'' Roko'' Malani (died 1833) was high chief of the

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an island of

Lakeba Lakeba (pronounced ) is an island in Fiji’s Southern Lau Islands, Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the List of islands of Fiji, tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers. ...

. He held the title ''

Tui Nayau ''Tu’i Nayau'' is the title held by the paramount chief of the Lau Islands in Fiji and is synonymous with the title holders over lordship of these islands. When translated, ''Tu’i Nayau'' means "Lord of Nayau", an island north of Lakeba, the l ...

'' (

paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a king or queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a Chiefdom, chief-based system. This term is used occasionally ...

of the

Lau Islands The Lau Islands (also called the Lau Group, the Eastern Group, the Eastern Archipelago) of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about sixty islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited. T ...

) and was a popular chief. He increased the influence the island of Lakeba had in Fiji. The first

Christian missionaries A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...

arrived in Fiji in 1830 at Malani's request, these were three

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

an missionaries of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

. Malani's younger brother,

Taliai Tupou '' Roko'' Taliai Tupou (17??-1875) was a Fijian nobleman. He is considered to be the progenitor of the noble household Vatuwaqa in the chiefly Vuanirewa clan and as such, was the first member of this noble household to hold the title ''Tui Nayau' ...

, succeeded him as ''Tui Nayau'' after Malani's death in 1833. Malani's son,

Vuetasau Viliame (William) Vuetasau (c.1820-1857) was a Fijian explorer who was the son of Roko Malani, the seventh Roko Sau of Lau and second Tui Nayau and Ciri of Taqalevu. During the reign of his Uncle Taliai Tupou, third Tui Nayau, he was considered ...

, was among the first Fijians to convert to Christianity.

References

Sources

* * * {{Cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFJEj1h5Q2AC&q=Malani&pg=PA65, title=The inheritance of hope : John Hunt : apostle of Fiji, last=Thornley, first=Andrew, date=2000, publisher=Institute of Pacific Studies,

the University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

, isbn=9820201594, oclc=47830991 Fijian chiefs Politics of Fiji Tui Nayau 1833 deaths People from Lakeba