Indians in Fiji - The Girmitiya Story
Fiji is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, in the region of Melanesia, part of Oceania. It lies about 2,000 km northeast of New Zealand*, and 3,000 km east of Australia*. It is located just west of the International Date Line, between latitudes 15° to 22° South and longitudes 174° East to 178° West.
Fiji is an archipelago of 332 islands and 522 small islets, of which only about 110 are permanently inhabited. Total land area is 18,274 sq km, while its Exclusive Economic Zone covers 1.29 million sq km of ocean. The two main islands are Viti Levu , where the capital Suva and Nadi International Airport are located, and Vanua Lev in the north. Viti Levu alone contains 57% of the land and 70% of the population. Other important islands are Taveuni, Kadavu, and the Mamanuca and Yasawa groups, famous for tourism.
Physically, Fiji is volcanic in origin, with rugged mountains, dense tropical rainforests, and fringed by coral reefs. Mount Tomanivi at 1,324 m on Viti Levu is the highest peak. The climate is tropical marine - hot, humid with a rainy season from November to April and risk of cyclones. It neighbours Vanuatu to the west, Tonga to the east, and Samoa to the northeast, sitting at a strategic crossroads of the Pacific.
Fiji is extremely far from India, which explains why the Girmitiyas called the journey Kala Pani. The straight-line distance from New Delhi to Suva is approximately *11,600 km* and from Kolkata, where most ships left, it is about *10,800 km*. There is no direct flight. Modern travel is via Singapore, Hong Kong or Australia and takes 18-22 hours. In 1879, the sailing ships like Leonidas took 70 to 90 days to cover the same distance, sailing across the Indian Ocean, past Australia, into the Pacific.
Fiji's Indians are one of the most remarkable examples of Indian cultural survival outside India. They call themselves Girmitiyas, from the word Girmit, a corruption of the English word Agreement, the indenture contract they signed. Unlike Indians in Honduras or Panama where numbers are in tens, in Fiji they form the backbone of the nation.
Original Inhabitants of Fiji
The original inhabitants of Fiji are the iTaukei, meaning landowners, a Melanesian-Polynesian people who first arrived from Southeast Asia via Vanuatu around 1500-1000 BC, later mixing with Melanesians. They are not Indians, who came only in 1879. Their society is clan-based, organized into Mataqali, the land-owning clan, Yavusa, the tribe of related clans sharing an ancestor, and Vanua, the confederation of tribes. Fiji has 14 provinces grouped into three major confederacies: Kubuna, Burebasaga, and Tovata. Other original groups include Rotumans of Rotuma Island, who are Polynesian, and Lauans of the Lau Islands with mixed Fijian-Tongan blood due to Tongan invasions. The iTaukei are 56.8% of the population today, 99% Christian Methodist since conversion in the 1830s, speak Bauan Fijian, and by law own 87% of Fiji's land which cannot be sold and is only leased to Indians. Their paramount chief was Ratu Cakobau who ceded Fiji to Britain in 1874.
Arrival of Indians
The story does not start in 1879. The first recorded Indian in Fiji was a lascar, an Indian seaman who survived a shipwreck in 1813 and lived among Fijians. Mass migration started after Fiji became a British colony in 1874. The first British Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, had previously served in Trinidad and Mauritius and had seen Indian indenture work. He also banned sale of Fijian native land to Europeans to protect iTaukei Fijians, so he needed another labour force for sugar plantations. His solution was Indian indentured labour.
The Leonidas, the first ship, left Calcutta and arrived in Levuka on 14 May 1879 with 463 Indians : 273 men, 146 women, 44 children. The day is now Girmit Day in Fiji. From 1879 to 1916, 42 ships made 87 voyages. A total of 60,965 indentured labourers arrived. The indenture system was legally abolished in 1916, but the last contract ended only in 1920. A second smaller stream came as free migrants after 1900 - Gujarati traders from Surat and Porbandar who control retail in Suva today, Punjabi farmers and Sikhs, and South Indian teachers.
The contract was for 5 years of work on plantations with very low wages, living in barracks of 10ft x 7ft lines, called Narak or hell. After 5 years they got a Certificate of Residence, after 10 years they could claim a free passage back to India. Only 39,261 (64.8%) returned, the rest stayed. Those who stayed got small leases of native land and started growing cane themselves.
Routes - The Kala Pani Journey
Recruitment was done through depots in Calcutta and Madras.
North India Route: Calcutta depot -> Hooghly River -> Indian Ocean -> across the Pacific via Australian coast -> Suva. Took about 70-80 days.
South India Route: Madras depot -> similar route.
Recruiters, called Arkatis, promised Fiji as a land of easy money. Many came because of famine in UP and Bihar in 1870s, family disputes, or deception. Law required 40% women to preserve family, but in reality only 30.4% were women as per 1911 census. That led to social problems, breakdown of traditional norms, and eventually complete intermixing.
Where From Did They Come in India?
This is crucial to understanding Fiji Hindi culture.
North Indian Belt - About 75%:
From United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) and Bihar, specifically districts of Bhojpur and Awadh region: Basti, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Bahraich, Sultanpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Faizabad, Ballia, Ghazipur, Arrah in Bihar. Language: Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Magahi dialects. These form the base of Fiji Hindi.
South Indian Belt - About 24%:
From Madras Presidency , now Tamil Nadu (North Arcot, Salem), Andhra Pradesh (Godavari, Vizag). They were Tamil, Telugu speakers. Today most have assimilated into Hindi-speaking north Indian culture, but you can still find Mariamman temples in Nadi.
Free Migrants:
Gujarat (Khatris), Punjab (Sikhs who came to farm), Sindhis who arrived after Partition in 1947. On the plantations, caste was systematically destroyed. Everyone ate together, worked together. Brahmins shared lines with Chamars. This is why Fiji today has virtually no caste discrimination unlike India or even Trinidad. A new identity - Girmitiya - was born.
Population Against Total Population
At independence in 1970: Indo-Fijians were 51%, iTaukei Fijians were 42%.. 1986 Census: 46% Indo-Fijian. 2007 Census: 37.5% Indo-Fijian - *313,798 people* out of 837,271. 2022 Census: Total population 908,012. iTaukei 56.8%, Indo-Fijian 37.5%. 2024 MEA Report: PIOs 313,798 + NRIs 2,283 = 316,081 Indians in Fiji.
Why decline? Two military coups in 1987 by Sitiveni Rabuka, targeted against Indian dominance, and coup in 2000. About 90,000 Indo-Fijians emigrated to Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada between 1987 and 2007. Birth rate of Indo-Fijians also fell sharply, below replacement. Today they are concentrated in Ba, Lautoka, Nadi, Labasa - the Sugar Belt.
Religious Break-up and Religious Affiliation
Religion is what saved the community. Unlike in Caribbean where many converted to Christianity, Fiji Girmitiyas fiercely preserved their faiths.Overall Fiji religion: Christians 64.5%, Hindus 27.9%, Muslims 6.3%, others 1.3% (2007 census).
Within Indo-Fijian community
Hindus -:76.7% of Indians:
Majority are Sanatanis (Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha). They worship Ram, Krishna, Hanuman, Shiva. 15% are Arya Samaj, brought by Indian missionaries like Shri Krishna Sharma in 1900s, who oppose idol worship and emphasize Vedas. There are small Kabir Panthis and others.
Muslims : 15.9% of Indians:
Among original girmitiyas, 7,635 or 14.3% were Muslims. Mostly Sunni from UP/Bihar. They built mosques early - Jame Masjid in Suva (1926). They speak Fiji Hindi like Hindus. Sunni + some Ahmadiyya.
Christians -:6.1% of Indians:
Mostly Methodists, some Catholic conversions during indenture through missions.
Sikhs -:0.9%:
Gurudwara in Samabula is the largest in Pacific Islands.
Temples And Mosques In Fiji
Fiji has a rich tradition of Hindu temples and Muslim mosques built by Girmitiyas. The most famous Hindu temple is the Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple in Nadi, the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, adorned with colourful Dravidian art. Other notable temples include Hanuman temples and Arya Samaj mandirs across Viti Levu. Islam arrived in 1879 and mosques are central to community life. The Jame Mosque in Suva, built in 1922, is the oldest, while the Toorak Mosque is among the largest. Both temples and mosques remain symbols of faith, culture and unity in multicultural Fiji.
Sikhism in Fiji
Sikhism in Fiji began in early 1900s with free Punjabi migrants, mainly from Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur, who came as policemen, farmers and tradesmen under British rule, not as girmitiyas. Today there are about 3,000 Sikhs. The centre is Samabula Gurudwara in Suva, built in 1922, the largest in the Pacific, plus gurudwaras in Lautoka, Ba and Labasa. Sikhs preserved Punjabi and Gurmukhi through weekend classes. They are prominent in transport and business. Though small, they joined Girmitiya Hindus and Muslims in cane farming and in resisting coups. Langar during Gurpurabs is open to all Fijians, showing the community's integration.
Arya Samaj in Fiji
Arya Samaj was established in Fiji in 1904 by followers of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, brought by Indian missionaries to reform Hinduism among Girmitiyas.
Its founder in Fiji was Behari Lal, and it was strengthened by the arrival of Shri Krishna Sharma in 1927, a Vedic scholar from India, who became its main preacher. Unlike Sanatani Hindus who worship idols and believe in Puranas, Arya Samajis believe only in the Vedas, reject idol worship, caste, and child marriage, and promote widow remarriage and education.
In Fiji, Arya Samaj played a revolutionary role. At a time when Sanatani pandits discouraged education for lower castes, Arya Samaj opened over 100 schools, including DAV Primary and Secondary Schools in Suva, Ba, and Labasa, which gave English education to poor Girmitiya children of all castes, including Chamar and Pasi. It started the first girls' education movement.
Today about 15% of Fiji Hindus are Arya Samajis, running temples called Samaj Mandirs where havan is performed without idols, and they are known for progressive, reformist Hinduism in Fiji.
Festivals
Fiji is one of few countries where Diwali, Holi, Eid are national holidays.
Diwali: The biggest. Fiji declares it a public holiday. Houses are decorated, fireworks in Nadi and Suva look like Lucknow.
Holi (Phagwa): Played with colours in sugar cane fields.
Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, Shivratri:* All night jagarans.
Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha: Huge gatherings at Albert Park.
-Girmit Day - 14 May: Official holiday since 2023. Commemoration of ancestors.
Muharram: Celebrated by both Hindus and Muslims in early years.
Ram Leela and Mahabharat
No community outside India has preserved Ram Leela so authentically. In Fiji it is not a stage show. It is a 10-night village ritual. In places like Nadroga, Ba, Tavua, entire settlements become Ayodhya, Janakpur, Lanka. Boys from the village play Ram, Sita (often by a boy), Hanuman. Dialogues are in Fiji Hindi verse from Ramcharitmanas. The Ravan Dahan effigy can be 30 feet high. Crowds of 5,000-10,000 attend in Nadi. It is performed by Mandalis - Ramayana Mandali, which meet weekly.
Mahabharat: While Ramayana is emotional devotion, Mahabharat is Katha tradition. Pandits recite Mahabharat for 7 nights. Bhagavad Gita classes are held by Hare Krishna movement, which is strong in Fiji. Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas is the real religious book for most Fiji Hindus, more than Sanskrit scriptures. It was the one book girmitiyas carried.
Tourism in Fiji
Tourism is the backbone of the Fiji economy and its largest foreign exchange earner. Famous for turquoise lagoons, white sand beaches and coral reefs, Fiji welcomes over nine hundred thousand visitors yearly from Australia, New Zealand and America.
Most resorts are centred around Nadi and the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands, offering luxury stays, diving, snorkelling, surfing and island hopping. Visitors also enjoy river rafting, rainforest treks in Taveuni and cultural village visits with kava ceremonies.
With its warm bula spirit, tropical climate and world class hospitality, Fiji remains a top South Pacific destination.
Cultural Continuity
This is the most amazing part.
Language: Fiji Hindi is an official language of Fiji, alongside English and iTaukei. It is not standard Hindi but a koiné of Awadhi and Bhojpuri with Fijian and English words e.g., tempu for time. Children learn it at home. However, younger generation in Australia is losing it.
Food: Dal-bhat, Roti, curry, Saag, Bhujia are daily food. Sweets like Barfi, Gulab Jamun, Jalebi during Diwali.
Joint Family to Nuclear: Originally joint, now nuclear due to land leases expiring.
Music: Bhajans, Qawwali, and Bollywood. Local artists sing chutney music.
Mandir as School: Before government schools, Brahmin Pandits taught Ramayana in mandirs. That is why literacy among Indians was higher than iTaukei early on.
Key Persons
Ahmad Ali: First Indian-born academic historian.
Professor Brij V. Lal (1952-2021): World's leading Girmit historian, ANU professor, wrote Girmitiyas and Chalo Jahaji. Banished from Fiji by government.
A.D. Patel (1905-1969): Gujarati lawyer who led cane farmers, founded National Federation Party.
Mahendra Chaudhry: Trade unionist, first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister in 1999, overthrown in coup 2000.
Jai Ram Reddy: Politician and judge at International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Vijay Singh: Indo-Fijian world famous golfer.
Contribution to Fiji
Economic: Built sugar industry which was 60% of exports until 1990s. Today dominate retail, wholesale, transport, taxis. Indo-Fijians produce 80% of Fiji's sugar cane. Also dominate medical and legal profession.
Political: Despite coups, they established multi-racial trade unionism.
Cultural to World: Fiji Indians in diaspora in Sydney (Little India in Harris Park), Auckland, Sacramento have taken Fiji Hindi culture global.
The story is now at a crossroads. Land leases under ALTA have not been renewed for many Indians, pushing them to cities. Sugar is dying. Yet the Girmitiya identity remains. As Brij Lal wrote: "They came as coolies, they left as citizens of the world, but they remain forever children of Girmit."
