Between 1879 and 1916, tens of thousands of Indians moved to Fiji to work as indentured labourers, especially on sugarcane plantations. Repatriation of indentured Indians from Fiji began on 3 May 1892, when the British Peer brought 464 repatriated Indians to Calcutta. Various ships made similar journeys to Calcutta and Madras, concluding with Sirsa's 1951 voyage. In 1955 and 1956, three ships brought Indian labourers from Fiji to Sydney, from where the labourers flew to Bombay.
Conditions of return
Indentured Indians wishing to return to India were given two options. One was travel at their own expense and the other free of charge but subject to certain conditions. To obtain free passage back to India, labourers had to have been above age twelve upon arrival, completed at least five years of service and lived in Fiji for a total of ten consecutive years. A child born to these labourers in Fiji could accompany his or her parents or guardian back to India if he or she was under twelve.
Due to the high cost of returning at their own expense, most indentured immigrants returning to India left Fiji around ten to twelve years after arrival. Indeed, just over twelve years passed between the voyage of the first ship carrying indentured Indians to Fiji (the Leonidas, in 1879) and the first ship to take Indians back (the British Peer, in 1892).
Repatriation Given the steady influx of ships carrying indentured Indians to Fiji up until 1916, repatriated Indians generally boarded these same ships on their return voyage. The total number of repatriates under the Fiji indenture system is recorded as 39,261, while the number of arrivals is said to have been 60,553. Because the return figure includes children born in Fiji, many of the indentured Indians never returned to India.
Direct return voyages by ship ceased after 1951. Instead, arrangements were made for flights from Sydney to Bombay, the first of which departed in July 1955. Labourers still travelled to Sydney by ship.
List of ship charters to India
Name of ship Date of departure Calcutta arrivals Madras arrivals Total arrivals British Peer 3 May 1892 464 (260m 111w 35b 43g 15i) 464 Hereford 25 June 1892 24 24 Moy 28 April 1893 529 (317m 133f 34b 31g 17i) 529 Ems 5 May 1894 576 (312m 148f 38b 42g 36i) 576 Hereford 16 July 1894 447 (277m 125f 41b 28g 21i) 447 SS Virawa 14 May 1895 608 (347m 147f 38b 40g 36i) 608 Erne 14 May 1896 675 (371m 170f 55b 50g 29i) 675 Moy 15 June 1898 393 (273m 65f 25b 19g 13i) 393 Avon 10 August 1899 328 (213m 66f 20b 15g 14i) 328 Ganges 12 September 1899 33 (24m 5f 2b 2g) 33 Elbe 23 July 1900 405 (245m 87f 28b 31g 14i) 405 SS Fazilka 2 July 1901 515 (298m 107f 45b 44g 33i) 515 SS Fazilka 5 July 1902 479 (291m 90f 44b 41g 13i) 479 Arno 15 September 1903 549 (325m 114f 63b 52g 25i) 549 Arno 19 August 1904 366 (211m 91f 34b 37g 20i) 366 SS Virawa 26 July 1905 341 (193m 64w 31b 36g 17i) 341 SS Fazilka 1 May 1906 321 (221m 71f 13b 12g 4i) 321 SS Fazilka 10 February 1907 533 (316m 96w 56b 42g 23i) 63 (34m 21f 4b 1g 3i) 596 SS Fazilka 1 May 1907 26 (15m 8f 2g 1i) 21 (14m 6f 1g) 47 SS Sangola 30 March 1908 606 (363m 115f 42b 60g 26i) 87 (51m 24f 6b 3g 3i) 693 SS Sangola 11 February 1909 60 54 (30m 15f 1b 3g 5i) 114 SS Sangola 16 March 1910 351 (245m 63f 18b 14g 8i) 20 (12m 6f 1b 1g) 371 SS Santhia 30 April 1910 18 (14m 4f) 23 (13m 5f 1b 3g 1i) 41 SS Sutlej 8 July 1911 545 (408m 78f 30b 21g 9i) 102 (66m 24f 7b 2g 3i) 647 SS Sutlej 7 October 1911 53 (34m 12f 2b 2g 3i) 8 (3m 4f 1g) 61 SS Sutlej 9 May 1912 616 (383m 108f 47b 59g 20i) 103 (54m 34f 7b 6g 2i) 719 SS Ganges 28 February 1913 681 126 807 SS Chenab 8 March 1914 675 264 801 SS Chenab 22 June 1914 321 33 354 SS Mutlah 13 May 1915 473 95 568 SS Chenab 6 September 1916 486 242 728 Ganges I 7 June 1920 844 303 1,147 Ganges II 30 August 1920 1046 82 1,128 SS Ganges 12 November 1920 892 239 1,131 SS Torilla 18 December 1920 1134 105 1,239 SS Ganges 12 February 1921 1444 149 1,593 SS Ganges 24 May 1921 1000 214 1214 SS Ganges 7 June 1920 695 241 936 SS Ganges 12 November 1920 799 166 965 SS Torilla 18 December 1920 1808 93 1,901 Ganges 12 February 1921 974 100 1,074 Ganges 24 May 1921 996 178 1,174 SS Chenab 22 November 1921 739 249 988 SS Sutlej 6 June 1922 512 454 966 SS Chenab 27 December 1922 565 372 937 Ganges 6 November 1923 411 560 971 SS Sutlej 20 December 1924 558 464 1,022 Unknown 25 January 1926 701 487 1,188 SS Ganges 31 January 1927 528 528 Ganges 26 February 1927 514 582 1,096 SS Sutlej 21 April 1928 530 442 972 SS Sutlej 8 July 1929 365 286 651 SS Sutlej 16 March 1930 346 305 651 SS Ganges 7 September 1931 103 171 274 Ganges 14 May 1932 76 93 169 Ganges 30 August 1933 136 112 248 SS Ganges 22 August 1934 78 45 123 SS Elephanta 14 November 1935 82 80 162 SS Ganges 24 December 1936 105 66 171 SS Ganges 21 April 1938 109 86 195 SS Ganges 20 September 1939 56 65 121 MV Orna 3 August 1947 106 52 158 SS Selma 13 May 1945 12 7 19 MV Orna 5 March 1948 29 32 61 MV Orna 18 August 1948 70 50 120 MV Orna 8 July 1949 95 47 142 Unknown 28 March 1950 53 22 75 SS Sirsa 17 May 1951 34 12 46 Total 39,157
+ Legend m Men w Women b Boys g Girls i Infants
List of ship charters to Sydney The following ships brought labourers to Sydney. Name of ship Flight departure Number of departures Strathmore 25 July 1955 25 Stratheden 29 November 1955 68 Strathnaver 24 July 1956 12 Total 105
See also Girmityas List of Indian indenture ships to Fiji Indian indenture system
References