Unlike the bulk of Fiji's

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 population, who are descendants of Indian indentured labourers brought to Fiji between 1879 and 1916, the

Gujaratis The Gujarati people or Gujaratis, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who reside in or can trace their ancestry or heritage to the present-day western Indian state of Gujarat. They primarily speak Gujarati, an Indo-Aryan language. While G ...

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 Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative * Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take ...

. In the

Indo-Fijian Indo-Fijians or Indian-Fijians (also known as Fiji Indians) are Fijian citizens of Indian descent, and include people who trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent.Girmit by Suresh Prasad Although Indo-Fijians constitu ...

population as a whole, the caste system disappeared within a few years of indenture, but the Gujaratis still maintain it and very rarely

marry Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

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 of origin.

Arrival of Gujaratis in Fiji

The first Gujaratis in Fiji were two

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

s (of the ''

Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

'' caste), who arrived in Fiji in 1904 from

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, but were originally from Porbandar in the

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it is ...

district of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

with the support of

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 ...

. Four years later, other goldsmiths arrived, and they were soon followed by warriors, tailors (such as the famous Divek Lal), barbers, launderers and shoemakers from Surat and

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is situated between Surat & Mumbai. Navsari is a twin city of Surat. It is located 37 km south of Sura ...

who were mainly of the Soni 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 The Patel is an Indian surname or title, predominantly found in the state of Gujarat representing the community of land-owning farmers and later (with the British East India Company) businessmen, agriculturalists and merchants. Traditionally th ...

s, began arriving in 1914, and came mainly from

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

State and the

Nadiad Nadiad is a city in the state of Gujarat, India and the administrative centre of the Kheda district. The city is managed by the Nadiad Municipality. It is known for the Santram Mandir, the Mai Mandir,

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 Sigatoka ( ) is a town in Fiji. It is on the island of Viti Levu at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, for which it is named, some 61 kilometres from Nadi. Its population at the 2017 census was 17,622. It is the principal urban centre for the pr ...

Nadi Nadi (pronounced ) 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. A 2012 estimate showed that the population had ...

, 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.

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 businesses registered in Fiji, Gujaratis held 300 trading licenses.

Conflict between Gujaratis and Fijian Indians

The Sikhs, who arrived in Fiji at almost the same time as the Gujaratis, also maintained their identity, but unlike the Gujaratis, took

Hindu 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 ...

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 girmits, while residing mainly in towns. 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.

Famous Gujaratis in Fiji

One of the first Gujaratis to gain fame in Fiji was Manilal Doctor, who arrived in Fiji in 1912 after pleas by Fiji Indians, especially Totaram Sanadhya, to

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

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 is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

and

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

in Fiji. As Gujaratis are concentrated in the towns, they generally take a leading role in town and city council politics.

References

{{cite book , last = Lal , first = Brij , title = A Vision for Change: A.D. Patel and the politics of Fiji , publisher = Australian National University , year = 1997 , location = Canberra , isbn = 0-7315-2350-4 Asian diaspora in Fiji

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Gujarati diaspora