From Calcutta and Madras to Fiji: Routes and Ports

Recruitment and Departure

The indentured labourers were gathered at depots in colonial India – mainly Calcutta (Kolkata) in the north, and later Madras (Chennai) in the south. Early voyages to Fiji embarked exclusively from Calcutta, but from 1903 onward many ships also picked up recruits from Madras (and occasionally Bombay/Mumbai).

Of the ~60,000+ Fiji girmitiyas, roughly three-quarters boarded in Calcutta and one-quarter in Madras.

The recruits came from all over India’s hinterlands: young men and women, predominantly Hindu but also Muslim and Christian, driven by poverty or lured by recruiters’ promises.
As they boarded the ships, many performed rituals or said tearful farewells – crossing the kala pani was taboo for some, believed to sever caste and kinship ties.

Ocean Passage and Arrival

The voyage from India to Fiji typically followed a long southerly route through the Indian Ocean, around Australia or New Zealand, then north into the Pacific. In the age of sail, ships rode the trade winds across the Indian Ocean, often taking 70–80 days at sea.

Later, faster steamships cut travel time to around 30 days, radically shortening the ordeal.
Over 37 years, some 60,965 indentured emigrants left India for Fiji, but only about 60,553 arrived – the difference a grim tally of those who perished on the way (offset slightly by babies born at sea).

Ports of Arrival in Fiji

In the early years, voyages disembarked at Levuka, on the island of Ovalau – Fiji’s first colonial capital. It was at Levuka on 14 May 1879 that the Leonidas arrived with the very first group of Indian indentured labourers.
After Fiji’s capital shifted to Suva (on Viti Levu) in 1882, most ships anchored there in later years.
Some vessels – especially once the western sugar plantations boomed – also landed indentured Indians at Lautoka on Fiji’s west coast, closer to the cane fields.
Upon arrival, immigrants were processed by colonial officials and distributed to plantations across Fiji’s main islands.

“The Leonidas” – Fiji’s First Girmit Ship (1879)

“Late in the evening of May 14, 1879, the ship Leonidas arrived at the port of Levuka…”
The Leonidas, a wooden sailing schooner of about 1,100 tons, holds a place of great significance as the first indenture transport to Fiji.

She had made a prior voyage carrying Indian labourers to the West Indies (St. Lucia, 1878), and was redirected to the Pacific when Governor Sir Arthur Gordon secured approval to import Indian workers.

On 3 March 1879, Leonidas departed Calcutta with 498 recruits – and the Pacific saga of the girmitiyas began. Aboard the Leonidas: Only three days after departing India, outbreaks of cholera and smallpox struck.
Despite the efforts of the Surgeon-Superintendent to isolate the sick, 17 people died at sea during the 72-day voyage.
Determined to avoid importing disease, Fiji prepared strict quarantine measures.

Drama at Levuka: Rough weather initially kept the ship from entering harbour.
After negotiating coral reefs with a pilot, Leonidas was denied docking and ordered to anchor downwind at a safe distance; during manoeuvre she briefly grounded before being refloated at high tide. A reef platform resupply system was improvised so goods could be passed without contact; even letters were disinfected in carbolic acid.

Quarantine and Aftermath: A makeshift quarantine station on Yanuca Lailai housed the immigrants under guard. Despite precautions, dysentery and other illnesses caused a further 15 deaths.

On 9 August 1879, after nearly three months of isolation, 463 indentured Indians were cleared to begin work on Fiji’s plantations.

May 14 is now marked as Girmit Day – the start of Fiji’s indenture era.

Life Aboard the “Coolie” Ships

Once India’s shores faded from view, girmitiyas faced shipboard life for weeks. Regulations existed, but conditions were still hard by modern standards. Officials sought to avoid earlier horrors of the slave ships; by the late 19th century standards had improved, yet an indenture voyage was no luxury cruise.

Space and Accommodation

Each emigrant was allotted about 15 square feet in the between-decks – tiered bunks or mats in dormitory style. Men and women were usually quartered separately; privacy was minimal.

Food and Rations

Rations mirrored Indian diets – rice, dhal, occasional salted fish or meat, ghee or oil, tea – with quality varying. Fresh water was rationed and replenished by rain or at ports. Seasickness often laid people low in the first weeks.

Health and Medical Care

Every transport carried a Surgeon-Superintendent with authority over passenger welfare (including over the captain in such matters). Surgeons received a bonus for each labourer landed alive, enforced hygiene and ventilation, and isolated the sick. Despite this, outbreaks occurred; overall voyage mortality averaged around 0.7%.

Discipline and Routine

Days began with washing and cleaning; inspections, deck exercise and fresh air followed.
Faith practices continued: bhajans and Ramayana readings, namaz facing west, small shrines at the prow. Songs, stories and quiet care for the vulnerable filled long days at sea.

Births, Deaths and Marriages

Logs recorded life events: births (hope), “deck marriages” (protection for lone women), and deaths – with rites performed and burials at sea. Survivors recalled shared mourning, especially for infants lost on the passage.

Bonds of Jahaji Bhai – Brotherhood of the Boat

A remarkable outcome of the long voyage was a new kinship: jahaji bhai (“ship brothers”) and jahajin (“ship sisters”). Shared confinement broke down caste and regional barriers; friendships forged on deck often lasted a lifetime in Fiji. Women formed protective sisterhoods; men from the same districts acted as informal brothers.The seeds of an Indo-Fijian identity were planted on board – unity in adversity.

Hardships and Tragedies at Sea

Disease and Mortality

The worst outbreak on a Fiji-bound vessel occurred on the inaugural Leonidas voyage (cholera/smallpox; 17 deaths). Infant mortality recurred on many voyages; officials’ sub-1% mortality statistic cannot capture the grief remembered by survivors.

The Wreck of the Syria (1884) – Fiji’s Maritime Tragedy

The iron ship Syria left Calcutta on 13 March 1884 with 439 passengers and 47 crew. On the night of 11 May 1884, just miles from Suva, she ran aground on Nasilai Reef. In darkness and heavy seas, masts snapped and passengers were hurled into the water. Fijian villagers launched canoes into dangerous surf to rescue survivors.

56 passengers and 3 crew died that night; a further 11 indentured passengers later died of injuries – a total of 69, the worst maritime disaster in Fiji’s history. Reforms followed: better charts, pilots and beacons.

Notable Voyages and Records

The British Peer (1892) is remembered as the first repatriation ship taking ex-girmitiyas back to India. In the steam era, capacities swelled: SS Sangola landed about 1,132 migrants in 1908 (largest single landing). By 1905 the Fiji route was fully steam-powered.
The final indenture ship, SS Sutlej, arrived on 11 November 1916 – closing a chapter of 87 voyages in 37 years.

Complete Voyage Ledger (Chronological)

Immigration “Registered numbers” are the arrival pass numbers issued in Fiji; they run in sequence across voyages and are useful for archival and family-history research.

Beyond Fiji: A Journey Shared Across the Empire

The Fiji voyages were part of a wider diaspora under indenture across the 19th-century British Empire and beyond. More than 1.3 million Indians were transported between 1834 and 1920.
Fiji’s ~60,000 were fewer than the numbers sent to British Guiana (Guyana) or Trinidad, but the experiences rhymed: depot life, long ocean passages, cane discipline, and, in time, resilient Indian communities.

Fiji’s remoteness amplified isolation; letters could take a year, and many recruits scarcely knew where “Fiji” was before sailing.

Scholars debate labels. Hugh Tinker called indenture “a new system of slavery,” pointing to punishments and controls. Others, like Brij Lal and Ahmed Ali, add nuance: alongside coercion there were new opportunities impossible within India’s rigid hierarchies. The voyage was both ordeal and crucible – a loss and a rebirth. On Fiji’s decks, castes blurred; women assumed new roles; a home was made from hardship.

Epilogue: Landfall and Legacy

When a girmitiya ship finally sighted Fiji’s green hills after weeks of blue water, emotions swelled: relief, fear, resolve. After inspection and processing, recruits fanned out to plantations. Some later said the sea was the hardest part; others, the fields.

Either way, the camaraderie forged aboard became strength on land. Many Indo-Fijian families still know the name of the ship that carried their ancestors – Leonidas, Syria, Berar, Hereford, Elbe, Sutlej – names that became like village names in a new country.