Wikipedia

Sikhism in Hong Kong

This article is about Sikhism in Hong Kong. For mainland China, see Sikhism in China. For Sikhism as a religion, see Sikhism.

Sikhism in Hong Kong is a minority religion (Cantonese: 香港嘅錫克教, romanized: hoeng1 gong2 ge3 sek3 hak1 gaau3). There are around 12,000 Sikhs in Hong Kong as of 2016.[1]

Sikhism in Hong Kong
香港嘅錫克教
Khalsa Diwan Gurdwara, Wan Chai
Total population
12,000
Religions
Sikhism
Languages
Punjabi · Cantonese · Hindi • Urdu

History

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Photograph of Sikh policemen in Hong Kong, ca.1870–72. This photograph was taken during the Tordenskjold's expedition to the east to lay undersea cables.

In the colonial-era, Sikhs in China were most prominent in Hong Kong, with Shanghai following next.[2]: 212  During the 1800s and 1900s, many Sikh Punjabi people were recruited from British India to work as officers for the Hong Kong Police and Shanghai Municipal Police.[2]: 216–218  A contingent of Sikh policemen arrived in Hong Kong in 1867.[3]: 107 [4]: 21 

 
Sikh spotted on road in 1909 in Hong Kong (Victoria, Central District). Street scene in front of Queen's Building, corner of Connaught Road on the left and Ice House Street on the right.

After the Indian police unit of the Shanghai Municipal Police force was disbanded in 1945, most of its former policemen were repatriated back to India or moved to Hong Kong or Singapore.[5][6][7] After the advent of Communist rule in 1949, many Sikhs who had been employed as watchmen in mainland China departed for resettlement in Hong Kong, immigrated to the West, or returned to India.[8]: 212  Most of the remaining Sikhs left Shanghai in 1973 after the Sino-Indian War in 1962, these fleeing Shanghai Sikhs shifted to Hong Kong.[9][10][11] In contrast to the gurdwaras of mainland China, Hong Kong's gurdwaras still function normally.[12]

Gurdwaras

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  • Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple[13] – located on Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai and classified as a Grade II Historic Building and managed by the Khalsa Diwan.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hong Kong: The Facts – Religion and Custom HKSAR Government Home Affairs Bureau, May 2016.
  2. ^ a b Kahlon, Swarn Singh (2016). "9. Sikhs in China: Sikh Migration of Great Historical Interest". Sikhs in Asia Pacific: Travels Among the Sikh Diaspora from Yangon to Kobe. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351987417.
  3. ^ McLeod, W. H.; Fenech, Louis E. (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements Series (3rd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442236011.
  4. ^ Barrier, Norman Gerald; Dusenbery, Verne A., eds. (1989). The Sikh Diaspora: Migration and the Experience Beyond Punjab (1st ed.). South Asia Books. ISBN 9788170010470.
  5. ^ Vathyam, Meena (March 2016). "Sikhs in Shanghai". Historic Shanghai.
  6. ^ Vathyam, Meena (14 November 2016). "Sikhs: A piece of history that remains fragmentary". Shanghai Daily. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  7. ^ Vathyam, Meena (2018). Tears and Toil: The History of Shanghai Sikh Gurdwaras. Academia.edu. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Kahlon, Swarn Singh (2016). "9. Sikhs in China: Sikh Migration of Great Historical Interest". Sikhs in Asia Pacific: Travels Among the Sikh Diaspora from Yangon to Kobe. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351987417.
  9. ^ "Sikhs: A piece of history that remains fragmentary". archive.shine.cn. 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  10. ^ Vathyam, Meena (March 2016). "Sikhs in Shanghai". Historic Shanghai.
  11. ^ Almeida, Rhea (8 June 2018). "The Captivating History of Sikhs in Old Shanghai". Homegrown. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  12. ^ Kaur, Anju (18 May 2011). "Shanghai's Secret Gurdwara". SikhChic (originally published on Sikh News Network). Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Khalsa Diwan". Khalsadiwan.com.
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