Seru Epenisa Cakobau

Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau Order: 1st Tui Viti (King of Fiji) 1st Tui Bau (King of Bau) 6th Vunivalu of Bau Tenure of Reign: (Tui Viti): 5 June 1852 - 10 October 1874 (Tui Bau): 2 May 1867 - 1869 (Vunivalu of Bau): 1852 - 1883 Followed: (Tui Viti): none (Tui Bau): none (Vunivalu of Bau): Ratu Tanoa Vasawaqa Succeeded by: (Tui Viti): Queen Victoria of England (Tui Bau): none (Vunivalu of Bau): Ratu Epeli Nailatikau Date of Birth 1815 Place of Birth: Lakeba, Lau Islands Date of Death: 1883

Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau (1815-1883) was a Fijian chief and warlord who united his country's warring tribes under his leadership and reigned as Tui Viti (King of Fiji) from 5 June 1871 to 10 October 1874, when he ceded his country to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Cakobau succeeded his father, Ratu Tanoa Visawaqa, as the Vunivalu (Paramount Chief) of Bau on 8 December 1852. Claiming that Bau had suzerainty over the remainder of Fiji, he asserted that he was in fact the King of Fiji. However, Cakobau's claim was not accepted by other chiefs, who regarded him as merely the first among equals, if that, and he engaged in constant warfare for almost nineteen years to unify the islands under his authority. In 1865, a Confederacy of Independent Kingdoms of Viti was established, with Cakobau as Chairman of the General Assembly. Two years later, however, the confederacy split into the Kingdom of Bau and the Confederation of Lau, with Cakobau assuming kingship of the former. Supported by foreign settlers, he finally succeeded in creating a united Fijian kingdom in 1871, and established Levuka as his capital. He decided to set up a constitutional monarchy, and the first legislative assembly met in November of that year. Both the legislature and the Cabinet were dominated by foreigners.

The United States government had recognized Cakobau's claim to kingship over a united Fijian nation, long before his claims were accepted by his fellow chiefs. In the long term, however, this was not to count in his favour. The American government held him responsible for an arson attack against the Nukulau Island home of John Brown William, the American Consul, in 1849 (before Cakobau was even the Vunivalu, let alone King), and demanded $44,000 compensation. Unable to pay the debt caused by the Rewan Chiefs, and fearing an American invasion and annexation, Cakobau decided to cede the islands to the United Kingdom. He was also motivated partly by the hope that British rule would bring civilization and Christianity to Fiji. Cakobau, a former cannibal, had himself converted to Christianity and renounced cannibalism in 1854. He retained his position as Fiji's paramount chief as Vunivalu of Bau, and lived quietly until his death in 1883.

The Cakobau name is an honoured one in Fiji today, as many of the country's leading figures have been direct descendants of Cakobau's. His great-grandson, Ratu Sir George Cakobau, served as Fiji's first native-born Governor-General from 1973 to 1983. Another descendant, from the female line of Adi Litia Cakobau Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, is the present Speaker of the Fijian House of Representatives. Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, modern Fiji's founding father, is also a descendant of Cakobau's, though not through the male line. Fiji's political, academic, and military elites are dotted with high-achieving Cakobau descendants.

External links and references

• Fiji: The Cannibal Islands
• A Brief History of Fiji
• The History of Fiji (contains errors, but accurate facts about cannibalism).
• Rabuka No Other Way, by Eddie Dean and Stan Ritova: Cakobau mentioned on pages 32, 36, 71.
• Men of Mana, by Kathleen Hancock (numerous references to Cakobau).