Sikhism in the United Kingdom

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Sikhism was recorded as the religion of 336,179 people in the United Kingdom at the 2001 Census.^[1] (Other sources regard the Sikh population as being between 600,000^[2] and 750,000.)^[3] While England is home to the majority of Sikhs in the UK, small communities also exist in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For details about Sikhism in the individual countries of the United Kingdom, see:

• Sikhism in England
• Sikhism in Northern Ireland
• Sikhism in Scotland
• Sikhism in Wales

Note that the first Sikh settler in Britain was Maharaja Duleep Singh (1838-1893), the Last Sikh Emperor of the Imperial Sukerchakia Dynasty, from 1844-1849. He arrived In England in the year 1854 having being exiled from his Kingdom. His mother Empress Jind Kaur (1817-1863), arrived in 1860 at Kensington in Victorian London, and living there for good, after fighting the British for a long time until the fall of the Sikh Dynasty in 1849. She was given permission by the British Parliament to settle on English Soil.

The First Sikh Settlers started migrating from the Punjab in 1911, when the first Sikh Gurdwara was opened in London. During the start of the First and Second World Wars respectively, there was already an established Sikh presence in many parts of England. In London itself the community was small but this grew very rapidly during the 1950s and 60s.^[4]

Literature [edit]

Sikhs in Britain: the making of a community (Zed, 2006) by Prof. Gurharpal Singh and Dr. Darshan Singh Tatla.

Law [edit]

Sikhs are exempt from a couple of British laws; for example they are permitted to ride motorcycles without a helmet (so long as they are wearing a turban) and are permitted to carry around their Kirpan in situations where it would otherwise be seen as an offensive weapon.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• City Sikhs Network - Network of Sikh Professionals in the UK
• Network of Sikh Organisations UK
• Sikhism in United Kingdom
• Reassessing what we collect website – Sikh London History of Sikh London with objects and images

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