{"collection":"Fiji History Museum","note":"Chapter text is awaiting cultural and historical review.","count":45,"chapters":[{"id":"canoes-drua","title":"The drua, Fiji’s great double canoe","era":"Before 1900","subject":"Voyagers and canoes","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/canoes-drua/","facts":["The drua is a Fijian double-hulled sailing canoe: two hulls of unequal length joined by a raised deck.","Drua were sailed by shunting — the sail was carried from one end to the other, so either end could become the bow.","The largest drua were among the biggest canoes built anywhere in the Pacific and could carry well over a hundred people.","The drua Ratu Finau, the last of the old sea-going drua, is preserved at the Fiji Museum in Suva."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Drua","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drua"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Fiji Museum","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_Museum"}],"pictures":13},{"id":"canoes-outrigger","title":"Camakau and outrigger canoes","era":"Everyday sailing","subject":"Voyagers and canoes","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/canoes-outrigger/","facts":["The camakau is a single-hulled canoe with an outrigger float, used for fishing and travel between nearby islands.","Like the drua, it was sailed by shunting rather than by turning through the wind.","Smaller paddled canoes were used on rivers and inside the reef."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Drua","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drua"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Outrigger boat","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outrigger_boat"}],"pictures":11},{"id":"canoes-voyaging","title":"Voyaging between Fiji, Tonga and Samoa","era":"Centuries of exchange","subject":"Voyagers and canoes","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/canoes-voyaging/","facts":["Fiji, Tonga and Samoa were linked for centuries by canoe voyages carrying people, goods and marriages.","The Lau Islands, with their hardwood vesi timber, were famous canoe-building centres, where Tongan and Samoan carpenters also worked.","The Tongan double canoe (kalia) was developed from Fijian drua designs."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Lau Islands","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lau_Islands"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Drua","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drua"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Polynesian navigation","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_navigation"}],"pictures":12},{"id":"first-lapita","title":"The Lapita people","era":"About 3,000 years ago","subject":"First settlement","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/first-lapita/","facts":["The first people to settle Fiji, about 3,000 years ago, belonged to the Lapita cultural complex.","Lapita pottery is recognised by fine decoration pressed into the wet clay with toothed (dentate) stamps.","Lapita pottery is found across a wide arc of the Pacific, from the Bismarck Archipelago to Tonga and Samoa.","At the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, wind and waves have uncovered ancient pottery and burials. The dunes became Fiji’s first national park in 1989.","Bourewa, on the south-west coast of Viti Levu, is one of the earliest known settlement sites in Fiji.","Archaeologists date sites from the pottery styles, shells and charcoal found in each layer."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Lapita culture","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapita_culture"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Sigatoka Sand Dunes","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigatoka_Sand_Dunes"}],"pictures":28},{"id":"first-pottery","title":"Fijian pottery through time","era":"From Lapita to today","subject":"First settlement","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/first-pottery/","facts":["Pottery continued to be made in Fiji long after the Lapita period, in changing styles.","Pots were traditionally made by women, shaped by hand and with a paddle and anvil rather than on a wheel.","Villages near Sigatoka, such as Nakabuta and Lawai, still make and sell pottery today."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Fijian art","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fijian_art"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Sigatoka","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigatoka"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"land-village","title":"The village and the bure","era":"Village life","subject":"Land and kinship","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/land-village/","facts":["A bure is a traditional Fijian house built of timber, reeds and thatch.","The village (koro) is the centre of community life, with houses set around an open green.","Navala, in the highlands of Ba, is known for keeping a whole village of traditional bure."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Bure","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bure"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Navala","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navala"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Viti","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-viti"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Solevu","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-solevu"}],"pictures":11},{"id":"land-chiefs","title":"Clans and chiefs","era":"Yavusa · mataqali · tokatoka","subject":"Land and kinship","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/land-chiefs/","facts":["Yavusa, mataqali and tokatoka describe important kin and community groupings; their organisation has varied across places and time.","Chiefly authority ranged from local leadership to extensive networks of alliance and tribute.","Colonial administration formalised selected social arrangements and used chiefs in indirect rule."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Mataqali","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mataqali"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Great Council of Chiefs","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Council_of_Chiefs"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Viti","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-viti"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefs and Governors","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefs-and-governors"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"land-yaqona","title":"Yaqona and ceremony","era":"Welcome · respect","subject":"Land and kinship","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/land-yaqona/","facts":["Yaqona (kava) is a drink made from the root of the Piper methysticum plant.","A visitor presents yaqona to the village as a sevusevu, asking to be welcomed.","The drink is mixed in a large wooden bowl called a tanoa and served in a coconut-shell cup (bilo)."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Kava","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kava"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Kava culture","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kava_culture"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Priests","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/Fiji-priests"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Solevu","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-solevu"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"land-forests","title":"Forests and the land","era":"Vesi · banyan · bush","subject":"Land and kinship","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/land-forests/","facts":["Vesi (Intsia bijuga) is a dense hardwood prized for canoes, kava bowls and lali drums.","Forests gave food, medicine, building materials and fibre for mats and rope.","Colo-i-Suva Forest Park near Suva protects rainforest close to the capital."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Intsia bijuga","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intsia_bijuga"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Colo-i-Suva","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colo-i-Suva"}],"pictures":11},{"id":"craft-masi","title":"Masi — bark cloth","era":"Made by hand","subject":"Living craft","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/craft-masi/","facts":["Masi is bark cloth made by soaking and beating the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree.","It is decorated with stencilled and hand-painted patterns in black and red-brown dyes.","Masi is used in important ceremonies such as weddings, births and funerals; Vatulele and Moce are known for it."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Tapa cloth","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapa_cloth"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"craft-lali","title":"The lali drum","era":"A voice for the village","subject":"Living craft","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/craft-lali/","facts":["A lali is a slit drum carved from a single log and beaten with two sticks.","Its rhythms call people to church and meetings and announce events; in the past they also signalled war and deaths."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Lali","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lali_(instrument)"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"craft-tabua","title":"Tabua — the whale’s tooth","era":"The most valued gift","subject":"Living craft","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/craft-tabua/","facts":["A tabua is a polished sperm-whale tooth, usually hung on a cord of plaited coconut fibre.","Tabua are presented at the most important moments: marriages, deaths, apologies and serious requests.","European whalers in the 1800s made whale teeth more common, and they became a key trade item."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Tabua","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabua"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Solevu","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-solevu"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Traders","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/Fiji-traders"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"craft-wood","title":"Clubs, bowls and headrests","era":"Carving","subject":"Living craft","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/craft-wood/","facts":["Fijian carvers made war clubs in many named shapes, each suited to a different use.","Kava bowls (tanoa) and headrests were carved from hardwoods such as vesi.","Many carved objects taken from Fiji in the 1800s are now in museum collections around the world."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Fijian art","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fijian_art"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Fiji Museum","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_Museum"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"explorers-tasman","title":"Abel Tasman sights Fiji, 1643","era":"1643","subject":"Explorers","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/explorers-tasman/","facts":["The Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, with the ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen, sighted islands in north-east Fiji in 1643.","He passed through dangerous reefs and did not land."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Abel Tasman","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Tasman"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"explorers-cook","title":"James Cook at Vatoa, 1774","era":"1774","subject":"Explorers","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/explorers-cook/","facts":["On his second voyage, in HMS Resolution, James Cook visited Vatoa in southern Lau in 1774.","It was a brief visit; Cook did not reach the main islands of Fiji."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Second voyage of James Cook","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_voyage_of_James_Cook"}],"pictures":11},{"id":"explorers-bligh","title":"William Bligh’s voyages, 1789 and 1792","era":"1789 · 1792","subject":"Explorers","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/explorers-bligh/","facts":["After the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789, William Bligh and loyal crew sailed an open boat through Fiji and were chased by canoes.","The stretch of sea they crossed is still called Bligh Water.","Bligh returned in 1792 in HMS Providence and charted more of the islands."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: William Bligh","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bligh"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Mutiny on the Bounty","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutiny_on_the_Bounty"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"explorers-wilkes","title":"The Wilkes Expedition, 1840","era":"1840","subject":"Explorers","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/explorers-wilkes/","facts":["The United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes surveyed Fiji in 1840 and made detailed charts.","At Malolo two American officers were killed, and in reprisal the expedition destroyed villages and killed many islanders."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: United States Exploring Expedition","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Exploring_Expedition"}],"pictures":12},{"id":"traders-sandalwood","title":"The sandalwood rush","era":"About 1804 to 1814","subject":"Traders and Levuka","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/traders-sandalwood/","facts":["Fragrant sandalwood from the Bua coast of Vanua Levu was cut and shipped to China in the early 1800s.","The wood was sold at Canton (Guangzhou), where foreign merchants traded from the waterfront “factories”.","The early trading boom rapidly depleted accessible sandalwood supplies.","Charles Savage, a shipwrecked sailor who arrived around 1808, fought for Bau with muskets and was killed in 1813."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Santalum yasi","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santalum_yasi"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Charles Savage","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Savage_(sailor)"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Traders","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/Fiji-traders"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefdoms","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefdoms"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"traders-beche","title":"Bêche-de-mer, whalers and beachcombers","era":"1800s to 1850s","subject":"Traders and Levuka","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/traders-beche/","facts":["Bêche-de-mer (sea cucumber) was collected on Fiji’s reefs, then boiled, dried and smoked for sale in China.","Processing needed large drying sheds, huge amounts of firewood and many workers, supplied through chiefs.","Whaling ships called for water and supplies, and brought whale teeth into trade.","Beachcombers — runaway or shipwrecked sailors — lived with Fijian communities and worked as interpreters and go-betweens; muskets, iron tools and cloth changed hands."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Sea cucumber as food","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_cucumber_as_food"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Beachcomber","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beachcomber"},{"label":"Wikipedia: History of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Fiji"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Traders","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/Fiji-traders"},{"label":"UNESCO · Levuka Historical Port Town","href":"https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1399/"}],"pictures":11},{"id":"traders-levuka","title":"Levuka, the first capital","era":"1820s to 1882","subject":"Traders and Levuka","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/traders-levuka/","facts":["Levuka, on the island of Ovalau, grew from the 1820s into Fiji’s main European trading settlement.","It was the capital of Cakobau’s Kingdom of Fiji from 1871 and of the British colony until Suva replaced it in 1882.","Levuka Historical Port Town was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Levuka","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levuka"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Levuka Historical Port Town","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levuka_Historical_Port_Town"},{"label":"UNESCO · Levuka Historical Port Town","href":"https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1399/"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"faith-missions","title":"Old gods and the missionaries","era":"Before and after 1835","subject":"Faith and language","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/faith-missions/","facts":["A bure kalou was a temple house with a very tall, steep roof, where ancestral gods were honoured; priests (bete) spoke for the gods.","Wesleyan missionaries William Cross and David Cargill landed at Lakeba in 1835; the mission later worked from Viwa, near Bau.","Cakobau of Bau accepted Christianity in 1854, and many chiefs and their people followed.","The missionary Thomas Baker was killed in the Navosa highlands in 1867; the village offered a formal apology in 2003."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Fijian mythology","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fijian_mythology"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Christianity in Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Fiji"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Thomas Baker","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Baker_(missionary)"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Priests","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/Fiji-priests"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Missionaries","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/Fiji-missionaries"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefdoms","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefdoms"}],"pictures":15},{"id":"faith-language","title":"Churches, schools and written Fijian","era":"Alphabet · printing · congregations","subject":"Faith and language","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/faith-language/","facts":["Missionaries created a Fijian alphabet in which one letter stands for one sound: c is said “th”, b is “mb”, d is “nd”, g is “ng” and q is “ngg”.","The Bauan dialect became the standard for written Fijian, and mission presses printed the first books, hymns and Bible translations.","Most iTaukei Fijians today are Christian, and the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma is the largest church; Catholic missionaries arrived in 1844."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Fijian language","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fijian_language"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Christianity in Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Fiji"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Church_of_Fiji_and_Rotuma"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Missionaries","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/Fiji-missionaries"}],"pictures":12},{"id":"power-cakobau","title":"Bau and Cakobau","era":"About 1815 to 1883","subject":"Power and resistance","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/power-cakobau/","facts":["Bau, a small island off the east coast of Viti Levu, became one of the most powerful states in Fiji.","Seru Epenisa Cakobau, Vunivalu of Bau, claimed the title Tui Viti (King of Fiji).","In 1874 Cakobau and other chiefs ceded Fiji to Britain."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Seru Epenisa Cakobau","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seru_Epenisa_Cakobau"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Bau Island","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bau_Island"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefdoms","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefdoms"}],"pictures":13},{"id":"power-warfare","title":"War and warriors","era":"Confederacies at war","subject":"Power and resistance","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/power-warfare/","facts":["In the 1800s the great confederacies — among them Bau, Rewa and Cakaudrove — competed for power.","Warriors fought with clubs, spears and bows; muskets arriving with traders changed how wars were fought."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: History of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Fiji"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Confederacies of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederacies_of_Fiji"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Viti","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-viti"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefdoms","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefdoms"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Priests","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/Fiji-priests"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Traders","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/Fiji-traders"}],"pictures":13},{"id":"power-forts","title":"Hill forts and the highlands","era":"Defended ridges","subject":"Power and resistance","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/power-forts/","facts":["Communities built forts on ridges and hilltops, with ditches, banks and fences.","Tavuni Hill Fort, above the Sigatoka valley, was built in the 1700s by the Tongan chief Maile Latumai.","Highland peoples of inland Viti Levu, such as those of Namosi and the Kai Colo, held out against coastal powers and, in 1876, against the new colonial government."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Tavuni Hill Fort","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavuni_Hill_Fort"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Kai Colo","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kai_Colo"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"power-maafu","title":"Ma’afu and the Battle of Kaba","era":"1848 to 1874","subject":"Power and resistance","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/power-maafu/","facts":["In 1855, at the Battle of Kaba, Cakobau defeated his rivals with help from King George Tupou I of Tonga.","The Tongan chief Enele Ma’afu became the dominant power in Lau and took the title Tui Lau."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Enele Ma’afu","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enele_Maʻafu"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Seru Epenisa Cakobau","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seru_Epenisa_Cakobau"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefdoms","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefdoms"}],"pictures":12},{"id":"colonial-kingdom","title":"The Kingdom of Fiji","era":"1871 to 1874","subject":"Colonial Roots","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/colonial-kingdom/","facts":["In 1871 Cakobau became king of a new Kingdom of Fiji, with its government at Levuka.","The kingdom struggled with debt and with conflict between settlers and Fijians."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Kingdom of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Fiji"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefdoms","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefdoms"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefs and Governors","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefs-and-governors"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"colonial-cession","title":"The Deed of Cession","era":"10 October 1874","subject":"Colonial Roots","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/colonial-cession/","facts":["On 10 October 1874, at Levuka, Cakobau and other high chiefs signed the Deed of Cession, making Fiji a British colony.","Sir Hercules Robinson signed for Britain.","Cakobau sent his war club to Queen Victoria; it was later returned to Fiji and used as the mace of the legislature."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Deed of Cession","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deed_of_Cession_(Fiji)"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Colony of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_of_Fiji"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefs and Governors","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefs-and-governors"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefdoms","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefdoms"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"colonial-gordon","title":"Governor Gordon and the new order","era":"1875 to 1880","subject":"Colonial Roots","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/colonial-gordon/","facts":["The measles epidemic of 1875 caused catastrophic loss of life; historical estimates of the toll vary.","Governor Arthur Gordon pursued protection of Indigenous land and indirect administration through chiefs.","Colonial forces fought resistance in the interior in 1876.","Gordon also brought in indentured labour from India for the plantations."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Arthur Gordon","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Hamilton-Gordon,_1st_Baron_Stanmore"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Colony of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_of_Fiji"},{"label":"University of the South Pacific · Epidemics in Fiji’s history","href":"https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/14336/"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefs and Governors","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefs-and-governors"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"colonial-plantations","title":"Plantations and the labour trade","era":"1860s to 1911","subject":"Colonial Roots","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/colonial-plantations/","facts":["Cotton planting boomed in the 1860s, when the American Civil War cut supplies.","Workers were recruited from Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, often by deception or force — the trade known as blackbirding.","Copra (dried coconut) also became a major plantation crop.","Descendants of these labourers still live in Fiji today."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Blackbirding","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbirding"},{"label":"Wikipedia: History of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Fiji"},{"label":"Fiji Government · 146th Girmit commemoration","href":"https://www.fiji.gov.fj/he-president-rt-naiqama-lalabalavus-address-to-open-the-146th-girmit-celebration/"},{"label":"Cambridge MAA · Chiefs and Governors","href":"https://maa.cam.ac.uk/fiji-chiefs-and-governors"}],"pictures":11},{"id":"colonial-suva","title":"Suva becomes the capital","era":"1882","subject":"Colonial Roots","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/colonial-suva/","facts":["In 1882 the capital moved from Levuka to Suva, which had more room to grow and a deep harbour.","Suva is still the capital and Fiji’s largest city."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Suva","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suva"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Levuka","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levuka"},{"label":"UNESCO · Levuka Historical Port Town","href":"https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1399/"},{"label":"Girmit.org · History","href":"https://girmit.org/index.php/history/"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"girmit-leonidas","title":"The arrival of the Leonidas","era":"14 May 1879","subject":"Girmit","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/girmit-leonidas/","facts":["The ship Leonidas arrived at Levuka on 14 May 1879 carrying the first indentured labourers from India.","Cholera and smallpox broke out on the voyage, and the passengers were held in quarantine before going to the plantations.","Later ships landed their passengers at the depot on Nukulau Island near Suva.","14 May is remembered in Fiji as Girmit Day."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Leonidas (ship)","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_(ship)"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Nukulau","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nukulau"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Indo-Fijians","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Fijians"},{"label":"Girmit.org · History","href":"https://girmit.org/index.php/history/"},{"label":"National Archives of Fiji / National Library of Australia · Emigration passes","href":"https://www.library.gov.au/research/family-history/family-history-research-guide/indian-emigration-passes-fiji-1879-1916"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"girmit-recruit","title":"Recruitment and the agreement","era":"1879 to 1916","subject":"Girmit","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/girmit-recruit/","facts":["“Girmit” comes from “agreement”, the contract the labourers signed; those who came are called Girmitiya.","Most were recruited in northern India and sailed from the emigration depot at Garden Reach, Calcutta; from 1903 ships also left from Madras in the south.","The contract was for five years; after ten years in Fiji a labourer could claim a free passage home.","About 60,000 Indians came to Fiji under indenture between 1879 and 1916."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Indian indenture system","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_indenture_system"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Indo-Fijians","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Fijians"},{"label":"Girmit.org · History","href":"https://girmit.org/index.php/history/"},{"label":"National Archives of Fiji / National Library of Australia · Emigration passes","href":"https://www.library.gov.au/research/family-history/family-history-research-guide/indian-emigration-passes-fiji-1879-1916"},{"label":"The Agreement and the Girmitiya · Harvard Law Review","href":"https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-134/the-agreement-and-the-girmitiya/"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"girmit-lines","title":"Life in the lines","era":"On the plantations","subject":"Girmit","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/girmit-lines/","facts":["Labourers lived in rows of barrack rooms called “lines”, with little privacy.","Work was set by daily tasks, and wages could be cut by fines and penalties.","Far fewer women came than men, and women faced particularly hard conditions."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Indian indenture system","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_indenture_system"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Indo-Fijians","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Fijians"},{"label":"Australian National University · Women, Indenture, and Resistance","href":"https://www.anu.edu.au/events/book-launch-women-indenture-and-resistance"},{"label":"The Agreement and the Girmitiya · Harvard Law Review","href":"https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-134/the-agreement-and-the-girmitiya/"},{"label":"Girmit.org · History","href":"https://girmit.org/index.php/history/"}],"pictures":13},{"id":"girmit-sugar","title":"Sugar and the CSR","era":"1882 onwards","subject":"Girmit","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/girmit-sugar/","facts":["The Australian Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) began milling in Fiji in 1882 and came to dominate the industry.","Mills at places such as Nausori, Rarawai (Ba), Lautoka and Labasa were fed by narrow-gauge cane railways.","CSR left Fiji in 1973 and its mills passed to the Fiji Sugar Corporation."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Colonial Sugar Refining Company","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Sugar_Refining_Company"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Fiji Sugar Corporation","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_Sugar_Corporation"},{"label":"ANU · Brown or white? A history of the Fiji sugar industry","href":"https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/132695"},{"label":"Girmit.org · History","href":"https://girmit.org/index.php/history/"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"girmit-end","title":"Ending indenture","era":"1914 to 1920","subject":"Girmit","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/girmit-end/","facts":["Totaram Sanadhya’s account of his years as a labourer in Fiji, published in India in 1914, raised public anger.","In India, Gopal Krishna Gokhale moved a resolution against indenture in 1912, and Mahatma Gandhi also campaigned against it.","C. F. Andrews and W. W. Pearson reported on conditions in Fiji in 1916.","The last indentured arrivals reached Fiji in 1916; remaining indentures ended on 1 January 1920."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Totaram Sanadhya","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totaram_Sanadhya"},{"label":"Wikipedia: C. F. Andrews","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._F._Andrews"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Gopal Krishna Gokhale","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopal_Krishna_Gokhale"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Indian indenture system","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_indenture_system"},{"label":"Girmit.org · History","href":"https://girmit.org/index.php/history/"},{"label":"The Agreement and the Girmitiya · Harvard Law Review","href":"https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-134/the-agreement-and-the-girmitiya/"},{"label":"National Archives of Fiji / National Library of Australia · Emigration passes","href":"https://www.library.gov.au/research/family-history/family-history-research-guide/indian-emigration-passes-fiji-1879-1916"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"girmit-legacy","title":"After girmit","era":"Communities today","subject":"Girmit","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/girmit-legacy/","facts":["Many Girmitiyas remained in Fiji, farming and building communities; others returned to India.","Fiji Hindi grew out of the languages they brought with them.","Hindu temples, mosques and churches built by their descendants are found across Fiji."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Indo-Fijians","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Fijians"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Fiji Hindi","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_Hindi"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Hinduism in Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_Fiji"},{"label":"Girmit.org · History","href":"https://girmit.org/index.php/history/"},{"label":"National Archives of Fiji / National Library of Australia · Emigration passes","href":"https://www.library.gov.au/research/family-history/family-history-research-guide/indian-emigration-passes-fiji-1879-1916"},{"label":"Fiji Government · Girmit commemoration","href":"https://www.fiji.gov.fj/prime-minister-hon-sitiveni-rabukas-speech-at-the-2025-girmit-commemoration-event/"}],"pictures":14},{"id":"pacific-rotuma","title":"Rotuma","era":"1881","subject":"Pacific lives","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/pacific-rotuma/","facts":["Rotuma is a Polynesian island about 460 km north of Fiji, with its own language and culture.","It was ceded to Britain in 1881 and has been administered as part of Fiji ever since."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Rotuma","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotuma"}],"pictures":11},{"id":"pacific-banaba","title":"Banaba and Rabi","era":"1945","subject":"Pacific lives","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/pacific-banaba/","facts":["Phosphate mining stripped much of Banaba (Ocean Island) in present-day Kiribati.","Rabi Island in Fiji was bought for the Banabans, and many were resettled there in 1945."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Rabi Island","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabi_Island"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Banaba Island","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaba_Island"}],"pictures":12},{"id":"pacific-war","title":"War service","era":"World War II and after","subject":"Pacific lives","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/pacific-war/","facts":["In the First World War, the Fiji Labour Corps served on the Western Front in France.","Fijian soldiers fought in the Solomon Islands campaign in the Second World War.","Corporal Sefanaia Sukanaivalu was awarded the Victoria Cross after he was killed at Bougainville in 1944.","Fijian troops have served widely in United Nations peacekeeping missions."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Sefanaia Sukanaivalu","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefanaia_Sukanaivalu"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Republic of Fiji Military Forces","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Fiji_Military_Forces"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"pacific-democracy","title":"Democracy and its tests","era":"1987 · 2000 · 2006 · 2014","subject":"Pacific lives","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/pacific-democracy/","facts":["Fiji became independent with an elected parliament.","Coups in 1987, 2000 and 2006 overturned governments.","A new constitution came in 2013 and elections were held in 2014."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Parliament of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Fiji"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Politics of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Fiji"}],"pictures":10},{"id":"indep-1970","title":"Independence, 1970","era":"10 October 1970","subject":"Independence and living Fiji","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/indep-1970/","facts":["Fiji became independent on 10 October 1970, 96 years to the day after the Deed of Cession.","Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was the first prime minister.","Fiji Day is celebrated every 10 October."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Kamisese Mara","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamisese_Mara"},{"label":"Wikipedia: History of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Fiji"}],"pictures":11},{"id":"indep-suva","title":"Suva, the capital","era":"City life","subject":"Independence and living Fiji","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/indep-suva/","facts":["Suva is Fiji’s capital and largest city, on the south-east coast of Viti Levu.","It is home to the University of the South Pacific and to the Fiji Museum in Thurston Gardens."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Suva","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suva"},{"label":"Wikipedia: Fiji Museum","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_Museum"}],"pictures":12},{"id":"indep-sport","title":"Rugby and sport","era":"Olympic gold","subject":"Independence and living Fiji","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/indep-sport/","facts":["Rugby sevens is one of Fiji’s great passions.","Fiji’s men’s sevens team won Olympic gold at Rio 2016 — Fiji’s first Olympic medal — and won gold again at Tokyo 2020."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Fiji national rugby sevens team","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_national_rugby_sevens_team"}],"pictures":12},{"id":"indep-today","title":"Living Fiji today","era":"History continues","subject":"Independence and living Fiji","page":"https://fijihistory.com/chapters/indep-today/","facts":["Markets, village gatherings, church, sport and festivals bring people together across the islands.","Dance forms such as the meke carry stories and history from one generation to the next."],"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia: Culture of Fiji","href":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Fiji"}],"pictures":10}]}