, dependent on natural water networks, suffer the consequences of regular water cuts due to the inability to meet the demands of an ever-growing population. Despite the availability of an effective vaccine, victims suffering from chronic diarrhoea are not treated in time, and in June 2024, over a hundred people were affected, with two deaths. The simplest gestures, such as hand washing, are not possible in a territory where a third of the population has no safe access to a source of drinking water.