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Fiji Islands |
Fiji Islands HistoryFiji Island History – the first settlersThe first humans to leave any permanent traces on Fiji arrived from Polynesia and settled on Fiji approximately 3,500 years ago. A millennium later, they were followed by Melanesians who most likely came from Indonesia. The Fijian people of today are of mixed Polynesian and Melanesian ancestry. In 2005, researchers at the Fiji Museum and the University of the South Pacific worked together and determined that skeletons found at Natadola in Sigatoka dated back to 1000 BC or even earlier, and that they belonged to people of Chinese ancestry, probably from South China or Taiwan. One of the oldest archeological findings on Fiji come from at settlement at Moturiki Island and are believed to be somewhere between 2600 and 2900 years old. Lapita pottery found in Fiji graves turned out to be nearly 2500 years old and 16 skeletons have been found in Bourewa (near Natadola) under a layer of undisturbed soil that contained 2500 year old pottery. Archeological finding in Fiji include skeletons, pottery, hunting tools, jewellery and obsidian, a special type of volcanic glass only known from Papua New Guinea. Fiji Island History – the first Europeans arriveIn 1643, a Dutch sea farer named Abel Tasman sighted Vanua Levu and the Tavenui Group, both located in the northern parts of Fiji. It would however take many years before any Europeans settled on Fiji. Over a century later, in 1774, James Cook visited some of the southern islands, and after that trip it would take another 15 years before Fiji was chartered and plotted by William Bligh. William Bligh was a castaway captain from the HMS Bounty. For a brief period of time, Fiji was known as the Bligh Islands. Fiji Island History – the first Europeans settleThe first European who did not merely visit Fiji but actually settled down here was a diverse collection of convicts who had escaped from the Australian penal colonies. A few shipwrecked sailors would also end up here once in while and settle down. In 1804, a dramatic change started since sandalwood was discovered on Vanua Levu. Sandalwood was a precious commodity and it attracted plenty of merchant ships. The sandalwood period was however soon over, and by 1820 beche-de-mer (sea cucumber) had become the main Fiji export. At the same time, the first European-style town was formed in Fiji. It name was Levuka and it was located on Ovalau. Fiji Island History – Fiji becomes a British colonyAfter a highly eventful period between 1820 and 1874, Fiji became a British colony on October 10th, 1874. This arrangement continued for 96 year, until Fiji was declared an independent state on October 10th 1970. The time as a British colony had a huge impact on Fiji and the official language is today English. In 1875, the measles arrived and killed one third of the indigenous Fijian population. A few years later, the British began importing workers from India. Today, a considerable part of the Fijian population hails from these Indian laborers.
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