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Kingdom of Fiji Matanitu o Viti | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871–1874 | |||||||||
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| Motto: "Rerevaka na Kalou ka Doka na Tui" "Fear God and honour the King" | |||||||||
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| Capital | Levuka | ||||||||
| Common languages | Fijian | ||||||||
| Government | Semi-constitutional monarchy | ||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||
• 1871–1874 | RatuSeru Epenisa Cakobau | ||||||||
| Attorney-General | |||||||||
• 1872 | Robert Wilson Hamilton | ||||||||
• 1872–1873 | Charles Rossiter Forwood | ||||||||
• 1873–1874 | Sydney Charles Burt | ||||||||
| Chief Secretary | |||||||||
• 1871–1872 | Sydney Charles Burt | ||||||||
• 1872–1874 | George Austin Woods | ||||||||
• 1874 | John Bates Thurston(acting) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 5 June 1871 | |||||||||
• Annexed by theUnited Kingdom | 10 October 1874 | ||||||||
| Currency | Fijian pound | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Fiji | ||||||||
TheKingdom of Fiji (Fijian:Matanitu o Viti), also known as theKingdom of Viti, was a short-lived monarchy inFiji. It existed from 1871 to 1874, withRatuSeru Epenisa Cakobau as King.[1][2][3][4][5]
The Kingdom of Fiji was the first unified Fijian state, and it covered all of modern Fiji, except the island ofRotuma. Cakobau was theVunivalu (Warlord orParamount Chief) of the island ofBau. His father,Tanoa Visawaqa, had conquered theBurebasaga Confederacy but never subdued western Fiji. Cakobau controlled most of the eastern parts of the Fijian Islands and declared himself King of Fiji (Tui Viti). This met with opposition from other chiefs, who regarded him as at bestfirst among equals. However, in June 1871,John Bates Thurston, the British honorary consul, persuaded theFijian chiefs to accept aconstitutional monarchy with Cakobau as the King, but with real power in the hands of acabinet and legislature dominated by Australian settlers. The Legislative Assembly met for the first time inLevuka in November 1871.
Within months, government overspending had led to the accumulation of unmanageable debt. In 1872, following continuing economic and social unrest, Thurston approached the British government, at Cakobau's request, with an offer to cede the islands. Two British commissioners were sent to Fiji to investigate the possibility of an annexation. The question was complicated by maneuverings for power between Cakobau and his old rival,Maʻafu, with both men vacillating for many months.[citation needed] On 21 March 1874, Cakobau made a final offer, which the British accepted. On 23 September,Sir Hercules Robinson, soon to be appointed theBritishGovernor, arrived onHMSDido and received Cakobau with a royal 21-gun salute. After some vacillation, Cakobau agreed to renounce hisTui Viti title. On 10 October 1874, Cakobau, Ma'afu, and a group of some senior chiefs of Fiji signed two copies of aDeed of Cession establishing theColony of Fiji,[6] which lasted for almost a century – until 10 October 1970, when theDominion of Fiji became a fully independentCommonwealth realm withQueen Elizabeth II asQueen of Fiji.
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