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. 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. 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 LeonidasLeonidas 000011–463 463 BerarBerar 00464464–887 424 PoonahPoonah 00888888–1364 477 PoonahPoonah 013651365–1860 496 BayardBayardThe Ships List retrieved 11 June 2025 018611861–2354 494 SyriaSyria 023552355–2792 438 HowrahHowrah 027932793–3287 495 PericlesPericles 032883288–3748 461 Newnham 037493749–4323 575 MainMain 043244324–5048 725 Ganges IIGanges 050495049–5571 523 Boyne 055725572–6108 537 BruceBruce 061096109–6566 458 HerefordHereford 065676567–7105 539 MoyMoy 071067106–7782 677 RhoneRhone 077837783–8367 585 AllanshawAllanshaw 083688368–8940 573 DanubeDanube 089418941–9531 591 JumnaJumna 095329532–9978 447 British PeerBritish Peer 099799979–10505 527 AvonAvon 1050610506–11025 520 HerefordHereford 1102611026–11504 479 MoyMoy 1150511505–11971 467 JumnaJumna 1197211972–12281 310 EmsEms 1228212282–12851 570 HerefordHereford 1285212852–13362 511 Vadala 1336313363–14109 747 Virawa 1411014110–14786 677 ErneErne 1478714787–15343 557 ElbeElbe 1534415344–15958 615 RhoneRhone 1595915959–16611 653 ClydeClyde 1661216612–17281 670 MoyMoy 1728217282–17849 568 AvonAvon 1785017850–18316 467 Ganges IIGanges 1831718317–18780 464 Ganges IIGanges 1878118781–19334 554 ElbeElbe 1933519335–19938 604 ArnoArno 1993919939–20565 627 RhineRhine 2056620566–21056 491 Fazilka 2105721057–21860 804 Fultala 2186121861–22669 809 Fazilka 2267022670–23445 776 Virawa 2344623446–24163 718 Fazilka 2416424164–25003 840 MerseyMersey 2500425004–25588 585 ElbeElbe 2558925589–26178 590 ArnoArno 2617926179–26812 634 ArnoArno 2681326813–27443 631 EmsEms 2744427444–27969 526 Fultala 2797027970–28796 827 Virawa 2879728797–29411 615 Wardha 2941229412–30303 892 Fultala 3030430304–31093 790 Fazilka 3109431094–31974 881 Fultala 3197531975–32775 801 Wardha 3277632776–33609 834 Fazilka 3361033610–34484 875 Virawa 3448534485–35243 759 Fazilka 3524435244–36039 796 Sangola 3604036040–37171 1132 Sangola 3717237172–38257 1086 Sangola 3825838258–39409 1152 Sangola 3941039410–40076 667 Sangola 4007740077–41002 926 Santhia 4100341003–42023 1021 Sangola 4202442024–42892 869 Santhia 4289342893–43922 1030 Mutlah 4392343923–44756 834 Sutlej 4475744757–45606 850 Ganges 4560745607–46466 860 Mutlah 4646746467–47329 863 Sutlej 4733047330–48140 811 Sutlej 4814148141–48997 857 Indus 4899848998–49801 804 Ganges 4980249802–50644 843 Ganges 5064550645–51490 846 Ganges 5149151491–52261 771 Sutlej 5226252262–53069 808 Ganges 5307053070–53917 848 Ganges 5391853918–54701 784 Chenab 5470254702–55556 855 Chenab 5555755557–56273 717 Mutlah 5627456274–57125 852 Ganges 5712657126–57971 846 Mutlah 5797257972–58783 812 Chenab 5878458784–59665 882 Sutlej 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

References