History of Mauritius - Discovery

Discovery

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. Cantino shows three islands which are thought to represent the Mascarenes (RĂ©union, Mauritius and Rodrigues) and calls them Dina Margabin, Dina Arobi and Dina Morare. What is known is that the medieval Arab world called the south-western Indian Ocean island region Waqwaq.

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