A few weeks ago, one of my best friends celebrated a milestone birthday. She is in another country, also in lockdown so the best we could do was to have a video call. During the conversation, I mentioned my ancestry project and she asked me how I found out everything. Up till that point, I had not thought about how my research and experiences may be useful to others. My entire goal had been to reach conclusions about my own ancestry. I had not considered what to do with my experiences after that. She inspired this post.

My journey began with no knowledge about my ancestors. I did not even know their names, nor when they came to Fiji. I asked an aunt and uncle about the name of their grandfather, i.e., my great grandfather. The search started with this one ancestor and quickly blossomed into six ancestors.

The entire research process is an extensive read. I used four databases in my research. There are four posts, for each database. In each post, I provide notes on how to use the database and some reflections on lessons learnt.

The databases I used

In Part 1 I describe the Girmit database and how to search within this. Part 2 is about the Family Search database, while Part 3 has notes on the General Register of Indian immigrants in Fiji. The search process concludes with Part 4, with notes about the Plantation Register of Indian immigrants in Fiji, and some insights on how to search for places in India at the time of indenture.

I refer to my ancestors with a numbering system, such as great grandfather 1 = GGF#1, or great grandmother 1 = GGM#1, as I would like to keep their information and their details private.

It is my hope that the notes and experiences I shared with you in the next four posts will assist you, my dear reader, in your Girmit ancestry journey. And to my beloved friend – this is for you.

Love, Vikashni

Begin the journey – read Part 1.

To see how I got inspired to embark on the ancestry research journey, please read Gandhi speaks to me from beyond his grave!