SIKH MIGRATION

SIKH MIGRATION CHRONOLOGY Afghanistan - Gurus times. Most of Sikh migration is post Maharaja Ranjit Singh. 1849 Maharaja Duleep Singh to UK and later France. 1850s Burma, China. 1861 Rani Jindan to UK. 1867 Hong Kong. 1870s Malaya followed in later years to Indonesia. 1880s Fiji. 1890s Australia and New Zealand. 1897 Kenya and Uganda. 1897 Canada. 1898 USA. 1890s Argentina. 1900 Iran. THE BEGINNING Sikh soldiers were first deployed in Second Anglo-Burma war 1852-53 and thereafter to Hong Kong and China. Above is given the chronology of Sikh migration. Technically Sikh presence overseas started with Prince Duleep Singh to UK (1849) and Bhai Ram Singh as an exile to Singapore (1850). By early nineteenth century, the British were ruling almost the whole of India except for Punjab which had the Sikh Empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1799-1839) whose territory included parts of Afghanistan and Kashmir. Post Maharaja's death, the Sikh empire disintegrated within 10 years wherein the Sikhs lost to the British in two Anglo-Sikh wars (1845-6 and 1848-9). Although victorious, the British were appreciative of the brave Sikh soldiers and decided to win their loyalty through preferential recruitment in the British Indian army. The British Indian army thus had a very large component of Sikhs. In fact, the Sikh Regiment came into existence on 1 August 1846, with the raising of Regiment of 'Ferozepur Sikhs' and thereafter Regiment of 'Ludhiana Sikhs'. The British started recruiting Sikhs to help them in their efforts to expand their overseas Empires as soldiers and policemen: Hong Kong, 1841 (small presence only on the day British flag was raised but in larger numbers as policemen from 1867 onwards). In China Sikh soldiers were part of the British Indian Army in Second Opium war. Shanghai Police beginning 1850s was majority Sikhs. In Burma for the Second Anglo-Burma war of 1952, Sikh soldiers played a significant role.Many Sikhs followed the soldiers in these destinations as watchmen and for other odd jobs to start with. Sikhs came to Malaysia in 1873 officially but recruitment of soldiers had started in 1869. Non-soldiers' migration was promoted to British East Africa (Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania) in 1890s. This was followed by Sikh migration to North America in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Some Sikhs had ventured to Australia and New Zealand in the latter half of nineteenth century. Sikhs migrated to Latin American countries in late nineteenth century but mainly early twentieth century. Besides the countries mentioned earlier on Sikhs went to several countries in South-East Asia and East Asia including some Pacific islands. By early twentieth century Sikhs were present all over the world though in small numbers as free migrants and not part of any indenture labour. The Sikh preference for migration was to rich countries which were invariably ruled by whites. British Governments or British overseas enterprises in various parts of the world recruited Sikhs preferentially especially after the World War I. Sikh migration especially to Europe and North America increased substantially post 1984 Operation Blue Star and subsequent Sikh riots, many of them as asylum seekers. Illegal migration (colloquially known as 'donkeying') became a popular way of migrating to the west.