14 May in Hindu history
14 May 1879
The Leonidas reaches Fiji
The Leonidas anchored at Levuka with the first girmitiyas for Fiji’s cane fields. By 1916 about 60,000 had come. The Ramcharitmanas they carried is still sung there.
14 May 1987
Fiji’s first coup
On the 108th anniversary of the Leonidas, Sitiveni Rabuka overthrew a newly elected government backed mainly by Indo-Fijians. Many Fiji Hindus emigrated in the years after.