First Indian indentured labourers arrive in Fiji aboard the Leonidas

Background. Fiji's British colonial rulers brought South Asian people to the Colony of Fiji as indentured labourers between 1879 and 1916 to work on sugar-cane plantations. The Leonidas, a labour transport vessel, played an important role in this history. The first mass immigration of Indians to Fiji happened in 1879, marking the arrival of the first batch of Indians to the Fijian islands.

Journey to Fiji. The Leonidas departed from Calcutta, India, on 3 March 1879, captained by McLachlan. It arrived at Levuka, Fiji, on 14 May 1879. The ship had previously been used to carry indentured labourers to the West Indies, transporting 580 Indian indentured labourers to St Lucia in 1878.

Arrival and Quarantine. The 498 indentured workers who disembarked were the first of over 61,000 to arrive from South and East Asia in the following 37 years. Armed guards were placed in the narrow passage between Levuka and Yanuca Lailai to prevent contact with the new arrivals. Fifteen more of the new arrivals died on the island due to dysentery, diarrhoea and typhoid, leaving only 463 survivors.