Gujaratis in Fiji
Encyclopedia
Unlike the bulk of Fiji's India
n population, who are descendents of Indian indenture
d labourers brought to Fiji between 1879 and 1916, the Gujarati
s came to Fiji as free immigrants beginning in 1904. While the indentured labourers, on becoming free, generally took up farming, the Gujaratis were traders
and craftsmen. In the Indo-Fijian population as a whole, the caste
system disappeared within a few years of indenture, but the Gujaratis still maintain it and very rarely marry outside their caste. The Gujaratis continue to maintain strong links with India, usually sending their sons and daughters to be married there while the rest of Fiji's Indian population have little contact with their country oforigin.
s (of the Sonar
caste), who arrived in Fiji in 1904 from Natal
, but were originally from Porbandar
in the Kathiawar
district of Gujarat with the support of Totaram Sanadhya
. Four years later, other goldsmiths arrived, and they were soon followed by tailors, barbers, launderers and shoemakers from Surat
and Navsari
who were mainly of the Khatri
caste. Between 1916 and 1920, of the 752 Gujaratis who applied to migrate to Fiji, 336 were from Surat, 296 from Navsari and 120 were from Kathiawar. Patel
s, began arriving in 1914, and came mainly from Baroda State and the Nadiad
district of the Bombay Presidency
, and although most of them were farmers in India, they became grocers, drapers and laundrymen in Fiji. The first Patels were Appabhai Lalubhai and Chimanbahi, who together with J.P. Maharaj formed the A.J.C. Patel and Company with stores in Sigatoka
, Nadi
, Lautoka
and Ba
. The most famous of the Patels were the lawyer brothers A.D. Patel
, R.D. Patel
, and S.B. Patel. The Gujarati population steadily grew from 324 in 1921 to 1,200 in 1930, 2500 in 1935, and 5400 in 1956.
es registered in Fiji, Gujaratis held 300 trading licenses.
s, who arrived in Fiji at almost the same time as the Gujaratis, also maintained their identity, but unlike the Gujaratis, took Hindu
spouses and interacted with other Indians, mainly as farmers. The Gujaratis, on the other hand, maintained their own language and caste and remained aloof from other Indians, while residing mainly in towns. Their commercial success made them targets of jealousy by the farmers, who usually owed them money and relied on them for groceries. There were numerous calls for them to be deported from Fiji. This division was exploited in the 1937 election, when a little-known son of an indentured labourer, Chattur Singh
, defeated the highly-educated lawyer A.D. Patel, after turning the election into a contest between Fiji-born and India-born.
, who arrived in Fiji in 1912 after pleas by Fiji Indians, especially Totaram Sanadhya, to Gandhi to send a barrister (lawyer) to defend Indians' rights in Fiji. He was deported from Fiji following the 1920 strike. A.D. Patel and S.B. Patel arrived in Fiji in the late 1920s, and both played a key role in Fiji-Indian politics, but while A.D. Patel was thrust into the leadership of various organisations, S.B. Patel usually worked in the background. Gujaratis have taken a leading role in the areas of law
, medicine
and commerce
in Fiji. As Gujaratis are concentrated in the towns, they generally take a leading role in town and city council politics.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n population, who are descendents of Indian indenture
Indenture
An indenture is a legal contract reflecting a debt or purchase obligation, specifically referring to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, an instrument used for commercial debt or real estate transaction.-Historical usage:An indenture is a...
d labourers brought to Fiji between 1879 and 1916, the Gujarati
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
s came to Fiji as free immigrants beginning in 1904. While the indentured labourers, on becoming free, generally took up farming, the Gujaratis were traders
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
and craftsmen. In the Indo-Fijian population as a whole, the caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
system disappeared within a few years of indenture, but the Gujaratis still maintain it and very rarely marry outside their caste. The Gujaratis continue to maintain strong links with India, usually sending their sons and daughters to be married there while the rest of Fiji's Indian population have little contact with their country oforigin.
Arrival of Gujaratis in Fiji
The first Gujaratis in Fiji were two goldsmithGoldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
s (of the Sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
caste), who arrived in Fiji in 1904 from Natal
Natal Province
Natal, meaning "Christmas" in Portuguese, was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. The Natal Province included the bantustan of KwaZulu...
, but were originally from Porbandar
Porbandar
Porbandar is a coastal city in the Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama...
in the Kathiawar
Kathiawar
Kathiawar or Kathiawad is a peninsula in western India, which is part of the Saurashtra region on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat state. It is bounded on the north by the great wetland of the Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of Kutch, on the west and south by the Arabian Sea, and on...
district of Gujarat with the support of Totaram Sanadhya
Totaram Sanadhya
Totaram Sanadhya was deceitfully recruited as an indentured labourer from India and brought to Fiji in 1893. He spent five years working as a bonded labourer but was never afraid to fight for his rights...
. Four years later, other goldsmiths arrived, and they were soon followed by tailors, barbers, launderers and shoemakers from Surat
Surat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
and Navsari
Navsari
Navsari is a city and municipality in the Surat Metropolitan Region and also the administrative headquarters Navsari District of Gujarat, India. Navsari is also the Twin City of Surat, and only 37 km south of Surat.-Geography:...
who were mainly of the Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
caste. Between 1916 and 1920, of the 752 Gujaratis who applied to migrate to Fiji, 336 were from Surat, 296 from Navsari and 120 were from Kathiawar. Patel
Patel
Patel is a surname of Indian origin, originally meaning "headman" or"village chief". Patels are socially, economically and politically the most dominant caste in Gujarat Patels are basically Kurmis or Kunbis and are found in various geographical locations. The Kunbi are an Indian subcaste...
s, began arriving in 1914, and came mainly from Baroda State and the Nadiad
Nadiad
Nadiad is a city and an administrative center of the Kheda district in the Indian state of Gujarat.The city is famous for its socio-educational-religious humanitarian services led by Santram Mandir and supported by institutions of higher learning such as Dharamsinh Desai University, Muljibhai...
district of the Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
, and although most of them were farmers in India, they became grocers, drapers and laundrymen in Fiji. The first Patels were Appabhai Lalubhai and Chimanbahi, who together with J.P. Maharaj formed the A.J.C. Patel and Company with stores in Sigatoka
Sigatoka
For the banana disease, see Black sigatoka.Sigatoka is a town in Fiji. It is found on the island of Viti Levu and is situated at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, after which it is named, some 69 kilometers from Nadi. In Fiji's last census the population of Sigatoka was at 9622...
, Nadi
Nadi
Nadi is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants Indian or Fijian, along with a large transient population of foreign...
, Lautoka
Lautoka
Lautoka is the second largest city of Fiji and the second largest in the South Pacific. It is in the west of the island of Viti Levu, 24 kilometres north of Nadi, and is the second port of entry in Fiji, after Suva. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane growing region, it is known as the Sugar...
and Ba
Ba (town)
Ba is a town in Fiji, 37 kilometres from Lautoka and 62 kilometres from Nadi, inland from the coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. Covering an area of 327 square kilometres, it had a population of 14,596 at the 1996 census. The town is built on the banks of the Ba River, after which it is...
. The most famous of the Patels were the lawyer brothers A.D. Patel
A.D. Patel
Ambalal Dahyabhai Patel, better known as A.D. Patel, was a Fiji Indian politician, farmers' leader and founder and leader of the National Federation Party. Patel was uncompromisingly committed to a vision of an independent Fiji, with full racial integration...
, R.D. Patel
R.D. Patel
Raojibhai Dahyabhai Patel was an Indo-Fijian lawyer and politician, who was better known as the younger brother of A.D. Patel. To distinguish between the two, he was generally referred to as R.D. Although he lacked his brother's charisma and oratorical skills, he was much loved and admired by...
, and S.B. Patel. The Gujarati population steadily grew from 324 in 1921 to 1,200 in 1930, 2500 in 1935, and 5400 in 1956.
Gujarati dominance of Fiji's retail trade
Once the Gujarati immigrants had established themselves in Fiji, other relatives usually followed. They continued to maintain close ties with their districts of origin, received goods from their relatives in India, remitted money and returned home to get married and bring their wives back to Fiji. New arrivals were assisted by relatives in Fiji and were very successful in business, being thrifty and hardworking with a strong sense of loyalty to other members of their caste. Between 1924 and 1945, of the 600 businessBusiness
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
es registered in Fiji, Gujaratis held 300 trading licenses.
Conflict between Gujaratis and Fijian Indians
The SikhSikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
s, who arrived in Fiji at almost the same time as the Gujaratis, also maintained their identity, but unlike the Gujaratis, took Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
spouses and interacted with other Indians, mainly as farmers. The Gujaratis, on the other hand, maintained their own language and caste and remained aloof from other Indians, while residing mainly in towns. Their commercial success made them targets of jealousy by the farmers, who usually owed them money and relied on them for groceries. There were numerous calls for them to be deported from Fiji. This division was exploited in the 1937 election, when a little-known son of an indentured labourer, Chattur Singh
Chattur Singh
Chandersen Chattur Singh caused a major sensation in early Fiji Indian politics, when against all odds he defeated A.D. Patel, a well known lawyer and political ally of Vishnu Deo, in the 1937 Legislative Council Election.- Early Political Activities :...
, defeated the highly-educated lawyer A.D. Patel, after turning the election into a contest between Fiji-born and India-born.
Famous Gujaratis in Fiji
One of the first Gujaratis to gain fame in Fiji was Manilal DoctorManilal Doctor
Manilal Maganlal Doctor was an Indian-born, London educated lawyer and politician, who travelled to numerous countries of the British Empire, including Fiji, Mauritius and Aden, providing legal assistance to the local ethnic Indian population...
, who arrived in Fiji in 1912 after pleas by Fiji Indians, especially Totaram Sanadhya, to Gandhi to send a barrister (lawyer) to defend Indians' rights in Fiji. He was deported from Fiji following the 1920 strike. A.D. Patel and S.B. Patel arrived in Fiji in the late 1920s, and both played a key role in Fiji-Indian politics, but while A.D. Patel was thrust into the leadership of various organisations, S.B. Patel usually worked in the background. Gujaratis have taken a leading role in the areas of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and commerce
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
in Fiji. As Gujaratis are concentrated in the towns, they generally take a leading role in town and city council politics.