About Girmit.org
Some moments in life bring callings you can’t ignore. Creating Girmit.org was one such calling – something that had remained on my mind for a long time.
Like many descendants of the Girmitiyas, I have felt a deep curiosity and emotional pull to better understand the Girmit Era – a complex and powerful chapter in our shared history. Girmit.org is a humble tribute to the Girmitiyas, whose courage, resilience and strength continue to inspire generations, and whose stories deserve to be remembered, preserved and honoured.
Our Journey
The journey to bring Girmit.org to life began in 2006. I built it from the ground up with a simple goal: to create a meaningful, accessible resource that offers insight into the lives, journeys, hopes, and hardships of the Girmitiyas who came to Fiji under the indenture system.
The website has required considerable time, energy and personal investment, but it has always been a labour of love – driven by passion, not profit. Remaining independent of commercial interests has allowed Girmit.org to stay true to its original purpose: to preserve and share this history freely and make it accessible to anyone wishing to learn more about it.
Over the years, Girmit.org has grown from an informational website into both a historical knowledge base and a practical research resource for descendants searching for their family history.
Search the Girmitiya Records
Girmit.org now provides a searchable index of almost 60,000 Girmitiya records relating specifically to Indians who came to Fiji under the indenture system.
Previously, Girmit.org offered only part of the index. The searchable database now brings together the eligible records we have deciphered and indexed, allowing researchers and descendants to search the collection in one place.
You can search using details such as a name, ship name, immigration pass number, year of arrival, father’s name, district, village, and other information recorded on the immigration passes. Because names and places were sometimes recorded or transcribed with different spellings, try different or partial spellings if your first search does not return a result.
Where available, search results also provide a link to the corresponding collection of digitised immigration passes held online by the National Library of Australia. Make a note of the immigration pass number shown in your Girmit.org search result, as you may need to locate that particular pass within a collection containing a range of pass numbers.
The search is intended to make finding an ancestor a little easier – and perhaps help another family reconnect with a part of their story that has been waiting to be found.
Acknowledgements
Developing and maintaining a platform like this has required not only technical skills, but also a deep emotional commitment to the history it represents. From research and content development to collaboration with generous contributors, the people who believed in the vision and shared their knowledge have enriched every part of this journey.
I remain deeply grateful for the feedback, encouragement and generosity extended along the way.
I would especially like to acknowledge:
- Satish Rai, for his unwavering support and gracious permission to share his insightful articles.
- Thakur Ranjit Singh, whose passion and powerful words have breathed life into this history, reigniting understanding where it had begun to fade.
- Dr Kamlesh Sharma, for his generous sponsorship, which enabled Girmit.org to remain online for another year during 2009–2010.
- The late Dr Brij Lal, whose invaluable research and writings were shared freely and generously, and whose extraordinary legacy continues to educate and inspire.
I am genuinely grateful to these gentlemen.
Preserving and Connecting to the Original Records
Girmit.org acknowledges the National Archives of Fiji as the custodians of the original Girmitiya immigration records and the National Library of Australia for digitising the immigration passes and making them freely accessible online.
I am also deeply grateful to the National Library of Australia for recognising Girmit.org as an accredited research website. This recognition has been a great honour and has supported the site’s continuing role as a resource for Girmitiya history and family research.
Girmit.org does not seek to replace the original historical records. Rather, the searchable index is intended to help descendants and researchers find and connect with those records more easily.
Thank You
Finally, to everyone who has reached out over the years through kind emails, shared family stories, corrections, information and words of encouragement – thank you.
Your messages have been a source of strength and affirmation and have reminded me why this work matters.
Girmit.org began with a desire to preserve history. Nearly two decades later, that purpose remains the same: to remember those who came before us, to preserve their stories, and to help their descendants find them.
Please continue to share your thoughts, stories and discoveries. They mean more than you may know.
Thank you for being part of the Girmit.org journey.