Sikhism in Australia

The Sikhs form a religious minority in Australia, who trace their ancestry to the Punjab region of South Asia.

Early immigration

Some of the earliest Sikh arrivals in Australia were in 1895 and in 1898. Many Sikhs took part in the rush for gold on the Victorian fields.

It is difficult to separate the history of early Sikh arrivals in Australia from that of other religious faiths from South Asia. It appears that the first Sikhs came sometime after the 1830s to work as shepherds and farm labourers. In the 1860s cameleers commonly called 'Ghans' (short for Afghans) were brought to Australia. Amongst them were many Sikhs. They worked as camel-drivers taking part in exploration of the interior or set up camel-breeding stations or caravanserais. Other Sikhs arrived as free settlers and worked as hawkers and were joined by some of the earlier cameleers. Some hawkers became so successful they had their own stores. In 1890 Baba Ram Singh and Otim (Uttam) Singh arrived and in 1907 established "The People Stores". Baba Ram Singh lived to be 106. He is thought to have brought the first Guru Granth Sahib to Australia in the early 1920s. As their families were not allowed to join these early pioneers many traveled back and forth finally returning to their original homeland to retire.

In the 1890s nearly 250 Sikhs worked on the sugar cane fields in Queensland. Others worked clearing bushland and establishing pastures for sheep and cattle.

Subsequent immigration

From 1901 until the 1970s Government policy made immigration for Sikhs difficult and there were few new arrivals. However since then Sikh settlers mainly from India and Sri Lanka but also from other countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, Kenya, Uganda and the United Kingdom have come to Australia."

More Sikhs came to Australia more than fifty years ago while both Australia and India were British colonies. These enterprising Sikhs came to work on the Banana Plantations in Southern Queensland. Today a large number of them live in the town of Woolgoolga and built Australia's first purpose-built Gurdwara.

The last significant wave of Sikh immigration came about 25 years ago, just after Australia abandoned its White Australia policy.

More recently, Sikh youth from rural and urban Punjab are increasingly migrating to Australia in the last few years, particularly to Melbourne, and mainly on a study basis.

References

External links

* [http://www.racismnoway.com.au/classroom/factsheets/31.html Sikhism in Australia]
* [http://kabira.freeservers.com/sikhaustralia.html Sikhs in Australia]