Fiji Hindi - History

History

Indian indentured labourers were initially brought to Fiji mainly from districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, North-West Frontier and South India such as from Andhra and Tamil Nadu in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They spoke numerous dialects and languages depending on their district of origin. These have been grouped into related dialects and summarised in the table below:

Dialects spoken by indentured labourers from North India

Language/Dialect	Number	Percentage
Bihari	17,868	39.3%
Eastern Hindi	16,871	37.1%
Western Hindi	6,903	15.2%
Rajasthani	1,111	2.4%
Other Languages	1,546	3.4%
Overseas Colonies	640	1.4%
Unknown	500	1.1%
TOTAL	45,439	100%

Note that Bhojpuri, spoken by 35.4% of north Indian migrants, has been included in the Bihari group and Awadhi, spoken by 32.9%, has been included in the Eastern Hindi group.

Over time, a distinct Indo-Fijian language developed in Fiji, which combined the common elements of the Hindi dialects spoken in these areas with native Fijian, Urdu, Arabic, and English, Tamil words; this has diverged significantly from the varieties of Hindi and Urdu spoken on the Indian sub-continent. The development of Fiji Hindi was accelerated by the need for labourers speaking different dialects and sub-dialects of Hindi to work together and the practice of young children being left during working hours in early versions of day care centers. Percy Wright, who lived in Fiji during the indenture period, wrote:

Indian children born in Fiji will have a mixed language; there are many different dialects amongst the Indian population, and of course much intercourse with the Fijians. The children pick up a little of each language, and do not know which is the one originally spoken by their parents. —

Other writers, who included Burton (1914) and Lenwood (1917) made similar observations. By the late 1920s, Fiji Hindi was being learned by all Fiji Indian children born in Fiji, becoming the common language of North and South Indians alike.