The

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sanny ...

was the first religious, cultural and educational Fiji Indian organisation established in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. From its inception, in 1904, it attracted the young, educated and progressive

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

into its fold. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, it was the sole voice of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n community in Fiji and as Fiji Indians won political rights, it was not surprising that first Indian members of the Legislative Council were all Arya Samajis. The influence of Arya Samaj over the Indians in Fiji gradually waned as other organisations representing Indians were established but it remained the dominant force in politics until 1959. The modern day Arya Samaj in Fiji still speaks out on issues affecting its members and its activities are visible through the numerous educational institutions that it manages.

History of Arya Samaj in Fiji

As far back as 1893, learning centres had been established by small groups of people who had organised themselves into Samajs. With the arrival of Shiu Datt Sharma from

, in 1902, a temple was established in Samabula, near Suva, which also acted as a school attended by about 60 boys and girls. A person who had a profound influence on the establishment of Arya Samaj in Fiji was a 22-year-old man from Punjab, Behari Lal, who while on his way to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

via

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, stopped over in Fiji. He found employment at the Navua Sugar Mill, but visited Suva regularly where people interested in the teachings of

Swami Dayanand Saraswati Dayanand Saraswati () (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 2 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) also known as Maharshi Dayanand is an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His Magnum Opus is the book ...

gathered at the residence of Mangal Singh. Lal had a copy of the

Satyarth Prakash ''Satyarth Prakash'' ( hi, सत्यार्थ प्रकाश, ' – "The Light of Meaning of the Truth" or ''The Light of Truth'') is an 1875 book written originally in Hindi by Dayanand Saraswati (Swami Dayanand), an influential religi ...

in the

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

, the founder of Arya Samaj.

Early activities of Arya Samaj

Arya Samaj’s work in Fiji received a boost with the arrival of Arya Samaj Missionary from India, Swami Ram Manoharanand Saraswati, who arrived in Fiji from

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

in 1913.

Totaram Sanadhya Totaram Sanadhya (1876–1947) 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. After completing his inde ...

, although himself a '' Sanatani'', has written about the early contribution of Arya Samaj to providing education and religious education in Fiji and asked for them to send more educators to Fiji.

An Arya Samaji gentleman by the name of Ram Manoharanand Sarasvati went and he preached there, therefore these words of thanks. There is a very great need for this sort of religious instructor there, who knows Vedic principles and knows English as well.... We know that Arya Samaj is doing a lot of work, but aren't these givers of aid to the world, the Arya Samaj, able to send one more religious instructor to Fiji, for the benefit of our foreign-dwelling brothers?

The Arya Samaj appealed to those who wanted to build a revitalised

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

in Fiji suitable to the local conditions.

Badri Maharaj Badri Maharaj was an Indo-Fijian farmer, politician, and philanthropist. He was the first Indian member of the Legislative Council serving for two periods between 1916 and 1923 and 1926 to 1929 as a nominated member, but he was not a popular ...

, who built the first school for Indians in Fiji in 1898 was an Arya Samaji and so was the first Indian Lawyer to arrive in Fiji,

Manilal Doctor Manilal Maganlal Doctor (28 July 1881 – 8 January 1956) was a British Indian barrister and politician, who travelled to numerous countries of the British Empire, including Fiji, Mauritius and Aden, providing legal assistance to the local ethnic ...

, who had been involved in Arya Samaj in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

and believed that Arya Samaj was the best sect for the individualized Indians in Fiji. The first school was built by Arya Samaj in Fiji was the

Gurukul Primary School Education in India is primarily managed by state-run public education system, which fall under the command of the government at three levels: central, state and local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a tr ...

in Saweni,

Lautoka Lautoka () is the second largest Local government in Fiji, city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing r ...

in 1918.

Educational and Religious Activities

Following the establishment of this school a great renaissance took place amongst Indo-Fijians to educate their children. This was supported by the arrival from India of a number of teachers, some of whom were

Ami Chandra Pandit Ami Chandra Vidyalankar (1900 – 13 March 1954) was an Indo-Fijian educator, preacher, labour leader, politician and football administrator. He served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1947 and 1953. Biography Chandra, a g ...

, Kundan Singh Kush and Kunwar Bachint Singh. Between 1926 and 1929 more than 100 Indo-Fijian boys and girls were sent to India to study at various Arya Samaj institutions. In the early thirties, Arya Samaj was the best organised of any Indo-Fijian organisation. It also had as its leader,

Vishnu Deo Pt. Vishnu Deo (Hindi: विष्णु देव) OBE (17 July 1900 – 7 May 1968) was the first Fiji born and bred leader of the Indo-Fijians. From his initial election to the Legislative Council in 1929 to his retirement in 1959, he rema ...

and the only

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

language newspaper in Fiji, '' Fiji Samachar''. The Arya Samaj aggressively promoted its teaching and openly attempted to gain converts from

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s. Arya Samaj activities in Fiji reached a peak with the arrival of another missionary, Shri Krishna Sharma from India. Conflict soon developed with

Indian Christian Christianity is India's third-largest religion with about 27.8 million adherents, making up 2.3 percent of the population as of the 2011 census. The written records of the Saint Thomas Christians state that Christianity was introduced to th ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

ns and even '' Sanatanis'' who had initially supported the Arya Samaj through Hindu Sangsthans. There were debates on religious issues, but when Vishnu Deo was convicted and fined for an article in the ''Fiji Samachar'', things quietened down.

Educational and Political Leadership in Fiji

The Arya Samaj, henceforth, concentrated on its educational activities and built numerous educational institutions. Arya Samajis continued to provide leadership to the Indo-Fijians and until the 1960s most Indo-Fijian leaders were either ''Arya Samajis'' or those with close links to the Arya Samaj in Fiji. Some who served on the Legislative Council were

Parmanand Singh Parmanand Singh (born 1905) was one of the three Indo-Fijians elected to the Legislative Council of Fiji in October 1929 when Indo-Fijians were given the first opportunity to elect their own representatives. The other two were Vishnu Deo and Jam ...

Chattur Singh Chandersen Chattur Singh was an Indo-Fijian politician. He caused a major sensation in the 1937 elections when he defeated A. D. Patel, a well known lawyer and political ally of Vishnu Deo. Early Political Activities Chattur Singh was one of ...

Ayodhya Prasad Ayodhya Prasad Sharma (Hindi: अयोध्या प्रसाद शर्मा, 30 April 1909 – 28 February 1972) was an Indo-Fijian farmers' leader and politician. He formed the most successful farmers' union in Fiji and forced the ...

K. B. Singh Kunwar Bachint Singh (1905 – 1979) was an Indo-Fijians, Indo-Fijian teacher and politician. He arrived in Fiji in 1927 as a teacher for the Arya Samaj in Fiji, Arya Samaj but his association with Vishnu Deo led him to play an active role in a ...

and Vijay R. Singh. Some ''Arya Samaji'' members of Parliament since independence have been Vijay R. Singh, Dr. Ganesh Chand, Kamlesh Kumar Arya, Surendra Prasad, Anand Singh and

Davendra Singh Davendra Singh (born 1950) was a Fiji Indian small businessman and politician who came into prominence when he challenged and defeated the official National Federation Party (NFP) candidate in a by-election in March 1985. The Lautoka Indian Co ...

Arya Samaj of Fiji spreads Overseas

As Indo-Fijians have migrated overseas, they have taken their religion and culture with them Consequently, Arya Samajs have been established in a number of countries by former Indo-Fijians. The following are links to the Web Sites of some of these:
Auckland Arya Samaj

Arya Samaj of Australia

Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji

External links

References

Arya Samaj Overseas Indian organisations Indian diaspora {{Authority control Hinduism in Fiji History of Fiji Indian diaspora in Fiji Religious organizations established in 1904 1904 establishments in the British Empire