Pandit B.D. Lakshman

Welcome. This site remembers Pandit B.D. Lakshman, whose full name was Brahma Dass Lakshman. He was known in public life as B.D. Lakshman, and to his family, and in both books about him, as Pandit B.D. Lakshman.

He was born on 17 September 1900 at Waila, near Nausori, the son of indentured labourers. He died in Brisbane on 5 October 1981, aged 81.

In the years between, he was a teacher in Suva and a student in India during Mahatma Gandhi's freedom movement. He came home to Fiji to teach and to organise cane farmers and mill workers. He was twice elected to Fiji's Legislative Council, led trade unions, founded a college at Lautoka, opened a factory, and bought the land at Deuba on which Pacific Harbour now stands. When Pacific Islands Monthly recorded his death, it remembered him as "a pioneer in the fields of industry, education, and the trade union movement in Fiji".

Why this site exists

This site is made for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so that they may know where they come from, and for anyone who wishes to learn about his public life.

It stands on two books. The first is D. Sharma's Pandit B.D. Lakshman – Teacher, Politician, Statesman: A Brief Life History, published in Suva on 30 March 1981, while Pandit Lakshman was still alive. Mr Sharma had known him "for close to 50 years", and his booklet is the source of most of what we know about the early years and the years in India. We are grateful to him for it.

The second is the Second Edition, Pandit B.D. Lakshman (1900–1981): Teacher, Politician, Statesman, published in 2026 by his grandson. It keeps Mr Sharma's account and adds what newer research has found: contemporary reports in Pacific Islands Monthly, election results, the work of historians, and facts confirmed by the family.

Where these pages rely on the 1981 first edition alone, they say so. Where sources disagree, they say that accounts differ. His life had setbacks as well as successes, and these are mentioned briefly, because they are part of the record.

A note on the name "Prince"

In the Lakshman family, "Prince" is a given name. It is part of the names of two of his sons, among them Prince Gopal Lakshman, and of his grandsons. It is not a title, and the family makes no claim to royalty.

Explore

• His life, told in seven chapters, from Waila and Suva to India, the Legislative Council, the unions, Deuba, and the honours of 1981.
• Timeline: the dates of his life at a glance, with his election results.
• Family and Legacy: his family, and the story carried on by his son Prince Gopal Lakshman.
• Photographs and Documents: the photographs kept in the 1981 first edition.
• Sources and the 1981 Booklet: how this site was researched, and D. Sharma’s 1981 booklet.