List of Indian indenture ships to Fiji

Between 1879 and 1916, a total of 42 ships made 87 voyages, carrying Indian indentured labourers to Fiji. ^{[1] [2]} Initially the ships brought labourers from Calcutta, but from 1903 all ships except two also brought labourers from Madras and Mumbai. A total of 60,965 passengers left India but only 60,553 (including births at sea) arrived in Fiji. ^[3] A total of 45,439 boarded ships in Calcutta and 15,114 in Madras. Sailing ships took, on average, seventy-three days for the trip while steamers took 30 days. The shipping companies associated with the labour trade were Nourse Line and British-India Steam Navigation Company.

The most important man on these ships was the Surgeon-Superintendent, who supervised the medical care, ventilation, clothing, cleanliness and exercise of the passengers and his authority extended over the Captain. He inspected the stores before departure and reported on any defects during the trip. The Surgeon-Superintendent also intervened to prevent passengers from being mistreated by the crew. He was paid a bonus for each labourer landed alive.

List of ships

The table below provides details of the 87 voyages made by the 40 ships that brought Indian Indentured Labourers to Fiji. Of these ships, 27 were sailing ships and 13 were steam ships.

Name of ship	Date of arrival	Registered numbers	Number of arrivals
Leonidas Leonidas [4]	14 May 1879	000011–463	463
Berar Berar	29 June 1882	00464464–887	424
Poonah Poonah	17 September 1882	00888888–1364	477
Poonah Poonah	19 June 1883	013651365–1860	496
Bayard Bayard [5]	20 August 1883	018611861–2354	494
Syria Syria	14 May 1884	023552355–2792	438
Howrah Howrah	26 June 1884	027932793–3287	495
Pericles Pericles	3 July 1884	032883288–3748	461
Newnham SS Newnham	23 July 1884	037493749–4323	575
Main Main	30 April 1885	043244324–5048	725
Ganges II Ganges	27 June 1885	050495049–5571	523
Boyne Boyne	26 April 1886	055725572–6108	537
Bruce Bruce	21 May 1886	061096109–6566	458
Hereford Hereford	24 April 1888	065676567–7105	539
Moy Moy	3 May 1889	071067106–7782	677
Rhone Rhone	15 May 1890	077837783–8367	585
Allanshaw Allanshaw	17 June 1890	083688368–8940	573
Danube Danube	15 June 1891	089418941–9531	591
Jumna Jumna	27 June 1891	095329532–9978	447
British Peer British Peer [6]	23 April 1892	099799979–10505	527
Avon Avon	5 May 1892	1050610506–11025	520
Hereford Hereford	15 June 1892	1102611026–11504	479
Moy Moy	14 April 1893	1150511505–11971	467
Jumna Jumna	23 May 1893	1197211972–12281	310
Ems Ems	20 April 1894	1228212282–12851	570
Hereford Hereford	28 June 1894	1285212852–13362	511
Vadala SS Vadala	26 March 1895	1336313363–14109	747
Virawa SS Virawa	26 April 1895	1411014110–14786	677
Erne Erne	24 April 1896	1478714787–15343	557
Elbe Elbe	13 June 1896	1534415344–15958	615
Rhone Rhone	11 May 1897	1595915959–16611	653
Clyde Clyde	1 June 1897	1661216612–17281	670
Moy Moy	1 June 1898	1728217282–17849	568
Avon Avon	25 July 1899	1785017850–18316	467
Ganges II Ganges [7]	3 September 1899	1831718317–18780	464
Ganges II Ganges	21 June 1900	1878118781–19334	554
Elbe Elbe	26 July 1900	1933519335–19938	604
Arno Arno	23 July 1900	1993919939–20565	627
Rhine Rhine	30 August 1900	2056620566–21056	491
Fazilka SS Fazilka	28 March 1901	2105721057–21860	804
Fultala SS Fultala	12 May 1901	2186121861–22669	809
Fazilka SS Fazilka	18 June 1901	2267022670–23445	776
Virawa SS Virawa	26 April 1902	2344623446–24163	718
Fazilka SS Fazilka	20 June 1902	2416424164–25003	840
Mersey Mersey	13 June 1903	2500425004–25588	585
Elbe Elbe	5 August 1903	2558925589–26178	590
Arno Arno	4 September 1903	2617926179–26812	634
Arno Arno	3 May 1904	2681326813–27443	631
Ems Ems	30 July 1904	2744427444–27969	526
Fultala SS Fultala	10 April 1905	2797027970–28796	827
Virawa SS Virawa	17 July 1905	2879728797–29411	615
Wardha SS Wardha	28 July 1905	2941229412–30303	892
Fultala SS Fultala	17 August 1905	3030430304–31093	790
Fazilka SS Fazilka	17 April 1906	3109431094–31974	881
Fultala SS Fultala	28 April 1906	3197531975–32775	801
Wardha SS Wardha	28 June 1906	3277632776–33609	834
Fazilka SS Fazilka	28 January 1907	3361033610–34484	875
Virawa SS Virawa	23 March 1907	3448534485–35243	759
Fazilka SS Fazilka	25 April 1907	3524435244–36039	796
Sangola SS Sangola	18 March 1908	3604036040–37171	1132
Sangola SS Sangola	6 June 1908	3717237172–38257	1086
Sangola SS Sangola	1 February 1909	3825838258–39409	1152
Sangola SS Sangola	21 April 1909	3941039410–40076	667
Sangola SS Sangola	7 March 1910	4007740077–41002	926
Santhia SS Santhia	22 April 1910	4100341003–42023	1021
Sangola SS Sangola	5 June 1910	4202442024–42892	869
Santhia SS Santhia	8 July 1910	4289342893–43922	1030
Mutlah SS Mutlah	22 May 1911	4392343923–44756	834
Sutlej SS Sutlej	25 June 1911	4475744757–45606	850
Ganges SS Ganges	22 July 1911	4560745607–46466	860
Mutlah SS Mutlah	18 August 1911	4646746467–47329	863
Sutlej SS Sutlej	4 October 1911	4733047330–48140	811
Sutlej SS Sutlej	27 April 1912	4814148141–48997	857
Indus SS Indus	8 June 1912	4899848998–49801	804
Ganges SS Ganges	18 July 1912	4980249802–50644	843
Ganges SS Ganges	8 November 1912	5064550645–51490	846
Ganges SS Ganges	21 February 1913	5149151491–52261	771
Sutlej SS Sutlej	11 April 1913	5226252262–53069	808
Ganges SS Ganges	29 May 1913	5307053070–53917	848
Ganges SS Ganges	9 September 1913	5391853918–54701	784
Chenab SS Chenab	24 March 1914	5470254702–55556	855
Chenab SS Chenab	16 June 1914	5555755557–56273	717
Mutlah SS Mutlah	7 May 1915	5627456274–57125	852
Ganges SS Ganges	21 June 1915	5712657126–57971	846
Mutlah SS Mutlah	1 August 1915	5797257972–58783	812
Chenab SS Chenab	1 September 1916	5878458784–59665	882
Sutlej SS Sutlej	11 November 1916	5966659666–60553	888

Notes

• The number following the name of the ship denotes the voyage number (to Fiji).
• "SS" in front of the name of the ship denotes that it was a steam ship.
• From 1905 all ships were steam ships.

See also

• Colonial Sugar Refining Company (Fiji)
• Indian indenture system
• Repatriation of indentured Indians from Fiji
• Sugar industry of Fiji

References

1. "List of Ships to Fiji". New Girmit.org. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
2. "Indian emigration passes to Fiji 1879 - 1916 | National Library of Australia (NLA)". www.library.gov.au. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
3. "Wayback Machine" (PDF). www.archives.gov.fj. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
4. "Historical Timeline". Archived from the original on 13 September 2009.
5. The Ships List Archived 27 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 11 June 2025
6. Macgregor, David Roy (1984). Merchant Sailing Ships, 1850–1875: Heyday of Sail . Naval Institute Press. ISBN   0-87021-951-0.
7. "Asters". Uboat.net. Retrieved 11 June 2025.