Indo-Fijians are Fijians whose ancestors came from India and various parts of South Asia and South-East Asia. They number 313,798 (37.6%) (2007 census) out of a total of 827,900 people living in Fiji. They are mostly descended from indentured labourers, girmitiyas or girmit, brought to the islands by Fiji's British colonial rulers between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji's sugar cane plantations. These were complemented by the later arrival of Gujarati and Punjabi immigrants who arrived as free settlers in contrast to their counterparts who were brought under the indentured labour system. They have adapted to the new environment with changes to their dress, language and culinary habits, although they have maintained their distinct culture and physical appearance. The Indo-Fijians have fought for equal rights, although with only limited success. Many have left Fiji in search of better living conditions and social justice and this exodus has gained pace with the series of coups starting in the late 1980’s.  

Eighty seven voyages were made by forty ships that brought Indian Indentured Labourers to Fiji. Of these ships, twenty seven were sailing ships taking an average of seventy three days and thirteen were steam ships taking thirty days. On the fifteenth of May 1879, the first ship called the Leonidas carrying four hundred and sixty three pioneering sorts docked, the last called the Sutlej arrived on the eleventh of November 1916 carrying eight hundred and eighty eight. 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. Average numbers compared to the 337 that went to St Kitts to the massive 453,063 that landed in Mauritius.