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South Asians in the United Kingdom

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See also: British Asians, Central Asians in the United Kingdom, East Asians in the United Kingdom, and Southeast Asians in the United Kingdom

South Asians in the United Kingdom
Total population
5,000,000
Indian – 1,927,150 – 2.9% (Census 2021/22)

Pakistani – 1,662,286 – 2.5% (Census 2021/22)

Bangladeshi – 651,834 – 1.0% (Census 2021/22)

Other South Asian – 700,000 (approx) – 1.1% (Census 2021/22)
Languages
Languages of Afghanistan
Languages of Bangladesh
Languages of Bhutan
Languages of India
Languages of Maldives
Languages of Nepal
Languages of Pakistan
Languages of Sri Lanka
Religion
Islam, Hindu, Sikh, Christianity, Non-religious, others
Related ethnic groups
Part of a series on
British people
United Kingdom
Eastern European
Northern European
Southern European
Western European
Central Asian
East Asian
South Asian
Southeast Asian
West Asian
African and Afro-Caribbean
Northern American
South American
Oceanian

South Asians in the United Kingdom have been present in the country since the 17th century, with significant migration occurring in the mid-20th century. They originate primarily from eight sovereign states in South Asia which are, in alphabetical order, the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. There is also a history of migration of diasporic South Asians from Africa and Southeast Asia moving to, and settling in, the United Kingdom.

Rishi Sunak was the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to be of South Asian descent.

Population

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There are approximately 5 million people of South Asian heritage in the UK, or 7.5% of the British population.

According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, there are 1,927,150 people of Indian/British Indian ethnicity (2.9%), 1,662,286 people of Pakistani /British Pakistani ethnicity (2.5%), 651,834 people of Bangladeshi/ British Bangladeshi ethnicity (1.0%), and an estimated further 700,000 from other South Asian heritage backgrounds.[1][2][3]

South Asians in the UK are represented by many different ethnic groups native to the region of South Asia. The BBC has frequently described them as South Asian groups, or South Asian ethnic groups, due to the diversity of ethnic and ethnolinguistic groupings that might be considered as South Asian people.[4][5][6][7]

Various British institutions consider there to be eight South Asian sovereign states. The London School of Economics's South Asia Centre describes its academic objective as "Unravelling South Asia — Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — to the World."[8] The Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth (a UK Government cabinet office) covers the Asian subregion, with the junior position also representative as the Minister for Afghanistan.[9][10]

History

[edit]

South Asian peoples began arriving in cities in Britain, such as London, around the mid-17th century. The most significant period of migration from South Asia, however, was in the middle of the 20th century.[11] Between 1870 and 1950, South Asians had an impact on several areas of British society, including minority rights, war, and representation.[12]

Lascars

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17th century

[edit]

Many South Asians came from ships and boats as servants and maids for the more rich. English commerce on the Indian subcontinent brought some of these people to England and four South Asian men in London answered the call for sailors for the first English East India Company fleet to Asia. Their Portuguese names identifies them as mixed-race Portuguese Luso-Asians.[13] Since the 17th century, the East India Company employed thousands of South Asian lascars, scholars and workers (who were mostly Bengali or Muslim) mainly to work on British ships and ports around the world.

18th century

[edit]

The first group of South Asians to migrate in notable numbers, in the 18th century, were lascars (sailors) recruited from the Indian subcontinent (largely from the Bengal region) to work for the British East India Company, with some choosing to settle down in Britain after either being abandoned by their captains or choosing to desert from their positions of employment. Many were unable to find jobs and were described in letters as "miserable objects", who were often "shivering and starving in the streets".[14][15] Letters to newspapers in 1785 talked of "the number of miserable objects, Lascars, … shivering and starving in the streets".[16] Some lascars took British wives, and some converted to Anglican Christianity (at least nominally) in order to marry,[17] possibly due to a lack of South Asian women in Britain at the time.[18] Most Indians during this period would visit or reside in Britain temporarily, returning to India after months or several years, bringing back knowledge about Britain in the process.[19] 38 lascars were reported arriving in British ports in 1760.[20][21]

19th century

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Between 1600 and 1857, some 20-40,000 Indian men and women of all social classes had travelled to Britain, the majority of them being seamen working on ships.[22] Lascars lodged in British ports in between voyages.[23] Most Indians during this period would visit or reside in Britain temporarily, returning to India after months or several years, bringing back knowledge about Britain in the process.[24]

One of the most famous early Indian immigrants to Britain was Sake Dean Mahomet, a captain of the British East India Company and a native of Patna in the Indian state of Bihar.[25]

Due to the majority being lascars, the earliest Muslim communities were found in port towns, found living in barracks, Christian charity homes and hostels.[15] The first and most frequent South Asian travelers to Britain were Christian Indians and those of European-Asian mixed-race descent. For Muslim Indians considerations about how their dietary and religious practices would alienate them from society at large were brought into question but these considerations were often outweighed by economic opportunities. Those that stayed often adopted British customs, dress and diet.[26] Naval cooks also came, many of them from the Sylhet Division of what is now Bangladesh. One of the most famous early Muslim immigrants to England was Sake Dean Mahomed, a captain of the British East India Company who in 1810 founded London's first Indian restaurant, the Hindoostane Coffee House. He is also reputed for introducing shampoo and therapeutic massage to the United Kingdom.[27] In 1784 he migrated to Ireland where he fell in love with a woman called Jane Daly. He converted to Anglicanism in order to marry her, as it was illegal at the time for non-Protestants to marry Protestants. They later moved to Brighton.[28]

After reports of lascars suffering from poverty made their way to the ear of the general public, the East India Company responded by making lodgings available for them, but no checks were kept on the boarding houses and barracks they provided to the lascars. Many lascars found that their new living accommodations were often of a poor quality, and reports of Lascars being mistreated were submitted to the Society for the Protection of Asiatic Sailors, which was founded in 1814.[16]

In 1842, the Church Missionary Society reported on the dire "state of the Lascars in London"[29] it was reported in the winter of 1850, 40 Asian men, also known as 'sons of India', were found dead of cold and hunger on the streets of London. Shortly after these reports evangelical Christians proposed the construction of a charity house and gathered £15,000 in assistance of the Lascars. In 1856 the Strangers' Home for Asiatics, Africans and South Sea Islanders was opened in Commercial Road, Limehouse under the manager Lieutenant-Colonel R. Marsh Hughes.[30]

The Navigation Act 1660 restricted the employment of non-English sailors to a quarter of the crew on returning East India Company ships. Baptism records in East Greenwich suggest that young Indians from the Malabar Coast were being recruited as servants at the end of the 17th century, and records of the EIC also suggest that Indo-Portuguese cooks from Goa were retained by captains from voyage to voyage.[14] In 1797, 13 were buried in the parish of St Nicholas at Deptford.

20th century

[edit]

It is estimated 8,000 Indians (a large proportion being lascar sailors) lived in Britain permanently prior to the 1950s. Although, the comparatively few lascars that gained work often opened shops and helped initiate social and political community associations.[31] Indians were less likely to settle permanently because of wage differentials.[32][33] Due to the majority of early South Asian immigrants being lascars, the earliest South Asian communities were found in port towns.

The small, often transitory presence of Lascars continued into the 1930s, with the Port of London Authority mentioning Lascars in a February 1931 article writing that "Although appearing so out of place in the East End, they are well able to look after themselves, being regular seamen who came to the Docks time after time and have learnt a little English and know how to buy what they want.[34]

In 1932, the Indian National Congress survey of 'all Indians outside India' estimated that there were 7,128 Indians in the United Kingdom.[35] It is estimated that from 1800 to 1945, 20,000 South Asians emigrated to Britain.[36]

There was further significant migration after World War II, particularly from the Punjab in India, Mirpur in Pakistan and the Sylhet region of Bangladesh.[37] The Commonwealth Immigrants Act was passed in 1962 and restricted this.

21st century

[edit]

In 2020, South Asian Heritage Month was set up as an annual awareness month by co-founders Jasvir Singh (barrister) and Dr Binita Kane to celebrate South Asian identity in the UK and beyond. [38] The 2020 George Floyd protests had sparked solidarity and support from British South Asians in support of black British protest movements.[39] In 2021, South Asian campaigners petitioned the Department for Education to include the Partition of India in the UK's national curriculum.[40]

Population history

[edit]

2021 Census

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The figures below represent data collected for the 2021 United Kingdom census with the country as a reported birthplace recorded (i.e. does not include British born people of South Asian origin). The census in Scotland was delayed for a year and took place in 2022.[41]

State/Territory  England
(2021)[42] 		 Scotland
(2022)[43] 		 Wales
(2021)[42] 		Northern Ireland
(2021)[44] 		 United Kingdom
(2021/22)
 India 906,962 37,729 13,399 6,910 965,000
 Pakistan 616,454 28,891 7,103 1,235 653,683
 Bangladesh 266,290 4,063 6,752 629 277,734
 Sri Lanka 141,861 8,722 2,435 192 –
 Afghanistan 84,877 816 73
 Nepal 77,349 1,271 270
Other South Asia 1,117 36 –
Total 2,094,910 78,249 31,812 9,309 2,214,280

Social and political issues

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Community and sport

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In 2020, Amar Cymru, or My Wales, was established in consultation with Football Association of Wales to give the group a larger voice over the Wales national football team and provide stadium experiences for South Asians in Wales.[45]

In 2021, West Ham United became the first Premier League football club to specifically appoint a South Asian academy mentor to engage with the "more than 325,000 South Asians" living in the "London Boroughs of Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Barking and Dagenham and Havering".[46] England coach Gareth Southgate has spoken of a need for more South Asians in the sport nationally.[47] In 2022, figures from the Professional Footballers' Association highlighted this further with the findings that 0.45 percent of academy players were South Asian.[48]

In 2021, Bristol City F.C. signed their first-ever South Asian British player.[49]

In 2021, the England and Wales Cricket Board found that state-educated South Asian Britons were 34 times less likely to become professional cricketers than privately educated players from the White British census ethnic group.[50]

Health

[edit]

In 2018, research from the University of Surrey showed that South Asian people in Britain had low-levels of Vitamin D intake in a national context.[51]

In the UK, women of South Asian heritage are the least likely to attend breast cancer screening. Research is still needed to identify specific barriers for the different South Asian communities. For example, a study showed that British-Pakistani women faced cultural and language barriers and were not aware that breast screening takes place in a female-only environment.[52][53][54]

A 2020 study found that UK residents of South Asian heritage were the most likely group to die from Covid-19 after being admitted to hospital.[55] The following year, a study published in The Lancet suggested that South Asians were at the greatest risk of infection, hospitalisation or death from the second wave of the pandemic when compared with other ethnic groups in Britain.[56]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion - Chart data". Scotland's Census. National Records of Scotland. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024. Alternative URL 'Search data by location' > 'All of Scotland' > 'Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion' > 'Ethnic Group'
  3. ^ "MS-B01: Ethnic group". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  4. ^ "South Asians in UK at greater risk from Covid". BBC. 1 May 2021. According to the most recent 2011 census, 21% of South Asian groups live in multigenerational households, compared with about 7% of white groups.
  5. ^ "Cancer awareness 'low in black and South Asian groups'". BBC. 1 November 2014.
  6. ^ "BAME We're Not the Same: Indian". BBC. Note: Indian and British Indian communities are vastly different from Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and other 'South Asian' groups. We must be mindful and recognise these differences.
  7. ^ "'It's not over' warning as London heads for tier 3". BBC. 14 December 2020. The Office for National Statistics has been investigating why ... South Asian ethnic groups in the UK have been particularly badly affected.
  8. ^ "South Asia Centre". London School of Economics. Unravelling South Asia — Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — to the World.
  9. ^ "Minister for Afghanistan was on staycation holiday as Kabul fell, Sky News understands". Sky News. 21 August 2021. The minister for Afghanistan was also on holiday last week as Kabul fell, Sky News has learnt. Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, the minister of state directly responsible for South Asia, was on leave until Sunday
  10. ^ "Intensifying international support for the peace process in Afghanistan". Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. 22 June 2021. Statement by Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon
  11. ^ Dattani, Meera (8 September 2021). "'This unassuming street in north London is the city's original "Little India" – and nowhere else captures the original South Asian experience quite like it". BBC. South Asians have lived in London since the mid-17th Century, when ships of the colonial East India Company docked in the capital. However, most came in the middle of the 20th Century.
  12. ^ Ahmed, Rehana; Mukherjee, Sumita; Stadtler, Florian (2019). Ranasinha, Ruvani (ed.). South Asians and the shaping of Britain, 1870–1950. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719085147.
  13. ^ Fisher, Michael H.; Lahiri, Shompa; Thandi, Shnider (2007). A South Asian History of Britain: Four Centuries of Peoples from the Indian Sub-Continent. Oxford, UK. pp. 6–8. ISBN 978-1-84645-008-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. ^ a b "The Goan community of London - Port communities". portcities.org.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  15. ^ a b Nijhar, Preeti (30 September 2015). Law and Imperialism: Criminality and Constitution in Colonial India and Victorian England. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-31600-8.
  16. ^ a b "LMA Learning Zone > schooLMAte > Black and Asian Londoners > Timeline". learningzone.cityoflondon.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  17. ^ Fisher, Michael H. (2006). Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Traveller and Settler in Britain, 1600–1857. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-81-7824-154-8.
  18. ^ Fisher, Michael H. (2006). Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Traveller and Settler in Britain, 1600–1857. Orient Blackswan. pp. 111–9, 129–30, 140, 154–9, 160–8, 172, 181. ISBN 978-81-7824-154-8. Lists of names of lascars suggest a single lascar crew might include Muslims, Catholic and Protestant Christians (of part Portuguese or other European descent), Parsis, Armenians, and/or Hindus ... In contrast, identities like Indian, Chinese, Arab, or Malay apparently remained potent on board ship and in Britain ... Tensions around lascars in London especially increased from the fall 1813 season onwards. The particularly large number of Asian seamen arriving that year exacerbated conflicts aboard ship, inside the depot, and with the surrounding British community ... In September 1813 alone, Malay sailors fought Arabs, killing one; Chinese tongs fought each other
  19. ^ Fisher, Michael H. (2006). Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Traveller and Settler in Britain, 1600–1857. Orient Blackswan. p. 1. ISBN 978-81-7824-154-8.
  20. ^ "Research project: Lascar Lives". southampton.ac.uk. University of Southampton. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  21. ^ Fisher, Michael H. (2006). Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Traveller and Settler in Britain, 1600–1857. Orient Blackswan. pp. 111–9, 129–30, 140, 154–6, 160–8, 181. ISBN 978-81-7824-154-8.
  22. ^ Fisher, Michael H. (2007). "Excluding and Including 'Natives of India': Early-Nineteenth-Century British-Indian Race Relations in Britain". Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 27 (2): 303–314 [304–5]. doi:10.1215/1089201x-2007-007. S2CID 146613125.
  23. ^ "The lascars' lot". The Hindu. 5 January 2003. Archived from the original on 7 November 2015.
  24. ^ Fisher, Michael Herbert (2006). Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Travellers and Settlers in Britain, 1600 ... Orient Blackswan. ISBN 9788178241548. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017.
  25. ^ Narain, Mona (2009). "Dean Mahomet's "Travels", Border Crossings, and the Narrative of Alterity". Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 49 (3): 693–716. doi:10.1353/sel.0.0070. JSTOR 40467318. S2CID 162301711.
  26. ^ Fisher, Michael H. (2006). Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Traveller and Settler in Britain, 1600–1857. ISBN 978-81-7824-154-8.
  27. ^ "Curry house founder is honoured". BBC. 29 September 2005. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  28. ^ "The Travels of Dean Mahomet". publishing.cdlib.org. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  29. ^ Behal, Rana P.; Linden, Marcel van der (1 January 2006). Coolies, Capital and Colonialism: Studies in Indian Labour History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-69974-7.
  30. ^ "Strangers' Home for Asiatics, Africans and South Sea Islanders | Making Britain". open.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  31. ^ Chatterji, Joya; Washbrook, David (3 January 2014). Routledge Handbook of the South Asian Diaspora. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-01824-4.
  32. ^ Visram, Rozina (2002). Asians In Britain: 400 Years of History. pp. 254–269.
  33. ^ Behal, Rana P.; Linden, Marcel van der (2006). Coolies, Capital and Colonialism: Studies in Indian Labour History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-69974-7.
  34. ^ Jones, J. P. (February 1931). "Lascars in the Port of London". The P.L.A. Monthly. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via lascars.co.uk.
  35. ^ Visram, Rozina (30 July 2015). Ayahs, Lascars and Princes: The Story of Indians in Britain 1700–1947. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-41533-6.
  36. ^ Panayi, Panikos (11 September 2014). An Immigration History of Britain: Multicultural Racism Since 1800. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-86423-3.
  37. ^ https://www.striking-women.org/module/map-major-south-asian-migration-flows/post-1947-migration-uk-india-bangladesh-pakistan-and
  38. ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/black-history-month-pakistan-bhutan-afghanistan-nepal-b2376974.html
  39. ^ Thapar, Ciaran (9 September 2021). "Dance music collective Daytimers: 'Brownness isn't a hype – it's who we are'". The Guardian. Conversations about racial equality and decolonising the public sphere have become louder since George Floyd's death last year. These have motivated many young British south Asians to support Black protest movements
  40. ^ Khan, Shaistha (6 August 2021). "UK South Asians push for partition history in school curriculum". Al Jazeera. As per the 2001 census in the UK, South Asians are the largest minority group, accounting for 50 percent of all ethnic minorities in England and Wales.
  41. ^ McNeill, Kirsty (18 March 2021). "March 21st is Census day - but Scotland will have to wait". Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  42. ^ a b "Country of birth (extended)". www.ons.gov.uk. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  43. ^ "Table UV204 - Country of birth: Country by Country of Birth by Individuals". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 24 May 2024. > 'All of Scotland' > 'Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion' > 'Country of birth: UV204'
  44. ^ "MS-A18: Country of birth - full detail". nisra.gov.uk. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  45. ^ "Wales vs Estonia: New South Asian fans' group ready to roar on Gareth Bale and co in Cardiff". The Independent. 6 September 2021. Amar Cymru has been launched to give the South Asian community a voice in the national team, with the group's formation fully backed by the Football Association of Wales.
  46. ^ "West Ham United strengthen links with South Asian communities with creation of Academy Link Mentor role". West Ham United. 3 September 2021.
  47. ^ "England boss Gareth Southgate wants more effort to find South Asian players". ESPN. 28 July 2021. Southgate said British South Asians have faced serious challenges when attempting to enter the professional game.
  48. ^ "British South Asian representation in English football revealed as PFA celebrates AIMS project anniversary". Sky Sports News. 9 March 2022. There are 99 footballers at 44 academies across the country but British South Asian player representation at elite senior level remains a pressing issue, with the latest PFA figures indicating a mere 0.45 percent of the total pool of professional footballers hail from the community.
  49. ^ "Bristol City sign first-ever British-South Asian player in club's history". ITV News. 2 August 2021. Bristol City have made history by signing the club's first ever British player with South Asian heritage.
  50. ^ "White British cricketers from private schools 34 times more likely than young Asians to reach elite level". The Guardian. 20 November 2021. Privately educated white British players are 34 times more likely to become professional cricketers than state-educated British South Asians, according to academic research that is likely to invite further investigation of the game's treatment of ethnic minorities.
  51. ^ "Concern over low vitamin D intakes among UK South Asians". University of Surrey. 25 June 2018.
  52. ^ "Cultural and language barriers need to be addressed for British-Pakistani women to benefit fully from breast screening". NIHR Evidence (Plain English summary). 15 September 2020. doi:10.3310/alert_41135. S2CID 241324844.
  53. ^ Woof, Victoria G; Ruane, Helen; Ulph, Fiona; French, David P; Qureshi, Nadeem; Khan, Nasaim; Evans, D Gareth; Donnelly, Louise S (2 December 2019). "Engagement barriers and service inequities in the NHS Breast Screening Programme: Views from British-Pakistani women". Journal of Medical Screening. 27 (3): 130–137. doi:10.1177/0969141319887405. ISSN 0969-1413. PMC 7645618. PMID 31791172.
  54. ^ Woof, Victoria G.; Ruane, Helen; French, David P.; Ulph, Fiona; Qureshi, Nadeem; Khan, Nasaim; Evans, D. Gareth; Donnelly, Louise S. (20 May 2020). "The introduction of risk stratified screening into the NHS breast screening Programme: views from British-Pakistani women". BMC Cancer. 20 (1): 452. doi:10.1186/s12885-020-06959-2. ISSN 1471-2407. PMC 7240981. PMID 32434564.
  55. ^ Siddique, Haroon (19 June 2020). "South Asians in Britain most likely to die in hospital of Covid-19, study finds". The Guardian. People of south Asian heritage are the most likely in Great Britain to die after being admitted to hospital for Covid-19
  56. ^ "South Asians in UK at greater risk from Covid". BBC. 1 May 2021. People from a South Asian background were at even greater risk of infection, hospitalisation and death in the second wave of Covid than the first, compared with other ethnic groups
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