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==Background== | ==Background== | ||
Primarily three groups of people comprise most of the immigrants to Fiji; Europeans, who started coming in 1835; Indians who came in 1879; and other Polynesians. | Primarily three groups of people comprise most of the immigrants to Fiji; Europeans, who started coming in 1835; Indians who came in 1879; and other Polynesians. | ||
*The first Europeans to maintain substantial contact with the Fijians were sandalwood merchants, whalers and "beche-de-mer" (sea cucumber) traders. The first whaling vessel known to have visited was the Ann and Hope in 1799, and she was followed by many others in the 19th century. | *The first Europeans to maintain substantial contact with the Fijians were sandalwood merchants, whalers and "beche-de-mer" (sea cucumber) traders. The first whaling vessel known to have visited was the Ann and Hope in 1799, and she was followed by many others in the 19th century. These ships came for drinking water, food and firewood and, later, for men to help man their ships. Some of the Europeans who came to Fiji in this period were accepted by the locals and were allowed to stay as residents. | ||
*The rising price of cotton in the wake of the American Civil War (1861–1865) caused an influx of hundreds of settlers to Fiji in the 1860s from Australia and the United States in order to obtain land and grow cotton. | *The rising price of cotton in the wake of the American Civil War (1861–1865) caused an influx of hundreds of settlers to Fiji in the 1860s from Australia and the United States in order to obtain land and grow cotton. | ||
*Between 1879 and 1916, tens of thousands of Indians moved to Fiji to work as indentured labourers, especially on sugarcane plantations. A total of 42 ships made 87 voyages, carrying Indian indentured labourers to Fiji. Initially the ships brought labourers from Calcutta, but from 1903 all ships except two also brought labourers from Madras and Bombay. A total of 60,965 passengers left India but only 60,553 (including births at sea) arrived in Fiji. A total of 45,439 boarded ships in Calcutta and 15,114 in Madras. Sailing ships took, on average, 73 days for the trip while steamers took 30 days. Repatriation of indentured Indians from Fiji began on 3 May 1892. The total number of repatriates under the Fiji indenture system is recorded as 39,261.<ref name="Fiji">"Fiji". in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji, accessed 22 April 2021.</ref> | *Between 1879 and 1916, tens of thousands of Indians moved to Fiji to work as indentured labourers, especially on sugarcane plantations. A total of 42 ships made 87 voyages, carrying Indian indentured labourers to Fiji. Initially the ships brought labourers from Calcutta, but from 1903 all ships except two also brought labourers from Madras and Bombay. A total of 60,965 passengers left India but only 60,553 (including births at sea) arrived in Fiji. A total of 45,439 boarded ships in Calcutta and 15,114 in Madras. Sailing ships took, on average, 73 days for the trip while steamers took 30 days. Repatriation of indentured Indians from Fiji began on 3 May 1892. The total number of repatriates under the Fiji indenture system is recorded as 39,261.<ref name="Fiji">"Fiji". in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji, accessed 22 April 2021.</ref> | ||