The History Of Sikhs In China

It is on record that Sikhs soldiers were used to fight in some of the opium
wars with the Chinese by the British towards the end of the opium wars in
1848 circa.

Some of the present day Sikh heartlands of the Punjab were already under the
East India Company, east of the Satluj and further South East of Beas,
before the Sikh wars.These areas did not form prt of the Sikh empire.It leads me
to beleive there were already some Sikh units raised by the British from these
regioons.Their role during the Anglo Sikh wars is also very ambigous; both
the british and Sikh sources have played these down in history.These Sikh
units may have been the vanguard of the British units in the Opium wars.

But by 1851 another rebellion called the Taiping rebellion started against
the British and other Europeans, and to quell this the British brought in The
Ludhiana Regiment.There is a picture of the Sikhs from the Ludhiana taken
around1860 in China on record;where they are shown resting by some bombed out
buildings.

The Sikhs standing tall and being tough and burly had a good effect upon the
usually sly and naughty prankish gangsterish section of chinese population,
who created a nuisance generally. The British began to recruit more Sikhs to
police at the the international settlement at Shanghai . This was often
called The Shanghai International Police. The force, initially composed of
Europeans, mainly Britons, and after 1864 including Chinese, was over the next 90
years expanded to include a Sikh Branch (established 1884), from officers who
retired or left from Sikh military detachments in China. This force reached
about 800 men, almost all Sikhs. The Sikhs were very effective in keeping the
generally lawless elements of the population, under effective control. The
Chinese had no respect neither the etiquette to understand the rules and
regulations of the administration, and would spit and urinate anywhere. The
rickshaw riders would ride like wild mad riders and often cause unnecessary traffic
chaos. Often a Sikh policeman would catch hold of two of unruly riders and
lift them up to bang their heads together , that was enough to put fear into
the chinese. When gangs of unruly Chinese gathered to create a nuisance with
gambling or loud arguments , the appearance of a single majestic looking Sikh
in their red turbans, was enough to send the mobs fleeing. It was apparent the
British had given their Sikh police a free hand in dealing with Chinese, and
the Sikhs did not take this lightly. The police had no sympathy for the
unruly elements of the Chinese, who were seen as nothing more than opium smoking
lay abouts involved in mostly gambling or opium gang activities.

More Sikhs armed with heavy sticks were employed as riot police in the
rough-and-tumble streets of Shanghai.[1930] The British police instructor,
William Ewart Fairbairn, a pioneer in close-quarters battle and riot police
tactics, found the Sikhs to be very effective at quelling disturbances due to their
gatka-driven skills.

The Chinese referred to Sikhs as Hong Tou A-San — a reference to their red
turbans (Hong means red in Mandarin while Tou refers to the head),

An excerpt from Sin City, by Ralph Shaw, a British journalist in Shanghai
from 1937 to 1949, reflects full of racial slurs, as was typical of the
colonial racist administration which in these times are unacceptable;- "The Sikhs
had a vey large community in Shanghai. Most of them were in the police.
Others were watchmen. They were British subjects because India was part of the
Empire. The ex-soldiers amongst them had been recruited for police service, on
traffic duties, in the riot squad or the mounted section, and on retirement
from the force they found their services in demand as bank guards, security men
on the wharves, at the city's warehouses and the big business hongs or as
commissionaires at hotels, restaurants and night-clubs. The Sikhs loved money.
They lent it but at such exorbitant rates of interest that their debtors, who
were plentiful, were likely to remain insolvent for the remainder of their
natural lives. Every other Sikh had a sideline - money-lending. This produced
many appearances in court as plaintiffs against Empire citizens who had
defaulted on promissory notes.

Judge Grant-Jones administered the law in conformity with the strict
principles of British justice. Nevertheless he never missed an opportunity to
express astonishment - and stern condemnation - of some rates of interest levied
by the Sikhs or to question their veracity under oath.

On one occasion a big, bearded Sikh moneylender was addressed by the judge:

'The extent of your extortion has only been equaled by the amount of the
fabrications you have given in evidence. One day I will meet a member of your
community who will tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth, an occasion which I shall celebrate as the miraculous attainment of the
impossible.'

Then the judge would look over to me - he knew me as a shorthand writer -
just to make sure that I'd got down what he wanted to be printed. A slight nod
from me and he would continue the hearing.

By 1890s, there is no doubt there was a thriving community of a few
thousands of Sikhs in Shanghai . The first Gurdwara went up in the same year.
According to the records of a building in Shanghai, this was at at 326 Dong Bao
Xing Road . This is the Gurdwara referred to by Dhian Chand , an Indian Hockey
player who visited the gurdwara in 1932.He writes" ...The atmosphere in the
city was quite tense due to the Sino-Japnese clash over Manchuria . We were
told to keep within bounds and avoid any trouble spots. We visited a fairly
large Sikh Gurduara on the outskirts of the city. It was said to be the
oldest Gurdwara in Shanghai . The Gurdwara had suffered much damage in clashes
between the Chinese and Japanese soldiers. As we came out of the Gurduara ,
Japanese soldiers eyed us with suspicion. We had lunch on board our ship and
sailed for Kobe at about 4 pm "The records of the Gurdwara at this site are still
available on some Chinese sites.

On the outbreak of the Boxer Rising; in China in the summer of 1900, Sikh
troops were dispatched from India to China to join the international forces
engaged in relieving the legations besieged at Peking and suppressing the
rebellion.

The 14th Sikhs, under Colonel Hogge, left Nowshera by train on the 7th of
July for Bombay . However, Lieutenant Currie contracted cholera during a halt
at Khandwa and the Regiment had to be, segregated and their departure to China
was delayed. The Regiment embarked in the'S.S. Formosa' at Bombay on the
12th of August and sailed to Shanghai via Singapore and Hong Kong. The 14th
Sikhs disembarked on the 6th of September and went into camps just outside the
International Settlement. By this time the besieged legations at Peking had
been relieved and there was very little further fighting. Again Sikhs were the
leading units in this lifting of the seize.This is shoen in the Hollywood
film made in the late 60s, named Boxer Rebellion.

The 14th Sikh Regiment joined the 2nd Sikh/British Brigade, which was at
that time garrisoning Shanghai . Conditions there were entirely peaceful and
the Brigade remained there until April, 1901. For the British officers the
seven months spent in this city were a most pleasant period. There were
excellent facilities for sport and games, and hospitality abounded.

By the spring of 1901 it was decided to reduce the British forces in China
and the 2nd Brigade was broken up. However, the 14th Sikhs were amongst those
regiments selected to remain in China and were transferred farther north.

The Regiment left Shanghai by sea for Taku and then proceeded by train to
Yangtsun, where it was responsible for protecting the Peking-Tientsin railway,
which was at that time a British responsibility. The Sikhs were split up into
small detachments over a large section of the railway and were employed in
patrolling the railway line and occasional expeditions after bandits. There
are several pictures availble showing this heavy burly Sikhs in warm clothing
patrolling the Peking Tientsin railway line.

The 14th Sikhs finally left China on the 29th of July, 1902 , sailing from
Taku on the Royal Indian Marine ship Clive.

It must also be remembered many Sikhs headed for Shanghai on their way to
Vancouver and Fiji Islands. Many Sikhs from Shanghai joined the Koma Gata Maru
alias Guru Nanak Jahaz as it was renamed by Baba Gurdit Singh on their way to
the West coast of USA and Canada . There was permanently a very large Sikh
community in Shanghai, until the late 60s when the Mao Revolution made it
necessary for them to leave China altogther.

In these present time there is already an appearance of Sikhs being noticed
in China especially at major Hotels in Peking and Shanghai and Wenzhou ,
where they serve as door men, and concierge handlers and are asked to wear their
turbans to give the authentics of the 1930s era. One such Sikh working in
Peking says "Sometimes when really old, over 70-years-old, Chinese walk by, they
are very happy and tell me that they remember seeing Sikhs like me on the
streets in their youth"

The Sikh troops played a major role in lifting the seize of Shanghai and
Peking at the turn of the century. By 1930s there were said to be two more
Gurdwaras in Shanghai . More Gurdwaras sprang up-one in Canton and one in Taku.
Many of the Sikhs married local Chinese women and settled peacefully there.
With the communists arriving many families left China by way of Singapore and
Penang . Many of them would alight at Singapore and Penang to refresh. It is on
record that dozens of Guru Granth saroops were carried by these families
back from China . But a substantial number of Sikhs who were Chinese state
citizens stayed back and appeared to have lived peacefully until 1963.

May I also mention a Sikh from Taiping went to china and joined the
Kuomintang army to fight the communists and was promoted to the rank of a colonel by
Chaing kai Shek.He spoke Chinese very fluently and on return married a
Chinese lady.[I need to check his name, from somewhere in my notes]

By 1963, there were still about 1200 Sikh families living in China. However
in the decades that followed the founding of the People's Republic of China ,
the country's Sikh population virtually disappeared slowly . As Hindi-Chini
Bhai Bhai transmuted into Hindi-Chini Bye-Bye, the mutual animosity that
followed the Sino-Indian border war led to Indian faces in Chinese cities
becoming notable only for their absence.

But the Sino-Indian war and later the red revolution made it impossible for
Indians to stay on in China . The Gurdwaras in Canton and the other cities
were shut down, followed by the Shanghai Gurduara lastly. Another stream of
Sikhs was seen leaving to Hong Kong and Manila , and some on their way to India
via Malaysia and Singapore .

It was in late 1963, the Straits Times carried an article about the last
batch of Sikhs, about 260, many with Chinese wives left Shanghai back to India ,
via Hong Kong by air. It was reported they carried the last of Saroop of
Guru Granth sahib along with them shutting the last Sikh Gurdwara , in Shanghai
.

For many years I have been trying to trace the location of these Gurdwaras
in china with out success. I was offered a fully paid trip to go to China in
2003 by one Sikh to research this, but I could not do that on some one else's
expense .I refused I hope to be able to go in about two years time as I plan
to take early retirement.

It was only not too long ago, I came across a more definite address for one
of the Gurdwaras in Shanghai as at Dong Bao Xing Road.I also have a picture
of the Sikh Gurdwara that was set up in the International settlement. It is
quite majestic building with many Sikhs gathered outside. However, I am not
able to establish its address. I have also obtained another picture which I am
told is a Sikh Gurdwara in Shanghai , but I am not quite sure about that
claim. It is in color, I was told it no longer is a Gurdwara and appears to be in
the middle of a built up city center. I have forwarded a copy of that
Gurdwara in the international settlement to veer Jespal singh, california , who had
asked me to write some back ground history on Sikhs in China .

Indo China

There is also on record a Gurdwara sahib which existed in Hanoi in the
fifties. What happened to that is unknown. Although Sikh troops were stationed in
Vietnam , there are no records of any Gurdwaras apart from Hanoi , in Indo
china.

However having said the above, there have been some recent Sikhs and
families living in Siem Reap and Pnom Penh doing business in Cambodia , and
Vientiane . Many of them are from Thailand originally. I have met a few from India in
Vientiane . I have met these Sikhs during one of my four wheel drive
holidays from Malaysia through Thailand to Laos and Cambodia in 2001.I have not come
across any Gurdwaras in Laos and Cambodia or Vietnam as yet.

By 1936, the last year of near-normal peacetime policing, the force totaled
4,739 men with 3,466 in the Chinese Branch, 457 in the Foreign Branch (mostly
British), Sikh Branch: 558 men, Japanese Branch: 258 men.


The above was posted by Gurcharan Singh Kulim, London in a yahoo usergroup