The first Europeans to discover the Seychelles were the 4th Portuguese India Armada, led by Vasco da Gama.

Seychelles was uninhabited until the 18th century when Europeans arrived with Indians, and enslaved Africans. It remained a British colony from 1814 until its independence in 1976. Seychelles has never been inhabited by indigenous people, but its islanders maintain their own Creole heritage.

Early history

Seychelles was uninhabited throughout most of recorded history, although simulations of Austronesian migration patterns indicate a good probability that they visited the islands.[1] Tombs visible until 1910 at Anse Lascars on Silhouette Island have been conjectured to belong to later Maldivian and Arab traders visiting the archipelago.[2] Vasco da Gama and his 4th Portuguese India Armada discovered the Seychelles on 15 March 1503; the first sighting was made by Thomé Lopes aboard Rui Mendes de Brito. Da Gama's ships passed close to an elevated island, probably Silhouette Island, and the following day Desroches Island. Later, the Portuguese mapped a group of seven islands and named them The Seven Sisters.[3] The earliest recorded landing was in January 1609, by the crew of the Ascension under Captain Alexander Sharpeigh during the fourth voyage of the British East India Company.

A transit point for trade between Africa and Asia, the islands were said to be occasionally used by pirates until the French began to take control in 1756 when a Stone of Possession was laid on Mahé by Captain Nicholas Morphey. The islands were named after Jean Moreau de Séchelles, Louis XV's Minister of Finance.[4]

In 1770,[5] Brayer du Barre obtained permission from the authorities in Ile de France (today known as Mauritius) to set up a post in Seychelles. It was on Monday August 27, 1770 that the ship named ‘Thélémaque’ under the command of Captain Leblanc Lécore and his Second Captain Faucin de Courcelle disembarked 28 persons – 15 white men, seven black slaves from Africa, five Indians, one black woman – on Ste Anne Island to start a community there. After the ‘Thélémaque’ had arrived 4˚ 36’S 55˚ 30’E and dropped her anchor off the coast of Ste Anne Island after a voyage of less than ten days from Ile De France (Mauritius), the passengers first stepped into a small rowing boat which landed them on the beach of Anse Cabot, on the North Coast of Ste Anne Island. The 15 white men were: Delaunay, Anselme, Berville, Drieux, Bernard, Lavigne, Jean-Jacques Boab and Michel Boab, Jean-Marie Fustel, Charles Aumont, Joseph Bonne Avoine, Jean Thomas Gorineau, Louis Verdière, Claude Givart and Larue. The eight Africans including the woman were: Miguel, Fernand, Ignace, Jouan, Le villers, Matatan, Matadoo and Marie. The five Indians were: Charvy, Moutia, Cormara Mienate, Corinthe and Domingue. The Indians and the Africans were slaves.

The British frigate Orpheus commanded by Captain Henry Newcome arrived at Mahé on 16 May 1794, during the War of the First Coalition. Terms of capitulation were drawn up and on the next day, Seychelles was surrendered to the United Kingdom. Jean Baptiste Quéau de Quincy, the French administrator of Seychelles during the years of war with the United Kingdom, declined to resist when armed enemy warships arrived. Instead, he successfully negotiated the status of capitulation to Britain which gave the settlers a privileged position of neutrality.

Britain eventually assumed full control upon the surrender of Mauritius in 1810, formalised in 1814 at the Treaty of Paris. Seychelles became a crown colony separate from Mauritius in 1903. Elections in Seychelles were held in 1966 and 1970.

 Victoria, Seychelles 1900sIndependence

In 1976, Seychelles gained independence from the United Kingdom and became a republic. It has since become a member of the Commonwealth.[6] In the 1970s Seychelles was "the place to be seen, a playground for film stars and the international jet set".[7] In 1977, a coup d'état by France Albert René ousted the first president of the republic, James Mancham.[8] René discouraged over-dependence on tourism and declared that he wanted "to keep Seychelles for the Seychellois".[7]

The 1979 constitution declared a socialist one-party state, which lasted until 1991.[9]

In the 1980s there were a series of coup attempts against President René, some of which were supported by South Africa. In 1981, Mike Hoare led a team of 43 South African mercenaries masquerading as holidaying rugby players in the 1981 Seychelles coup d'état attempt.[7] There was a gun battle at the airport, and most of the mercenaries later escaped in a hijacked Air India plane.[7] The leader of this hijacking was German mercenary D. Clodo, a former member of the Rhodesian SAS.[10] Clodo later stood trial in South Africa (where he was acquitted) as well as in his home country Germany for air piracy.[11]

In 1986, an attempted coup led by the Seychelles Minister of Defence, Ogilvy Berlouis, caused President René to request assistance from India. In Operation Flowers are Blooming, the Indian naval vessel Vindhyagiri arrived in Port Victoria to help avert the coup.[12]

The first draft of a new constitution failed to receive the requisite 60% of voters in 1992, but an amended version was approved in 1993.[13]

In January 2013, Seychelles declared a state of emergency when the tropical cyclone Felleng caused torrential rain, and flooding and landslides destroyed hundreds of houses.[14][15]

Following the coup in 1977, the president always represented the same political party until the October 2020 Seychellois general election, which was historic in that the opposition party won. Wavel Ramkalawan was the first president who did not represent United Seychelles (the current name of the former Seychelles People's Progressive Front).[16][17]

In January 2023, the Seychelles announced its final stages of completing its marine spatial plan. It would become the second largest ocean area at 1.35 million sq kms (521,000 sq. mi.) behind Norway, in support of its blue economy.