Uncover Fiji's journey through European contact, the colonial period, and its path to independence and modern nationhood.
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Fiji's Colonial Path to Modern Republic
This series, Echoes of the Past, traces Fiji's journey from European contact through colonial rule to the independent republic it is today.
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1
Bligh's Desperate Passage Through Fiji
Captain William Bligh sailed through Fijian waters in 1789 not as an explorer but as a castaway — set adrift by mutineers from the Bounty in a small open boat with…
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2
Sandalwood Sparked Fiji's Transformation
Sandalwood was so valuable in early nineteenth-century China that traders risked their lives harvesting it from Fiji's forests.
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3
Sugar, Sweat, and a New Fiji
Between 1879 and 1916, more than sixty thousand men and women from India crossed the ocean to Fiji under the girmit system — a corruption of the English word agreement.
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4
From Crown Colony to Sovereign Republic
Fiji's paramount chief, Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau, ceded the islands to Queen Victoria in 1874, partly to manage escalating debts and inter-tribal conflicts.
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5
Three Languages Under One Pacific Sky
Fiji is one of the few nations on Earth with three official languages — English, Fijian, and Fiji Hindi — each reflecting a distinct thread in the country's cultural…
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