Sikhs in Shanghai

In honor of India’s Republic Day – today, January 26 – guest blogger Meena Vathyam shares the story of the most visible Indians in Old Shanghai: The Sikh policeman.

An Indian-born sociologist, Meena has authored several articles on the Sikhs in Shanghai, and has a Facebook page and blog dedicated to discovering one of the least documented groups in Old Shanghai.

//by Meena Vathyam // A city guidebook that–to my surprise–listed a former Sikh gurdwara (temple) launched my journey into the story of the Sikhs in Shanghai. The guide explained that following the first Opium War in 1842, the Treaty of Nanjing opened the city to trade, and Shanghai effectively became three cities: the walled Chinese city (the original Shanghai), the French Concession, and the International Settlement, the latter an amalgamation of the British and American Concessions. And it was here, in the International Settlement, where the story of the Sikhs took place.