The Gallows of Girmit (1886–1919)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Little is known about capital punishment in Fiji in the context of indenture. This paper examines cases of condemned Indians who migrated as indentured labourers (girmitiyas). It compiles and analyses statistics and accounts pertaining to crimes of murder and the penalty of execution from 1886 to 1919. When these data are situated within a relevant social, historical, and cultural context, it becomes possible to dispel colonial myths about condemned girmitiyas. My intention is not to condone the act of murder, but to understand how this crime was triggered by interlocking social, cultural, and circumstantial factors. Indian patriarchal ideologies and stereotypes, displacement resulting from the journey across the kala pani (black water), unsatisfactory living conditions, the struggle to maintain a stable family life, exploitation by overseers and sardars, and feuds among Europeans and wealthy Indians are some root causes of homicide and ‘wife-murder’ during the years of indenture. The article concludes with glimpses of condemned Indian reactions to the sentence of death.