Bau (pronounced ) is a small
island in
Fiji, off the east coast of the main island of
Viti Levu. Bau rose to prominence in the mid-1800s and became Fiji's dominant power; until its cession to
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, it has maintained its influence in politics and leadership right through to modern Fiji.
Territories and landmarks
Bau is the capital of the
Kubuna Confederacy (Kubuna Tribe) and the chiefly centre of
Tailevu Province
Tailevu is one of the 14 provinces of Fiji.
Overview
One of the eight provinces based in Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island, Tailevu's 755 square kilometers occupy the south-eastern fringe of the island along with some central areas. At the 2017 ...
. It is divided into three villages -
Bau, ''Lasakau'' and ''Soso''.
Among Bau's landmarks are Fiji's oldest
Christian church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chri ...
and a stone on which the skulls of
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
victims were crushed.
Chiefly titles
Significant chiefly titles from Bau include the
Vunivalu (considered to be Fiji's premier chiefly title), and the
Roko Tui Bau
In Fiji, Turaga na Roko Tui Bau is a vassal chief of the Vunivalu of Bau (the chief of the post- Cakobau enclaves of the Kubuna confederacy). From his seat at the residence of Naicobocobo, the Roko Tui Bau rules the Vusaratu chiefs (including t ...
, currently held by
''Ratu'' Joni Madraiwiwi, the former
Vice-President of Fiji
The position of the vice-president of the Republic of Fiji was created in 1990, to provide a constitutional successor to the president of Fiji, in the event of the latter's death or resignation, or of his otherwise being unable to carry out his ...
.
The village of ''Lasekau'' who are inhabited by the clan ''Nabou'' (referred to as "Na Bai kei Bau") is ruled by the ''Komai Nadrukuta''.
The village of ''Soso'' is occupied by the clan ''Rara'', often referred to as the ''Rara o Soso'' and is headed by the ''Tunidau''.
Language
The
Fijian language has many dialects, but the official standard is based on the speech of Bau.
History
It was at Kubuna that the great ancestral
chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the bo ...
, ''Ratu Vueti'' Koroi-Ratu mai Bulu, Serui-Ratu mai Bulu, the first ''Roko Tui Bau Vuani-ivi'' (according to the legend he was the fourth generation from ''Ratu'' Lutunasobasoba) established the Kingdom of Kubuna and formed one of the earliest known Fijian settlements after hostilities ceased the people of Nakauvadra and the victorious Bauan army upon leaving the mountains and finding their way to the sea made a Cairn named Ulunivuaka and later called it Bau in honour of ''Ratu Vueti'' and his achievements. It was named after a shrine in the Nakauvadra range. He took the titles of ''Roko Tui Bau Vuani-ivi'' and ''Koroi Ratu Maibulu''. After his death, he was buried in Kubuna.
After his death, a division arose between Bucaira and Vunibuca over the installation of a successor to ''Ratu Vueti''. Other clans went to Namuka and wandered from place to place. Eventually, a new ''Roko Tui Bau'', Ratu Serumataidrau, was selected from the Vuaniivi, a ''Tokatoka Valelevu'' of the Mataqali and the Yavusa Ratu Vuani-ivi Buca clan, which had settled at Namuka.
Naulivou was installed in 1791 as the ''Vunivalu'' (in modern Fiji this is now the highest chiefly title in the Kingdom of Kubuna, but was not so in Fiji's early history) after the death of his father Banuve who had three sons: Naulivou, Tanoa II and Celua in 1791. Ratu Raiwalui of the ''Roko Tui Bau'' Vuaniivi Clan, Yavusa-Ratu, became the sixth ''Roko Tui Bau Vuani-Ivi'' which was the highest chiefly
title in the greater area of Kubuna and the second ''Roko Tui Bau Vuani-Ivi'' that occupied the Island Delainakorolevu or Ulunivuaka, which was then called Bau in 1760 which was named by the fifth ''Roko Tui Bau Vuani-ivi'' Ratu Lele who was then buried at Delai Daku.
The relationship between these two men was not a happy one. When they came into conflict, the Vuaniivi clan fled to Kubuna and sought the protection of Titokobitu, the Chief of Namara. Together with some other chiefs of Namara, they reached
Koro and from there went to Vuna, on the island of
Taveuni
Taveuni (pronounced ) is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated to the east of ...
, and thence to Vanuabalavu. The Namara people who later joined their early travellers now of Levukana village on Lomaloma were left behind at Vuna and they fled to the mountains lest the Bauans should pursue them. The Vuaniivi warriors left some of their war canoes high and dry on the beach at Vuna when they set off for Vanuabalavu.
With the aid of
Charlie Savage, who brought
firearms to Bau, opportunities for new wealth and power, symbolized by the acquisition of muskets, intensified political rivalries and hastened the rise of the Kingdom of Bau, ruled by Naulivou as ''Vunivalu'' and then by his nephew Cakobau. By the 1850s Bau dominated western Fiji. Cakobau's main rival was the Tongan chief
Enele Ma'afu, who led an army of
Christian Tongans and their allies from eastern Fiji. After a short-lived alliance with Ma’afu, Cakobau became a Christian in 1854. The Bauan people quickly established themselves as an undefeatable military force. With that unmatched power,
Seru Epenisa Cakobau was able to unite all of Fiji's disparate tribes under his authority in 1871.
[''Encyclopædia Britannica'']
See also
*
Lasakau sea warriors The Lasakau Sea Warriors were a 19th-century warrior sub-culture in the pre-colonial state of Bau Island, Bau, in Fiji. The sea warriors were instrumental in spreading Bau's political power throughout the Oceania, South Pacific archipelagic islands. ...
*
List of islands
Footnotes
References
* ''Gone Native in Polynesia'': Captivity Narratives and Experiences from the South Pacific (Page 24, 64, 121) - by Ian Christopher Campbell - 1998 - 167 pages
* ''James Calvert ; Or, From Dark to Dawn in Fiji'' - Page 44, by R. Vernon - 1890 - 160 pages
External links
Bau at Britannica.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bau
Islands of Fiji
Viti Levu
Tailevu Province
Cannibalism in Oceania