This article first appeared in the Indian Express on Oct 27, 2024.
Perhaps it was fate. In 1897, some British-Indian soldiers from Punjab, part of an official delegation from Hong Kong, set sail on the RMS Empress of India to London to celebrate Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee. On the way, they docked at Vancouver in British Columbia. Among the soldiers was Kesur Singh, a battle-hardened Risaldar Major in the 25th Cavalry of the Frontier Force who is today considered the first Indian settler in Canada.
Five years later, on June 3, 1902, another batch of Indian soldiers sailed into Victoria Harbour aboard the RMS Queen of Japan. Most of them were enterprising men from villages in Punjab’s districts of Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Gurdaspur. They liked what they saw, as did the locals, who seemed intrigued by their turbans. “Turbaned Men Excite Interest,” screamed the headline of a local paper. Between 1904 and 1908, the number of migrants from Punjab surged from 50 to 5,000. These men, who almost always arrived alone since Canadian rules prohibited entry for women and children under 18 years — only nine Indian women entered Canada between 1904 and 1920 — worked in the timber industry, fishing and railways for wages as low as $1 a day, much lower than local Canadians. With limited funds, they banded together, with dozens staying in bunkhouses.
Find More Global Indian Top Reads
Reference: Indian Express