Bau (island)

Bau (pronounced [ˈmba.u]) is a small island in Fiji, off the east coast of the main island of Viti Levu. Bau rose to prominence in the mid-1800s and became Fiji's dominant power; until its cession to Britain, it has maintained its influence in politics and leadership right through to modern Fiji.

Bau is the capital of the Kubuna Confederacy (Kubuna Tribe) and the chiefly centre of Tailevu Province. It is divided into three villages - Bau, Lasakau and Soso.

Among Bau’s landmarks are Fiji’s oldest Christian church and a stone on which the skulls of cannibalism victims were crushed.

Significant chiefly titles from Bau include the Vunivalu (considered to be Fiji’s premier chiefly title), and the Roko Tui Bau, currently held by Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, the former Vice-President of Fiji.

The village of Lasekau who are inhabited by the clan Nabou (referred to as "Na Bai kei Bau") is ruled by the Komai Nadrukuta.

The village of Soso is occupied by the clan Rara, often referred to as the Rara o Soso and is headed by the Tunidau.

The Fijian language has many dialects, but the official standard is based on the speech of Bau.

It was at Kubuna that the great ancestral chief, Ratu Vueti Koroi-Ratu mai Bulu, Serui-Ratu mai Bulu, the first Roko Tui Bau Vuani-ivi (according to the legend he was the fourth generation from Ratu Lutunasobasoba) established the Kingdom of Kubuna and formed one of the earliest known Fijian settlements after hostilities ceased the people of Nakauvadra and the victorious Bauan army upon leaving the mountains and finding their way to the sea made a Cairn named Ulunivuaka and later called it Bau in honour of Ratu Vueti and his achievements. It was named after a shrine in the Nakauvadra range. He took the titles of Roko Tui Bau Vuani-ivi and Koroi Ratu Maibulu. After his death, he was buried in Kubuna.

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Wikipedia