Sikh Diaspora - Annexation of The Punjab

Annexation of The Punjab

Sikh migration from the Punjab began in earnest in the second half of the 19th century when the British Raj had successfully completed its annexation of the Punjab. The pivotal action in the British annexation was the lifetime exile of the then eleven-year-old Maharaja, Duleep Singh, thus making Singh the first (although unwilling) member of the Sikh diaspora.

Although a largely secular figure who did little for the Sikh body politic, Axel (2001) argues that Duleep Singh's exile has had a major impact on the Sikh diaspora psyche. Axel(2001) says that Duleep Singh is the archetypal 'tragic hero' figure in Sikh culture, "a King without a Kingdom, a Sikh separated from his people"; the contrast between Duleep Singh and his strong ruler father, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji, makes Duleep's exile even more 'galling' for the Sikhs and results in a strong sense of communal injustice, which is a later trait in the diaspora's development.

Having annexed the Sikh Kingdom, the British Raj preferentially recruited Sikhs in the Indian Civil Service and, in particular, the British Indian Army, which led to migration of Sikhs to different parts of British India and the British Empire. Semiskilled artisans were transported from the Punjab to British East Africa to help in the building of railways, while many Sikhs found themselves in Australia working as Ghans, or cameleers and as labourers on cane plantations.