Indo-Fijians () are Fijians of South Asian descent whose ancestors were indentured labourers. Indo-Fijians trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent.
The demographic proportion of Indo-Fijians within Fiji has changed significantly since the late twentieth century. After constituting a majority of approximately 52% of the national population in the late 20th century, the community has declined to roughly 33% of the total population , and down from 37% a decade prior. This demographic contraction was primarily initiated by the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, which prompted large-scale emigration due to political instability and concerns over increasingly hostile indigenous ethnic nationalism. Ongoing outward migration to countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States, combined with a sharp decrease in fertility rates below the population replacement level, has sustained the population decline into the 21st century.
Although they hailed from various regions in the subcontinent, just about half of Indo-Fijians trace their origins to the Awadh and Bhojpur regions of the Hindi Belt in northern India. Indo-Fijians speak Fiji Hindi in Fiji also known as 'Fiji Baat' which is based on the Awadhi dialect with influence from Bhojpuri. It is a koiné language with its own grammatical features, distinct to the Modern Standard Hindi and Modern Standard Urdu spoken in South Asia. The major home districts of Fiji's North Indian labourers were Basti, Gonda, Lucknow, Kanpur, Faizabad, Ballia, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Siwan, Shahabad, Saran, and Azamgarh, in the present-day Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh and the present-day Bhojpur region of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Others (in a smaller quantity) originated in West Bengal, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the Telugu regions. A small contingent of indentured labourers came from Afghanistan and Nepal. Many of the Muslim Indo-Fijians also came from Sindh, West Punjab and various other parts of South Asia. Fiji's British colonial rulers brought South Asian people to the Colony of Fiji as indentured labourers between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji's sugar-cane plantations, with a small minority also used in Rice farming. Mahendra Chaudhry became Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister on 19 May 1999, although he was couped just a year later.
Early ancestors of Indo-Fijians
British discovery of Fiji Through the writings of William Bligh and the discovery by Abel Tasman, British plantation owners began migrating to Fiji to become plantation owners. In 1869 the population of European settlers in Fiji was 1,250. By 1872, that number rose to 2,670 due to the low competition and high profitability in the Fijian Islands.Ali, Ahmed. “Aspects of Fiji Indian History, 1879-1939: A Society in Transition: I.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 12, no. 42, 1977, pp. 1782–90. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4366022. Accessed 8 May 2026. Due to the major financial issues Chief Seru Cakobau faced, in 1874 Fiji was ceded to Great Britain. 5 years after this marked the end of what was deemed the “Deed of Cession”. Suva became a primary hub for British colonialism around the pacific. The British government swiftly began allowing the importation of indentured laborists, and started dominating the Fijian political and economic scenes.Barclay, Kate, and Ian Cartright. “Fiji.” Capturing Wealth from Tuna: Case Studies from the Pacific, ANU Press, 2007, pp. 90–116. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h95s.11. Accessed 8 May 2026. This also marked the arrival of the first batch of Indians to the Fijian islands.D’Souza, Eugene J. “INDIAN INDENTURED LABOUR IN FIJI.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 61, 2000, pp. 1071–80. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44144422. Accessed 8 May 2026.
First Indians in Fiji
Indians had been employed for a long time on the European ships trading in Colonial India and the East Indies. Many of the early voyages to the Pacific either started or terminated in India and many of these ships were wrecked in the uncharted waters of the South Pacific. The first recorded presence of an Indian in Fiji was by Peter Dillon, a sandalwood trader in Fiji, of a lascar (Indian seaman) who survived a shipwreck, lived and settled there amongst the natives of Fiji in 1813. The first mass immigration of Indians to Fiji happened in 1879.
First attempt to procure Indian labourers Before Fiji was colonized by Great Britain, some planters had tried to obtain Indian labour and had approached the British Consul in Levuka, Fiji but were met with a negative response. In 1870, a direct request by a planter to the Colonial Government of India was also turned down and in 1872, an official request by the Cakobau Government was informed that British rule in Fiji was a pre-condition for Indian emigration to Fiji. The early ancestors of Indo-Fijians came from different regions of South Asia, most coming from rural villages in Northern and Southern British Raj.
In January 1879, thirty-one South Asians, who had originally been indentured labourers in Réunion, were brought from New Caledonia to Fiji under contract to work on a plantation in Taveuni. These labourers demonstrated knowledge of the terms of the indenture agreement and were aware of their rights and refused to do the heavy work assigned to them. Their contract was terminated by mutual agreement between the labourers and their employers. In 1881, thirty-eight more Indians arrived from New Caledonia, and again most of them left, but some stayed, taking Indian wives or island women.
Arrival under the indentured system
The colonial authorities promoted the sugar cane industry, recognising the need to establish a stable economic base for the colony, but were unwilling to exploit indigenous labour and threaten the Fijian way of life. The use of imported labour from the Solomon Islands and what is now Vanuatu generated protests in the United Kingdom, and the Governor Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon decided to implement the indentured labour scheme, which had existed in the British Empire since 1837. A recruiting office was set up especially around Calcutta and the South, West and North, later, especially a lot in rural village areas in different farming regions, land and areas.
The Leonidas, a labour transport vessel, disembarked at Levuka from Calcutta on 14 May 1879. The 498 indentured workers who disembarked were the first of over 61,000 to arrive from South and East Asia in the following 37 years. The majority were from the districts of eastern and southern provinces, followed by labourers from northern and western regions, then later southeastern countries. They originated from different regions, villages, backgrounds and castes that later mingled or intermarried, hence the "Fijian Indian" identity was created. The indentured workers originated mostly from rural village backgrounds.Girmit by Suresh Prasad
Life during the indenture period The contracts of the indentured labourers, which they called girmit (agreements), required them to work in Fiji for a period of five years. Living conditions on the sugar cane plantations, on which most of the girmityas (indentured labourers) worked, had poor standards which resembled those of slavery. Hovels known as "coolie lines" dotted the landscape.
Historical records indicate that sugar corporations resisted the education of Indian laborers, operating under the idea that academic advancement would alienate them from the soil and diminish their suitability for physical toil.Cato, A. C. “Fijians and Fiji-Indians: A Culture-Contact Problem in the South Pacific.” Oceania, vol. 26, no. 1, 1955, pp. 14–34. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40329002. Accessed 8 May 2026. The relationship between the Indian indentured servants and their employers was full of distrust and hate, this being rooted in the idea that the Arkatis (indentured servitude recruiters) promised “easy work” in a place “just across the river”. The men were even kidnapped, as there was very little government interference for British indentured servitude.Gillion, K. L. (1962). Fiji’s Indian migrants; a history to the end of indenture in 1920. Oxford University Press.
End of indenture Public outrage in the United Kingdom and British India over human rights abuses of indentured labourers, such as the story of Kunti and Naraini played a factor in abolishing the scheme in 1916. However, Indenture continued unlawfully until the intervention of Banarsidas Chaturvedi and Reverend C.F. Andrews, which resulted in all existing indentured labourers being freed from contracts on 1 January 1920.
After the end of servitude, most Indians stayed in Fiji, mainly as farmers, but some moved into more urban areas to work. Stereotyping and resentment also began to arise between Indians and Fijians. Fijians saw Indians as dishonest and greedy, while the Indians saw the natives as lazy and uncivilized. Fijians being primarily Christian and Indians being primarily Hindu and Muslim caused very prominent religious friction. Because of these reasons, the newly freed Indians had a hard time securing political rights, especially in this newly formed independent nation primary run by the indigenous people.Kumar, Mukesh. “A QUEST FOR IDENTITY / EQUALITY: INDIANS IN FIJI, 1879-1970.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 73, 2012, pp. 1053–64. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44156305. Accessed 8 May 2026. Following the end of indentured servitude, the measles and influenza outbreak played a crucial role in the population of Fiji. The Indian population grew significantly faster than the Fijian population. The native Fijians took a major toll from the measles and influenza epidemics, taking about 50 thousand lives over the span of about 25 years.McArthur, Norma. “Fijians and Indians in Fiji.” Population Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 1959, pp. 202–13. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2171970. Accessed 8 May 2026.
Caste During the period of Indian indentured migration to Fiji (1879–1916), labourers were recruited from a wide range of social, regional, and caste backgrounds in British India. These included upper, middle, and lower castes, as well as Dalit communities such as Chamars, along with Muslims and Christians. While caste identities were carried into Fiji as part of migrants’ social backgrounds, the indenture system did not formally recognise or enforce caste distinctions. On plantations, labourers of different castes lived and worked together under uniform conditions, which led to the weakening of traditional caste practices such as occupational segregation, restrictions on commensality, and ritual purity. Although aspects of caste identity persisted after indenture, particularly in marriage preferences and religious life, the rigid hierarchical structure associated with caste in India became significantly diluted in the Fijian context.
Caste demographics + Castes contributing over one percent of Fiji's North Indian early migrationCaste nameMigration during 19th centuryTotal number of caste peopleChamars 6,087 Muslim 5,455 Ahir 4,197 Thakur 3,416 Kurmi 2,307 Kori 1,942 Brahmin 1,535 Kahar 1,500 Khatri 1,182 Pasi 999 Koeri 740 Lodha 735 Jat 708 Gadariya 691 Kewat 656 Rajput 652 Pathan 584 Murao 553 Lonia 550 Gond 541
Impact of Girmit system on caste dynamics Although the Girmit system subjected all labourers, regardless of caste, to harsh and exploitative conditions, migration nonetheless offered many Chamars and other oppressed groups an opportunity to escape rigid caste hierarchies. Over time, they established new communities across the globe, reshaping social identities and forging resilience in diaspora.
Dalit Sikh / Ravidassia