Francis H. Dufty（约 1875 年照片，摄影师 1910 年去世） ＋ 许可：公有领域。 · 公有领域。
1815–1883
Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau
Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau · 斐济
c. 1815–1883, paramount chief of Bau, Fiji, and King of Fiji (Tui Viti, 1871–1874), the decision-maker who ceded Fiji to Britain.
Born c. 1815 in Lakeba (one account says 1817, uncertain), he succeeded as Vunivalu of Bau in 1852; after nearly nineteen years of warfare he unified the islands, converted to Christianity in 1854 and abandoned cannibalism (according to missionary records, stated here as historical fact, with details of the original customs not expanded); in 1871 he established the unified Kingdom of Fiji with its capital at Levuka, and on 10 October 1874 signed the deed of cession transferring sovereignty to the British Crown; he died on 1 February 1883 on Bau Island.
People & stories
Places in their life
Born in Lakeba; places of activity Bau Island and Levuka; died on Bau Island.
People
Cultural significance
The turning figure in Fiji's passage from competing chiefdoms to a unified state and then into the colonial period; his cession decision remains a core point of contention in Fiji's historical narrative to this day.