The population in 1942 was approximately 210,000 of whom 94,000 were Indians, 102,000 native Fijians, 2,000 Chinese and 5,000 Europeans.
After a coup by native Fijians in 2000, the Indians, who make up nearly 45 percent of the island's population, have limited political and property rights.
They were demanding a segregated state exclusively for the native Fijians, thereby legally abolishing any rights the Hindu inhabitants have now.
The native Fijians also welcomed Manilal in a ceremony held three days later, and attended by some 700 Fijians.
They have strictly segregated themselves from the native Fijians, feeling a greater kinship for their counterparts in the Indian population.
The governor of Fiji at the time listed introducing cricket to the native Fijians as one of the achievements of his tenure in his memoirs.
Their descendants still remain a distinct community but their language and culture cannot be distinguished from native Fijians.
Fiji's palm-lined beaches are as charming as ever, but tensions are rising between the native Fijians and the Indians who slightly outnumber them.
The school catered first for native Fijians of chiefly rank.
The native Fijians live throughout the country, while the Indo-Fijians reside primarily near the urban centers and in the cane-producing areas of the two main islands.