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. 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
Leonidas May 15, 1879 1–463 463
Berar June 29, 1882 464–887 424
Poonah September 17, 1882 888–1364 477
Poonah June 19, 1883 1365–1860 496
Bayard August 20, 1883 1861–2354 494
Syria May 14, 1884 2355–2792 438
Howrah June 26, 1884 2793–3287 495
Pericles July 3, 1884 3288–3748 461
SS Newnham July 23, 1884 3749–4323 575
Main April 30, 1885 4324–5048 725
Ganges June 27, 1885 5049–5571 523
Boyne April 26, 1886 5572–6108 537
Bruce May 21, 1886 6109–6566 458
Hereford April 24, 1888 6567–7105 539
Moy May 3, 1889 7106–7782 677
Rhone May 15, 1890 7783–8367 585
Allan Shaw June 17, 1890 8368–8940 573
Danube June 15, 1891 8941–9531 591
Jumna June 27, 1891 9532–9978 447
British Peer April 23, 1892 9979–10505 527
Avon May 5, 1892 10506–11025 520
Hereford June 15, 1892 11026–11504 479
Moy April 14, 1893 11505–11971 467
Jumna May 23, 1893 11972–12281 310
Ems April 20, 1894 12282–12851 570
Hereford June 28, 1894 12852–13362 511
SS Vadala March 26, 1895 13363–14109 747
SS Virawa April 26, 1895 14110–14786 677
Erne April 24, 1896 14787–15343 557
Elbe June 13, 1896 15344–15958 615
Rhone May 11, 1897 15959–16611 653
Clyde June 1, 1897 16612–17281 670
Moy June 1, 1898 17282–17849 568
Avon July 25, 1899 17850–18316 467
Ganges September 3, 1899 18317–18780 464
Ganges June 21, 1900 18781–19334 554
Elbe July 26, 1900 19335–19938 604
Arno July 23, 1900 19939–20565 627
Rhine August 30, 1900 20566–21056 491
SS Fazilka March 28, 1901 21057–21860 804
SS Fultala May 12, 1901 21861–22669 809
SS Fazilka June 18, 1901 22670–23445 776
SS Virawa April 26, 1902 23446–24163 718
SS Fazilka June 20, 1902 24164–25003 840
Mersey June 13, 1903 25004–25588 585
Elbe August 5, 1903 25589–26178 590
Arno September 4, 1903 26179–26812 634
Arno May 3, 1904 26813–27443 631
Ems July 30, 1904 27444–27969 526
SS Fultala April 10, 1905 27970–28796 827
SS Virawa July 17, 1905 28797–29411 615
SS Wardha July 28, 1905 29412–30303 892
SS Fultala August 17, 1905 30304–31093 790
SS Fazilka April 17, 1906 31094–31974 881
SS Fultala April 28, 1906 31975–32775 801
SS Wardha June 28, 1906 32776–33609 834
SS Fazilka January 28, 1907 33610–34484 875
SS Virawa March 23, 1907 34485–35243 759
SS Fazilka April 25, 1907 35244–36039 796
SS Sangola March 18, 1908 36040–37171 1132
SS Sangola June 6, 1908 37172–38257 1086
SS Sangola February 1, 1909 38258–39409 1152
SS Sangola April 21, 1909 39410–40076 667
SS Sangola March 7, 1910 40077–41002 926
SS Santhia April 22, 1910 41003–42023 1021
SS Sangola June 5, 1910 42024–42892 869
SS Santhia July 8, 1910 42893–43922 1030
SS Mutlah May 22, 1911 43923–44756 834
SS Sutlej June 25, 1911 44757–45606 850
SS Ganges July 22, 1911 45607–46466 860
SS Mutlah August 18, 1911 46467–47329 863
SS Sutlej October 4, 1911 47330–48140 811
SS Sutlej April 27, 1912 48141–48997 857
SS Indus June 8, 1912 48998–49801 804
SS Ganges July 18, 1912 49802–50644 843
SS Ganges November 8, 1912 50645–51490 846
SS Ganges February 21, 1913 51491–52261 771
SS Sutlej April 11, 1913 52262–53069 808
SS Ganges May 29, 1913 53070–53917 848
SS Ganges September 9, 1913 53918–54701 784
SS Chenab March 24, 1914 54702–55556 855
SS Chenab June 16, 1914 55557–56273 717
SS Mutlah May 7, 1915 56274–57125 852
SS Ganges June 21, 1915 57126–57971 846
SS Mutlah August 1, 1915 57972–58783 812
SS Chenab September 1, 1916 58784–59665 882
SS Sutlej November 11, 1916 59666–60553 888

Notes

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, July 31, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.