British Indian
Encyclopedia
The term British Indian (also Indian British or Indian Britons) refers to citizens of the United Kingdom
whose ancestral roots lie in India
. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians number around one and a half million in the UK (not including those of mixed Indian and Other
ancestry), making them the single largest visible ethnic minority population in the country
. They make up the largest subgroup of British Asian
s, and are one of the largest Indian communities in the Indian diaspora, largely due to the Indian-British relations (including historical links such as India having once been occupied by British and being part of the British Empire and still being part of the Commonwealth of Nations
). The British Indian community is the fifth largest in the Indian diaspora
, behind the Indian communities in Nepal
, the United States
, Malaysia and Burma.
British Indians are a well established and middle class ethnic group. A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
in 2007 found British Indians have among the lowest poverty rates among different ethnic groups in Britain second only to White British
.
for certain; if the Romani (Gypsies) are included, then the earliest arrivals may have been in the Middle Ages
— although not normally included as South Asian, the Roma and Sinti
(most in the UK have been Sinti) are both believed to have originated in parts of what is now North India
and Pakistan
and to have begun travelling westward around 1000 C.E., though they have mixed with Southwest Asia
ns and Europeans over the centuries. Romani began arriving in sizeable numbers in parts of Western Europe
in the 16th century.
(EIC) recruited lascars to replace vacancies in their crews on East Indiamen whilst on voyages in India. Many were then refused passage back, and were marooned in London
. There were also some ayahs, domestic servants and nannies
of wealthy British families, who accompanied their employers back to "Blighty
" when their stay in Asia came to an end.
The Navigation Act of 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. In 1797, 13 were buried in the parish of St Nicholas at Deptford
.
During the 17th to 19th centuries, the East India Company brought over thousands of Indian lascars, scholars
and workers (who were largely Bengali
and/or Muslim
) to Britain, most of whom settled down and took local British wives, due to a lack of Indian women in Britain at the time. Due to the majority of early Asian immigrants being lascar seamen, the earliest Indian communities were found in port towns. Naval cooks also came, many of them from the Sylhet Division
of what is now Bangladesh
. One of the most famous early Bengali immigrants to Britain
was Sake Dean Mahomet
, a captain of the British East India Company. In 1810, he founded London's first Indian restaurant, the Hindoostane Coffee House. He is also reputed for introducing shampoo
and therapeutic massage to the United Kingdom. By the mid-19th century, there were more than 40,000 Indian seamen, diplomats, scholars, soldiers, officials, tourists, businessmen and students in Britain.
began).
Following the Second World War and the breakup of the British Empire
, Indian migration to the UK increased through the 1950s and 1960s. The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
and Immigration Act 1971
largely restricted any further primary immigration
, although family members of already-settled migrants were still allowed. In addition, much of the subsequent growth in the British Indian community has come from the births of second- and third-generation Indian Britons.
Although post-war immigration was continuous, several distinct phases can be identified:
Indians have existed in the UK for generations and have long been the country's largest visible ethnic minority group. In 2006 there were at least 1.3 million fully blooded Indians in the UK, while one estimate for 2008 suggests a total of 1.6 million British Indians.
India is a diverse nation composed of many ethnic groups, this is reflected in the British Indian community although there are several ethnic groups that number considerably more than others. The largest subgroup of British Indians are those of Punjabi
origin (representing approximately two thirds of direct migrants from South Asia to the UK), combined with Pakistani Punjabis they number over 2 million in the UK and are the largest Punjabi community outside of South Asia. British Gujaratis
are also another large subgroup of the British Indian population and they form the largest overseas Gujarati population on earth, being larger than the combined Gujarati communities of New York City
and Toronto
(which are second and third largest, respectively). There are also approximately half a million Bengalis
in the UK (although not all of these people originate from what is now considered India, but Bangladesh
). Alongside Punjabis, Gujarats and Bengalis there are also significant numbers of Tamils and Parsis.
There have been also a recent immigration of Malayalees from South India who number approximately 100,000.
, South
and East Africa
as well as the Pacific Islands
. See also: British Indo-Caribbean community
, Ugandan British
, Kenyan British, South African British and Tanzanian British
.
London
Indians number over half a million in London, which is the city's single largest non-white ethnic group. Indians have a significant impact on the culture of the British capital. Within London, Southall
, Hounslow
, Brent
, Croydon
, Redbridge
, Ealing
, Barnet
, Tooting
, Harrow
and Wembley
, the latter of which is one of the few places outside of India where Indians make up the largest ethnic group (almost 4 times larger than the indigenous White British
population). There are more Indians in the British capital than in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal combined.
Leicester
Leicester is set to soon become the UK's first ethnic minority-majority city and Indians make up by far the largest ethnic group besides the White British. At 18.7% of the local population in 2009, Leicester has one of the highest percentages of Indians per head of the population of any local authority in the UK. According to the 2001 Census, 14.74% of Leicester's population were Hindu and 4.21%. Also worth of note is that Gujarati
is the primary language of 16% of the city’s residents, 3% speak Punjabi
as a primary language and 2% Urdu. Other smaller but common language groups include Hindi and Bengali
.
can be seen in the table below. Although the majority of British Indians are Hindu, the UK is home to the largest Sikh community outside of India. Notable Gurdwaras in the country include: Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha
, Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick
, Guru Nanak NSJ, Soho Road, Birmingham
, see also: Gurdwaras in the United Kingdom
. Notable Hindu temples include BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London (the largest Hindu temple outside of India), Bhaktivedanta Manor
, Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal
, Skanda Vale
, Sree Ganapathy Temple, Wimbledon
and Tividale Tirupathy Balaji Temple. There are also significant numbers of Muslim and Christian British Indians as well as Ravidassias with their main temple (Bhawan) in Handsworth, Birmingham.
Sikhs are also supporting separate Sikh monitoring in the 2011 census, Virendra Sharma MP met with representatives from the Sikh community to lobby parliament in November 2009 stating "It is vital that the Office of National Statistics recognise the importance of the Sikh community and provide this monitoring at the next Census".
(some 11,200), the United States
(around 17,000), Oceania
(largely Anglo-Indians) amongst others.
Indian cuisine
is extremely popular in the United Kingdom, and even above the British roast and Fish and Chips
, the hybrid dish "Chicken tikka masala
" always comes out on top as the UK's favourite meal. There are around 9,000 Indian restaurants located across the UK, which equates as approximately one per 7,000 people, this an extremely large number and suggests that any village or town with a population of over 2,000 is likely to be home to an Indian eatery. The popularity of the Indian curry in the UK was mainly made by Bangladeshi
restaurateurs, where 85 percent of Indian restaurants in the UK are in fact owned by Bangladeshi
Sylhet
i Bengalis. Over 2 million Britons eat at Indian restaurants in the UK every week, with a further 3 million cooking at least one Indian based meal at home during the week. Veeraswamy
, probably the world's most famous Indian restaurant is located on Regent Street
in London
, and is the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the UK, having opened in 1926.
, one of the better known productions revolving around British Indian life, and Slumdog Millionaire
, a British drama film set in Mumbai
starring British Indian actor Dev Patel
in the lead role. The latter has won four Golden Globes
, seven BAFTA Awards
and eight Academy Awards. Besides British-produced Indian-based films, there are many Bollywood
productions which have been filmed in the United Kingdom. These include Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
, Yaadein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
.
has a strong influence on global music as a whole. Today, British Indian musicians exist in almost every field and genre, however there is an extremely large number of Bhangra artists that cement the UK as the stronghold of traditional Indian music outside of India although this is a Punjabi music mainly performed by the Sikh
community. Notable British Indian Bhangra acts include Panjabi MC
, Rishi Rich
, Juggy D
, DCS
, Mentor Kolektiv
, Ms Scandalous
and Sukshinder Shinda. World famous award winning singer-songwriter Freddie Mercury
(a former member of the rock band Queen
) was born on the island of Zanzibar
to Parsi
parents, originally from the Gujarat area of India. Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) and his family fled when he was 17 years old due to the Zanzibar Revolution
; he remains not only one of the most famous British Indian musicians of all time, but one of the most famous British musicians. Other world-famous British Indian musicians include Biddu
, who produced a number of worldwide hits such as "Kung Fu Fighting
", one of the best-selling singles of all time having sold eleven million records worldwide, and Apache Indian, who also had worldwide hits such as "Boom Shack-A-Lak
". Jay Sean, whose parents immigrated to the United Kingdom from the Punjab region, is the first solo British Asian artist to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100
with his single "Down
" selling more than three million copies in the United States, making him "the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history." Other contemporary British Indian singers include S-Endz
and BRIT Award
-nominated Nerina Pallot
.
, EastEnders
, Emmerdale
and Hollyoaks
have all had significant numbers of Indian characters, while shorter British series such as The Jewel in the Crown and Skins
also feature British Indian characters. By far the most notable British Indian television shows are Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42
, a talk show that stars many famous British Indian actors including Sanjeev Bhaskar
, Meera Syal
, Indira Joshi
and Vincent Ebrahim
. British Indian actors not only have a strong presence in the UK, but also in the United States
, where Parminder Nagra
, Naveen Andrews
, Kunal Nayyar
and Nicollette Sheridan
(who are all Britons of Indian origin) have found fame in ER
, Lost
, The Big Bang Theory
and Desperate Housewives
respectively, though Nagra is the only one to portray an actual British citizen of Indian descent. There are dozens of channels aimed at the British Indian community available on Satellite and Cable, which include:
is a radio station available across the entire United Kingdom which is aimed predominantly at Britons of South Asian origin under 35 years of age, besides this popular station there are only a few other national radio stations for or run by the British Indian community - including Sunrise
and Yarr Radio
s. Regional British Indian stations include Asian Sound
of Manchester
, Hindu Sanskar
and Sabras Radio
s of Leicester
, Kismat Radio
of London
, Radio XL
of Birmingham
and Sunrise Radio Yorkshire
based in Bradford
(which itself has a much larger Pakistani than Indian community).
community are evidence of lack of knowledge and ignorance, the term "Paki" is likely to be the most commonly used anti-Asian phrase in the UK and despite it being a shorted and derogatory term for a person of Pakistani origin it is all to often used to refer to anyone from the Indian subcontinent
. However, some young British Pakistanis have attempted to reclaim the word and use it in a non-offensive way to refer to themselves.Verbal discrimination such as explained above has become somewhat more common after the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks, even though Islam extremists who committed these atrocities have little to do with the British Indian community. One of the best examples of anti-Indian sentiment in the UK is the 2007 Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy
which received significant media coverage, white contestants Jade Goody
(who is mixed race), Danielle Lloyd
and Jo O'Meara
were all seen to have been mocking Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty
because of her accent. They also persisted on making fun on general parts of Indian culture, Channel 4
went ahead and screened the arguments which received over 50,000 complaints. The controversy generated over 300 newspaper articles in Britain, 1,200 in English language
newspapers around the globe, 3,900 foreign language news articles, and 22,000 blog
postings on the internet
. Another example of discrimination is the Expulsion of Asians in Uganda in 1972
(a decision made by the President of Uganda to ethnically cleanse the country) which lead to tens of thousands of East African Indians coming to the UK to start a new life, the majority of these already had British passports, due to Uganda at that time being part of the British Empire
. In 2007, the controversial documentary Undercover Mosque
was aired on British television, it showed secret filming in mosques throughout the UK, in this many extremist comments were made including one by now deported Abdullah el-Faisal
who said “You have to bomb the Indian businesses
, and as for the Jews you kill them physically.” Again this is evidence that discrimination towards British Indians can come from any other race or ethnicity. Other examples of discrimination towards British Indians in the mainstream population include the case of 27 year old Chetankumar Meshram, a call centre trainer from Northampton
who was compensated £5,000 after his boss told him he was to be replaced by a better English speaker. Also Meena Sagoo, 42 is demanding over £100,000 after herself and a fellow employee of the ING Bank of Sri Lankan
heritage were called The Kumars at No. 42
(after the popular TV comedy show of the same name). The same bank has been noted to have paid out £20,000 to a worker of Chinese origin who also claimed racial harassment in office. Another form of discrimination towards British Indians is stereotyping, one example is British Asians being stereotyped as being the majority of newsagent
and convenience store
shopkeepers, the stereotype "Paki shop"; and also making a majority of doctors
, these are all again often associated as being hardworking. This stereotype was made fun in the television and radio sketches of Goodness Gracious Me
by four British Indian comedy actors themselves. In the comedy sketch Little Britain
, a British Indian character called Meera continuously receives racist comments from weight loss advisor Marjorie Dawes who always makes it know that she does not understand a word of what Meera says, although it is completely obvious to the surrounding people and the viewer.
is an Indian citizen with an estimated fortune of £10.8 billion in 2009. A study by Joseph Rowntree Foundation
in 2007 found British Indians have among the lowest poverty rates among different ethnic groups in Britain second only to white British. Of different ethnic groups Bangladeshis (65%), Pakistanis (55%), black Africans (45%) had the highest rates; black Caribbeans (30%), Indians (25%), white Other (25%) and white British (20%) had the lowest rates. According to BBC
findings, the economic makeup in 2001 of Indian-born British Indians only is as follows. 65.98% of new immigrants were employed with 16.43% being 'low earners' (people earning less than £149.20 a week) and 18.13% being 'high earners' (people earning more than £750 a week). By comparison settled Indian immigrants to the UK are actually slightly less likely to be in employment, 62.85%; in fact, the percentage of low and high earners for settled immigrants stood at 15.9% and 7.88% respectively. Therefore on average, 64.42% of Indian-born immigrants to the UK are employed. This figure is approximately 10% lower than the rate of employment for British-born people (regardless of ethnicity) which stood at 73.49% in 2001.
Sikhs are on average the wealthiest Indians, and the second wealthiest religious group after Jewish people
, in the UK, with a median total household wealth of £229,000.
and still seek marriage with individuals who are of similar caste categories. There have been several incidents involving abuse of low caste British Hindus, known as Dalit
s, by higher caste individuals in schools and workplaces. However, other Hindus say that caste discrimination is a thing of the past in Britain, and that the Asian community has moved on.
Between October 2006 and May 2008, UniVisa - a company run by three Indian illegal immigrants - submitted 980 fraudulent visa applications to the Home Office
for would-be Indian immigrants. It has also been reported recently, that there are large numbers of illegal immigrants coming in from India. An MP
in England
described it as a big problem.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
whose ancestral roots lie in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians number around one and a half million in the UK (not including those of mixed Indian and Other
British Mixed-Race
Mixed is an ethnicity category that has been used by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics since the 1991 Census. Colloquially it refers to British citizens or residents whose parents are of two or more different races or ethnic backgrounds...
ancestry), making them the single largest visible ethnic minority population in the country
Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom
People from various ethnic groups reside in the United Kingdom. Migration from what are now the Northern European states has been happening for millennia, with other groups such as British Jews also well established...
. They make up the largest subgroup of British Asian
British Asian
British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
s, and are one of the largest Indian communities in the Indian diaspora, largely due to the Indian-British relations (including historical links such as India having once been occupied by British and being part of the British Empire and still being part of the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
). The British Indian community is the fifth largest in the Indian diaspora
Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...
, behind the Indian communities in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Malaysia and Burma.
British Indians are a well established and middle class ethnic group. A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is a British social policy research and development charity, that funds a UK-wide research and development programme. It seeks to understand the root causes of social problems, to identify ways of overcoming them, and to show how social needs can be met in practice...
in 2007 found British Indians have among the lowest poverty rates among different ethnic groups in Britain second only to White British
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
.
Middle Ages - 18th century
No one knows the earliest origins of settlement of Indians in Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
for certain; if the Romani (Gypsies) are included, then the earliest arrivals may have been in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
— although not normally included as South Asian, the Roma and Sinti
Sinti
Sinti or Sinta or Sinte is the name of a Romani or Gypsy population in Europe. Traditionally nomadic, today only a small percentage of the group remains unsettled...
(most in the UK have been Sinti) are both believed to have originated in parts of what is now North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and to have begun travelling westward around 1000 C.E., though they have mixed with Southwest Asia
Southwest Asia
Western Asia, West Asia, Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia are terms that describe the westernmost portion of Asia. The terms are partly coterminous with the Middle East, which describes a geographical position in relation to Western Europe rather than its location within Asia...
ns and Europeans over the centuries. Romani began arriving in sizeable numbers in parts of Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
in the 16th century.
17th - 19th centuries
People from India have settled in Great Britain since the East India CompanyBritish East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
(EIC) recruited lascars to replace vacancies in their crews on East Indiamen whilst on voyages in India. Many were then refused passage back, and were marooned in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. There were also some ayahs, domestic servants and nannies
Nanny
A nanny, childminder or child care provider, is an individual who provides care for one or more children in a family as a service...
of wealthy British families, who accompanied their employers back to "Blighty
Blighty
Blighty is a British English slang term for Britain, deriving from the Hindustani word vilāyatī , from Persian vilayet and ultimately from Arabic wilayah, originally meaning something like "province"...
" when their stay in Asia came to an end.
The Navigation Act of 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
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
suggest that young Indians from the Malabar Coast
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...
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
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
were retained by captains from voyage to voyage. In 1797, 13 were buried in the parish of St Nicholas at Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
.
| Year | British Indian Population |
|---|---|
| ~1850 (est) | 40,000 |
| ~1900 (est) | 70,000 |
| 1951 (census) | 31,000 |
| 1961 (census) | 81,000 |
| 1971 (census) | 275,000 |
| 1981 (census) | 676,000 |
| 1991 United Kingdom Census 1991 A nationwide census, commonly known as Census 1991, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 21 April 1991. This was the 19th UK census.... (census) |
840,000 |
| 2001 United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.... (census) |
1,053,411 |
During the 17th to 19th centuries, the East India Company brought over thousands of Indian lascars, scholars
Education in India
Education in India is provided by the public sector as well as the private sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Child education is compulsory. The Nalanda University was the oldest university-system of education in the world...
and workers (who were largely Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
and/or Muslim
Islam in the United Kingdom
Islam has been present in the United Kingdom since its formation in 1707, though it was not legally recognised until the Trinitarian Act in 1812. Today it is the second largest religion in the country with estimates suggesting that by 2010 the total Muslim population had reached 2.869 million.The...
) to Britain, most of whom settled down and took local British wives, due to a lack of Indian women in Britain at the time. Due to the majority of early Asian immigrants being lascar seamen, the earliest Indian communities were found in port towns. Naval cooks also came, many of them from the Sylhet Division
Sylhet Division
Sylhet Division , also known as Greater Sylhet or Sylhet region, is the northeastern division of Bangladesh, named after its main city, Sylhet...
of what is now Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. One of the most famous early Bengali immigrants to Britain
British Bangladeshi
A British Bangladeshi is a person of Bangladeshi origin who resides in the United Kingdom having emigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose parents did so; they are also known as British Bengalis...
was Sake Dean Mahomet
Sake Dean Mahomet
Sake Dean Mahomed was a Bengali traveler, surgeon and entrepreneur who introduced the Indian curry house restaurant in Britain, and was the first Indian to have written a book in English. He also established "shampooing" baths in Great Britain, where he offered therapeutic massage,The word...
, a captain of the British East India Company. In 1810, he founded London's first Indian restaurant, the Hindoostane Coffee House. He is also reputed for introducing shampoo
Shampoo
Shampoo is a hair care product used for the removal of oils, dirt, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants and other contaminant particles that gradually build up in hair...
and therapeutic massage to the United Kingdom. By the mid-19th century, there were more than 40,000 Indian seamen, diplomats, scholars, soldiers, officials, tourists, businessmen and students in Britain.
19th century
By the late 19th century and early 20th century, there were around 70,000 Indians in Britain, 51,616 of whom were lascar seamen (when World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
began).
Following the Second World War and the breakup of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, Indian migration to the UK increased through the 1950s and 1960s. The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Before the Act was passed, citizens of British commonwealth countries had extensive rights to migrate to the UK...
and Immigration Act 1971
Immigration Act 1971
The Immigration Act 1971 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning immigration.The Act, as with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, and that of 1968, restricted immigration, especially primary immigration into the UK....
largely restricted any further primary immigration
Primary immigration
Primary immigration is a term which describes the movement of the earner of a family, or a young unattached single man, from one country to another, usually to improve their economic condition...
, although family members of already-settled migrants were still allowed. In addition, much of the subsequent growth in the British Indian community has come from the births of second- and third-generation Indian Britons.
Although post-war immigration was continuous, several distinct phases can be identified:
- Manual workers were recruited to fulfill the labour shortage that resulted from World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. These included Anglo-IndianAnglo-IndianAnglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
s who were recruited to work on the railways as they had done in India. - Workers mainly from the Punjab regionPunjab regionThe Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
arrived in the late 1950s and 1960s. Many worked in the foundries of the English MidlandsEnglish MidlandsThe Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and a large number of SikhSikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
people worked at Heathrow Airport in west LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. This created an environment to where the next generation of families do not lose their identity as easily. - During the same time, medical staff from India were recruited for the newly formed National Health ServiceNational Health ServiceThe National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
. These people were targeted as the British had established medical schools in the Indian subcontinent which conformed to the British standards of medical training. - During the 1960s and 1970s, large numbers of East African IndiansIndian diaspora in East AfricaThe Indian diaspora in Africa refers to people of Indian origin living in Africa. Most Indians in Africa arrived in the 19th century as British indentured labourers, many of them to work on the Kenya-Uganda railway, while others had arrived earlier by sea as traders....
, who already held British passports, entered the UK after they were expelled from KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, UgandaUgandaUganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and ZanzibarZanzibarZanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
. Many of these people had been store-keepers in Africa and opened shops when they arrived in the UK.
21st century
By the early 21st century, the British Indian community had grown to number over one million. According to the 2001 UK Census, 1,053,411 Britons had full Indian ethnicity (representing 1.8% of the UK's population). An overwhelming majority of 99.3% resided in England (in 2008 the figure is thought to be around 97.0%). In the nine year period between 2001 and 2010, the number of Indian-born people in the UK has increased in size by 43% from 467,634 to around 669,000 (an increase of over 200,000).Demographics
| Region of Birth | Percentages |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
45.9% |
| England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
44.8% |
| Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
0.7% |
| Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... |
0.3% |
| Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west... |
- |
| UK not specified | 0.1% |
| Other Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
0.2% |
| Africa Africa Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area... |
16.0% |
| Kenya Kenya Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east... |
7.9% |
| Uganda Uganda Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by... |
2.9% |
| Tanzania Tanzania The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state... |
1.9% |
| Rest of Africa | 3.3% |
| Asia Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population... |
36.6% |
| India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... |
34.6% |
| Rest of Asia | 2.1% |
| North America North America North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas... |
0.3% |
| South America South America South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east... |
0.2% |
| Oceania Oceania Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago... |
0.2% |
| Other | 0.6% |
Indians have existed in the UK for generations and have long been the country's largest visible ethnic minority group. In 2006 there were at least 1.3 million fully blooded Indians in the UK, while one estimate for 2008 suggests a total of 1.6 million British Indians.
Ethnicity
In the 2001 UK Census, Indians in the UK were most likely to have responded to code 41 - Indian or Indian British. Indian was one of only five sub categories in the UK census which represents a nation (along with Irish, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese).India is a diverse nation composed of many ethnic groups, this is reflected in the British Indian community although there are several ethnic groups that number considerably more than others. The largest subgroup of British Indians are those of Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
origin (representing approximately two thirds of direct migrants from South Asia to the UK), combined with Pakistani Punjabis they number over 2 million in the UK and are the largest Punjabi community outside of South Asia. British Gujaratis
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
are also another large subgroup of the British Indian population and they form the largest overseas Gujarati population on earth, being larger than the combined Gujarati communities of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
(which are second and third largest, respectively). There are also approximately half a million Bengalis
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
in the UK (although not all of these people originate from what is now considered India, but Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
). Alongside Punjabis, Gujarats and Bengalis there are also significant numbers of Tamils and Parsis.
There have been also a recent immigration of Malayalees from South India who number approximately 100,000.
Population
According to the 2001 UK Census 1,053,411 people (1.8% of the country's population) was of Indian descent. Between 2001 and 2009, National Statistics has released estimates for the number of Indians in England only. They were as follows: 2001 - 1,045,600, 2002 - 1,074,700, 2003 - 1,109,100, 2004 - 1,156,000, 2005 - 1,215,400, 2006 - 1,264,200, 2007 - 1,316,000 2008 - 1,366,400 and 2009 - 1,414,100. Today there are considerable numbers of Indian Britons who have ancestry via the CaribbeanCaribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, South
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
as well as the Pacific Islands
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
. See also: British Indo-Caribbean community
British Indo-Caribbean community
The British Indo-Caribbean community consists of residents of the United Kingdom who are of Caribbean origin and whose ancestors were indigenous to India...
, Ugandan British
Ugandan British
Ugandan migration to the United Kingdom refers to the movement of people from Uganda. Today, a small proportion of people in the United Kingdom were either born in Uganda, or have Ugandan ancestry....
, Kenyan British, South African British and Tanzanian British
Tanzanian British
Tanzanians in the United Kingdom are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ethnic or national origins lie fully or partially in the African nation of Tanzania...
.
Population spread
The table below shows the dispersity of Indian people in the United Kingdom. The figures for all of the English regions, cities and boroughs are based on 2009 estimates, whilst the figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are from the 2001 Census.| Indian population in the United Kingdom regions | ||||
| Region | Population of region | Indian population | Percentage of total population | Significant communities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 LondonGreater London Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London... |
|
Indian community of London Indians are London's largest non-white ethnic minority group, with a population of around 500,000 .... |
|
Harrow London Borough of Harrow The London Borough of Harrow is a London borough of north-west London. It borders Hertfordshire to the north and other London boroughs: Hillingdon to the west, Ealing to the south, Brent to the south-east and Barnet to the east.-History:... - 15.9% Indian Brent London Borough of Brent In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 2,022. This rose slowly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 5,646 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased... - 14.2% Ealing London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing is a borough in west London.-Location:The London Borough of Ealing borders the London Borough of Hillingdon to the west, the London Borough of Harrow and the London Borough of Brent to the north, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to the east and the London... - 12.9% Hounslow London Borough of Hounslow -Political composition:Since the borough was formed it has been controlled by the Labour Party on all but two occasions. In 1968 the Conservatives formed a majority for the first and last time to date until they lost control to Labour in 1971. Labour subsequently lost control of the council in the... - 12.8% Redbridge London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough in outer north-east London. Its administrative headquarters is at Redbridge Town Hall in Ilford. The local authority is Redbridge London Borough Council.-Etymology:... - 10.7% Newham London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the... - 9.7% Hillingdon London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon is the westernmost borough in Greater London, England. The borough's population was recorded as 243,006 in the 2001 Census. The borough incorporates the former districts of Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Hayes and Harlington and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the... - 9.0% Barnet London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet is a London borough in North London and forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 331,500 and covers . It borders Hertfordshire to the north and five other London boroughs: Harrow and Brent to the west, Camden and Haringey to the south-east and Enfield to the... - 8.4% |
| West Midlands West Midlands (region) The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,... |
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Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region... - 10.5% Indian Sandwell Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,... - 8.2% Coventry Coventry Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although... - 7.7% Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... - 5.8% Walsall Walsall Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative... - 5.3% |
| South East South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex... |
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Slough Slough Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London... - 11.2% Indian |
| East Midlands East Midlands The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire... |
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Leicester Leicester Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest... - 18.7% Indian Oadby and Wigston Oadby and Wigston Oadby and Wigston is a local government district and borough in the English county of Leicestershire.-Geography:It is composed of the areas of Oadby, Wigston Magna and South Wigston. It is predominantly urban, and runs directly into Leicester, to the north-west... - 10.7% Blaby Blaby Blaby is a village in central Leicestershire, England, some five miles south of Leicester city centre. It has population of around 6,240 , and its proximity to the city causes it to form part of the Leicester Urban Area.... - 5.7% Charnwood Charnwood Charnwood may refer to:* Charnwood , a local government district in the county of Leicestershire, England* Charnwood , an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England... - 5.1% Nottingham Nottingham Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group... - 4.5% Derby Derby Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407... - 3.5% Northampton Northampton Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is... - 3.5% |
| East East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. It was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.Its... |
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Bedford Bedford Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town... - 4.7% Cambridge Cambridge The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the... - 4.7% Indian Luton Luton Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000.... - 4.3% |
| North West North West England North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East... |
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Blackburn - 9.2% Indian Preston - 6.8% Bolton Bolton Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the... - 5.6% Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... - 3.4% Trafford Trafford The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800, covers , and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston... - 2.1% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine regions of England and formally one of the government office regions. It covers most of the historic county of Yorkshire, along with the part of northern Lincolnshire that was, from 1974 to 1996, within the former shire county of Humberside. The... |
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Kirklees Kirklees The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 401,000 and includes the settlements of Batley, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Denby Dale, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Kirkburton, Marsden, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite... - 4.2% Bradford Bradford Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897... - 3.1% Indian Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... - 2.6% Sheffield Sheffield Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely... - 2.3% |
| South West South West England South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ... |
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Bristol Bristol Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007... - 2.4% Indian Gloucester Gloucester Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham.... - 2.3% Swindon Swindon Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east... - 2.0% |
| North East North East England North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland... |
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Newcastle Upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne... - 2.8% Indian |
 ScotlandScotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
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Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... - 2.4% Indian |
 WalesWales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... |
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Cardiff Cardiff Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for... - 1.3% Indian |
| Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west... |
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Communities
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Indians number over half a million in London, which is the city's single largest non-white ethnic group. Indians have a significant impact on the culture of the British capital. Within London, Southall
Southall
Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
, Hounslow
Hounslow
Hounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development situated 10.6 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It forms a post town in the TW postcode area.-Etymology:...
, Brent
London Borough of Brent
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 2,022. This rose slowly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 5,646 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased...
, Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, Redbridge
Redbridge, London
Redbridge is a district of Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge in north-east London. It is home to Redbridge Institute of Adult Education and Redbridge Football Club.-Etymology:...
, Ealing
Ealing
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
, Barnet
Barnet
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...
, Tooting
Tooting
Tooting is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, Harrow
London Borough of Harrow
The London Borough of Harrow is a London borough of north-west London. It borders Hertfordshire to the north and other London boroughs: Hillingdon to the west, Ealing to the south, Brent to the south-east and Barnet to the east.-History:...
and Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
, the latter of which is one of the few places outside of India where Indians make up the largest ethnic group (almost 4 times larger than the indigenous White British
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
population). There are more Indians in the British capital than in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal combined.
Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
Leicester is set to soon become the UK's first ethnic minority-majority city and Indians make up by far the largest ethnic group besides the White British. At 18.7% of the local population in 2009, Leicester has one of the highest percentages of Indians per head of the population of any local authority in the UK. According to the 2001 Census, 14.74% of Leicester's population were Hindu and 4.21%. Also worth of note is that Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
is the primary language of 16% of the city’s residents, 3% speak Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
as a primary language and 2% Urdu. Other smaller but common language groups include Hindi and Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
.
Religion
According to the 2001 Census, the religious breakdown of Indians in England and WalesEngland and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
can be seen in the table below. Although the majority of British Indians are Hindu, the UK is home to the largest Sikh community outside of India. Notable Gurdwaras in the country include: Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha
Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha
Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall is a Sikh Gurdwara situated in the London suburb of Southall on Havelock Road and Park Avenue. It is the largest Sikh temple in Europe. Building work at the Havelock Road site commenced in March 2000 and the Gurdwara opened on Sunday 30 March 2003, in order...
, Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick
Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick
Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick is a Sikh temple in Smethwick, near Birmingham, UK.This is UK's first and biggest Gurdwara. The total Gurdwara spans an area of about 78,000 square metres and the building is four storeys high....
, Guru Nanak NSJ, Soho Road, Birmingham
Guru Nanak NSJ, Soho Road, Birmingham
The Gurdwara Sahib was built in the late 1970s under spiritual guidance of Pujey Sant Baba Puran Singh Ji Kericho Wale and under the leadership of Pujey Bhai Sahib ji Bhai Norang Singh Ji...
, see also: Gurdwaras in the United Kingdom
Gurdwaras in the United Kingdom
This is a partial List of Gurdwaras in the United Kingdom, divided according to its constituent countries.- East of England:-South East England:-South West England:-Greater London:-West Midlands:-East Midlands:...
. Notable Hindu temples include BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London (the largest Hindu temple outside of India), Bhaktivedanta Manor
Bhaktivedanta Manor
Bhaktivedanta Manor is a Gaudiya Vaishnava temple set in the Hertfordshire countryside of England in the village of Aldenham near Watford. The Manor, as it is called by those familiar with it, is owned and run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as ISKCON or the...
, Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal
Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal
Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal is a Hindu mandir on Narborough Road in the West End of Leicester, England.-External links:**...
, Skanda Vale
Skanda Vale
Skanda Vale is a Hindu Temple/Monastery in Llanpumsaint community, Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales. The temple is dedicated to Lord Subramanya, who is also known as Skanda, Karttikeya, and Muruga...
, Sree Ganapathy Temple, Wimbledon
Sree Ganapathy Temple, Wimbledon
Established in 1980s, Shree Ganapathy Temple, Wimbledon is a Hindu temple in south-west London. The main deity in the temple is of Lord Ganesha. There are also deities of Goddess Durga , Lord Hanuman, Krishna etc...
and Tividale Tirupathy Balaji Temple. There are also significant numbers of Muslim and Christian British Indians as well as Ravidassias with their main temple (Bhawan) in Handsworth, Birmingham.
Sikhs are also supporting separate Sikh monitoring in the 2011 census, Virendra Sharma MP met with representatives from the Sikh community to lobby parliament in November 2009 stating "It is vital that the Office of National Statistics recognise the importance of the Sikh community and provide this monitoring at the next Census".
| Religion | Percentage of Indian population in England and Wales England and Wales England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom... . |
|---|---|
 HinduismHinduism Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions... |
45.00% |
 SikhismSikhism Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing... |
29.06% |
 IslamIslam Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~... |
12.70% |
 ChristianityChristianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings... |
4.89% |
| Not Stated | 4.63% |
| Other Religion | 1.75% |
| Agnostic | 1.73% |
 BuddhismBuddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th... |
0.18% |
 JudaismJudaism Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people... |
0.06% |
| Total | 100% |
Diaspora
Today the British Indian community is extremely well established and it even has its own diaspora, many Indian British people now live abroad including in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(some 11,200), the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(around 17,000), Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
(largely Anglo-Indians) amongst others.
Cuisine
Indian cuisine
Indian cuisine consists of thousands of regional cuisines which date back thousands of years. The dishes of India are characterised by the extensive use of various Indian spices, herbs, vegetables and fruit. Indian cuisine is also known for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society...
is extremely popular in the United Kingdom, and even above the British roast and Fish and Chips
Fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...
, the hybrid dish "Chicken tikka masala
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken tikka masala is a curry dish of roasted chicken chunks in a spicy sauce. The sauce is usually creamy, spiced and orange-coloured...
" always comes out on top as the UK's favourite meal. There are around 9,000 Indian restaurants located across the UK, which equates as approximately one per 7,000 people, this an extremely large number and suggests that any village or town with a population of over 2,000 is likely to be home to an Indian eatery. The popularity of the Indian curry in the UK was mainly made by Bangladeshi
British Bangladeshi
A British Bangladeshi is a person of Bangladeshi origin who resides in the United Kingdom having emigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose parents did so; they are also known as British Bengalis...
restaurateurs, where 85 percent of Indian restaurants in the UK are in fact owned by Bangladeshi
British Bangladeshi
A British Bangladeshi is a person of Bangladeshi origin who resides in the United Kingdom having emigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose parents did so; they are also known as British Bengalis...
Sylhet
Sylhet Division
Sylhet Division , also known as Greater Sylhet or Sylhet region, is the northeastern division of Bangladesh, named after its main city, Sylhet...
i Bengalis. Over 2 million Britons eat at Indian restaurants in the UK every week, with a further 3 million cooking at least one Indian based meal at home during the week. Veeraswamy
Veeraswamy
Veeraswamy is an Indian restaurant in London, located at 99-101 Regent Street. It was opened in 1926 by Edward Palmer, the great-grandson of an English soldier and an Indian princess, and is the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the United Kingdom...
, probably the world's most famous Indian restaurant is located on Regent Street
Regent Street
Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and is the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the UK, having opened in 1926.
Film
The British Indian film industry is a successful enterprise, and over recent years many British Indian actors have rose to prominence globally, particularly in Britain, India, and the USA. Notable films include Bend it like BeckhamBend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
, one of the better known productions revolving around British Indian life, and Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British epic romantic drama adventure film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup...
, a British drama film set in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
starring British Indian actor Dev Patel
Dev Patel
Dev Patel is a British actor. He is best known for playing Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire , for which Patel won a number of awards, including a Critics' Choice Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award...
in the lead role. The latter has won four Golden Globes
66th Golden Globe Awards
The 66th Golden Globe Awards Ceremony was broadcast on January 11, 2009, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, United States on the NBC TV network...
, seven BAFTA Awards
62nd British Academy Film Awards
The 62nd British Academy Film Awards, hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, took place on 8 February 2009, and honoured the best films of 2008.-Best Actor:Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler*Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon...
and eight Academy Awards. Besides British-produced Indian-based films, there are many Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
productions which have been filmed in the United Kingdom. These include Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , also known as DDLJ, is a Hindi language film released on 20 October 1995. A romantic comedy, the film marked the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra, and stars Shahrukh Khan and Kajol...
, Yaadein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... is a Bollywood film released in India and countries with large NRI populations on 14 December 2001....
.
1970s
|
1980s
|
1990s
|
first decade of the 21st century
|
Music
Indian musicMusic of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
has a strong influence on global music as a whole. Today, British Indian musicians exist in almost every field and genre, however there is an extremely large number of Bhangra artists that cement the UK as the stronghold of traditional Indian music outside of India although this is a Punjabi music mainly performed by the Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
community. Notable British Indian Bhangra acts include Panjabi MC
Panjabi MC
Rajinder Singh Rai , better known by his stage name Panjabi MC is a British Indian musician.-Career:...
, Rishi Rich
Rishi Rich
Rishpal Singh Rekhi better known by his stage name Rishi Rich is a British Indian music producer born in Croydon, England and based in London...
, Juggy D
Juggy D
Jagwinder Singh Dhaliwal, better known by his stage name, Juggy D, is a British Indian singer from Southall, London, England.-Music:...
, DCS
DCS (band)
DCS are a British Asian live Bhangra band formed in 1983. They are seen as one of the first bands of the UK Bhangra scene along with other bands such as Alaap headed by the legendary Channi Singh, Apna Sangeet, Heera, Shava Shava led by Nirmal Kumar Nirmal and many more...
, Mentor Kolektiv
Mentor Kolektiv
Mentor Kolektiv are a British Asian, Bhangra group. The Mentor Kolektiv, headed by Mentor consists of Punjabi vocalist Des-C, rapper MC A.C.,and DJ Mr Mak....
, Ms Scandalous
Ms Scandalous
Ms Scandalous is a British Asian bhangra/rap artist.She was born in Southall, West London, to a Punjabi family, and was signed up by Panjabi Hit Squad after she was spotted working part-time at a music store in Southall, and asked to audition on the spot...
and Sukshinder Shinda. World famous award winning singer-songwriter Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
(a former member of the rock band Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
) was born on the island of Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
to Parsi
Parsi
Parsi or Parsee refers to a member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities in South Asia, the other being the Irani community....
parents, originally from the Gujarat area of India. Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) and his family fled when he was 17 years old due to the Zanzibar Revolution
Zanzibar Revolution
The Zanzibar Revolution by local African revolutionaries in 1964 overthrew the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government. An ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east coast of Tanganyika, Zanzibar had been granted independence by Britain in 1963...
; he remains not only one of the most famous British Indian musicians of all time, but one of the most famous British musicians. Other world-famous British Indian musicians include Biddu
Biddu
Biddu or Biddu Appaiah is an Indian-British music producer, composer, song-writer and singer who produced and composed many hit records worldwide during a career spanning five decades...
, who produced a number of worldwide hits such as "Kung Fu Fighting
Kung Fu Fighting
"Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song written by Jim Brusatto and Vivian Hawke performed by Carl Douglas, and composed and produced by Biddu. It was released as a single in 1974, at the cusp of a chopsocky film craze, and eventually rose to the top of the British and American charts, in addition to...
", one of the best-selling singles of all time having sold eleven million records worldwide, and Apache Indian, who also had worldwide hits such as "Boom Shack-A-Lak
Boom Shack-A-Lak
"Boom Shack-A-Lak" is a song by Apache Indian, released as a single in 1993. The song was included on Apache Indian's 'Nuff Vibes' EP. which is his biggest hit in the UK, reaching number 5 in the charts in 1993....
". Jay Sean, whose parents immigrated to the United Kingdom from the Punjab region, is the first solo British Asian artist to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
with his single "Down
Down (Jay Sean song)
"Down" is an R&B-electropop song by British artist Jay Sean. The song was released in North America as his debut single from his first album there, All or Nothing. In other markets, including the UK, the song serves as Jay Sean's lead single from his third studio album. The single features American...
" selling more than three million copies in the United States, making him "the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history." Other contemporary British Indian singers include S-Endz
S-Endz
S-Endz, also known as Turi and Casey Rain is a British Asian vocalist, music producer, songwriter and presenter. He is best known as a member of the critically acclaimed UK rap/alternative/bhangra band Swami....
and BRIT Award
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
-nominated Nerina Pallot
Nerina Pallot
Nerina Pallot is a platinum selling, BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award nominated British singer and songwriter. Although born in London, Pallot was brought up in Jersey to a half-French father and mother from Allahabad, India.-Early life:Pallot played piano as a child and wrote her first song...
.
Television
Out of all of the countries in the Indian diaspora, the UK is most likely to be the best at portraying Indian culture and life in the UK through television. Long-running British soap operas such as Coronation StreetCoronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
, EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
and Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
have all had significant numbers of Indian characters, while shorter British series such as The Jewel in the Crown and Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
also feature British Indian characters. By far the most notable British Indian television shows are Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42
The Kumars at No. 42
The Kumars at No. 42 was a British television show. It won an International Emmy in 2002 and in 2003. It ran for seven series totalling 53 episodes.-Plot:...
, a talk show that stars many famous British Indian actors including Sanjeev Bhaskar
Sanjeev Bhaskar
Sanjeev Bhaskar, OBE is a British Indian comedian, actor and broadcaster, best known for his work in the BBC Two comedy series Goodness Gracious Me and as host of The Kumars at No. 42...
, Meera Syal
Meera Syal
Meera Syal MBE is a British comedienne, writer, playwright, singer, journalist, producer and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created Goodness Gracious Me and became one of the UK's best-known Indian personalities portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No...
, Indira Joshi
Indira Joshi
Indira Joshi is a British actress of Indian ethnicity. She has appeared in episodes of many well-known British dramas, including Holby City, Doctors, All About Me, The Bill and Coronation Street. However, she is probably best known for her role as Madhuri Kumar in the spoof chat show The Kumars at...
and Vincent Ebrahim
Vincent Ebrahim
Vincent Ebrahim is a South African actor of Indian ethnicity. Born in 1951, he studied drama at the University of Cape Town. He is the brother of South African actress Vinette Ebrahim, who is best known for playing the role of Charmaine Beukes in the Afrikaans soap opera Sewende Laan.After...
. British Indian actors not only have a strong presence in the UK, but also in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where Parminder Nagra
Parminder Nagra
Parminder Kaur Nagra is an English actress of Indian descent. She came to international prominence in 2002 after starring in Bend It Like Beckham. She starred as Dr. Neela Rasgotra in the Emmy Award-winning American medical drama series ER for six years until the series ended on 2 April 2009...
, Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
, Kunal Nayyar
Kunal Nayyar
Kunal Nayyar is an Indian actor born in London, England, and raised in New Delhi, India. He is known for his role as Rajesh Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.-Education:...
and Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan is an English film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives and as Paige Matheson on Knots Landing.-Early life:...
(who are all Britons of Indian origin) have found fame in ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
and Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
respectively, though Nagra is the only one to portray an actual British citizen of Indian descent. There are dozens of channels aimed at the British Indian community available on Satellite and Cable, which include:
| Indian owned | Sky British Sky Broadcasting British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland.... channel |
Virgin Media channel | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sony TV Asia Sony Entertainment Television Asia For the version in India, see Sony Entertainment Television .Not to be confused with Sony Entertainment Television , the SET version in Indonesia, Hong Kong and Fiji.... |
782 | 806 | N/A |
| STAR One STAR One STAR One is an Indian television channel that primarily broadcasts Hindi entertainment based in Mumbai. Launched on 1 November 2004 with its show, Remix, the channel gained in popularity with television shows such as Remix, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Nach Baliye, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai,... |
783 | N/A | N/A |
| STAR Plus STAR Plus STAR Plus is a Hindi language general entertainment television channel based in India. The channel is part of the STAR TV network's bouquet of channels... |
784 | 803 | N/A |
| Zee TV Zee TV Zee TV is an India-based satellite television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, which broadcasts various programmes in Hindi and other regional languages of India. Broadcasting is also present in various nations of South Asia, Europe, the Middle East,... |
788 | 809 | Channel 808 (Tiscali TV) |
| Zee Music | 789 | N/A | N/A |
| Zee Cinema Zee Cinema Zee Cinema is a Hindi satellite movie channel in India based in Mumbai. The channel is owned by the popular Zee Entertainment Enterprises which is a part of Essel Group, and broadcasts in many countries around the world. The channel was formerly a part of STAR TV channel umbrella.Zee Cinema was the... |
617 | 810 | N/A |
| Alpha ETC Punjabi | 798 | 812 | N/A |
| SET Max SET Max SET Max is Sony Entertainment Television Network's channel that provides its viewers a mix of Hindi Movies and cricket based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Among Hindi movie channels it competes mainly with Zee Cinema and STAR Gold in India. An HD version of the channel was introduced in 2010.-External... |
800 | 806 | N/A |
| Aastha TV Aastha TV Aastha TV is India’s No. 1 spiritual TV network, Established in 2000 it is owned by 'Aastha Broadcasting Network Ltd.', which is listed at Bombay Stock Exchange and has Santosh Kumar Jain and Prabhat Kumar Jain as its Directors... |
807 | N/A | N/A |
| STAR News STAR News STAR News is the Hindi language news channel of STAR TV based in Mumbai. The channel is a co-production of STAR Group and ABP Pvt. Ltd... |
808 | 802 | N/A |
| STAR Gold STAR Gold STAR Gold is a Hindi movie channel that is part of the STAR TV network and is owned by News Corporation. It features a mix of contemporary as well as classic movies from the 1950s to the present time... |
809 | N/A | N/A |
| Zee Gujarati | 811 | N/A | N/A |
| SAB TV SAB TV SAB TV is an Indian general entertainment television channel that is owned by Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd and based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was launched on April 23, 2000 by Sri Adhikari Brothers as a general entertainment channel. In 2003, it was repositioned as a comedy-centric channel... |
816 | N/A | N/A |
| Sahara One Sahara One Sahara One is an Indian Hindi general entertainment channel based in Mumbai. It is operated by Sahara India Pariwar, a company formed by Subrato Roy Sahara who is a managing worker and chairman of the Sahara India Pariwar.... |
817 | N/A | N/A |
| Aaj Tak Aaj Tak Aaj Tak is a 24-hour Hindi news television channel owned by TV Today Network Ltd. Aaj Tak loosely translates as "Till Today" or "Up to the Minute". Watched by some 45 million viewers in India’s cable and satellite universe, Aaj Tak is one of India’s largest privately owned news channels... |
818 | N/A | N/A |
| Peace TV Peace TV Peace TV is a Sunni Islamic satellite television network broadcasting globally 24/7 from Dubai, UAE. Peace TV programs are all in the English language and telecast free-to-air... |
820 | N/A | N/A |
| Zee Jaagran | 838 | N/A | N/A |
| Joint owned | Sky British Sky Broadcasting British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland.... channel |
Virgin Media channel | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| B4U Movies B4U Movies B4U Movies is a Bollywood movie digital TV channel based in Mumbai available on more than 8 different satellites, in more than 100 countries including the USA, UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Mauritius, Canada and India... |
780 | 815 | N/A |
| B4U Music B4U Music B4U Music is a music-themed digital TV channel available on more than 8 different satellites, in more than 100 countries including the USA, UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Mauritius, Canada and India... |
781 | 816 | Channel 504 (Freesat Freesat Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008... ) |
| 9X 9X 9X is an Indian Hindi general entertainment channel based in Mumbai. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel was launched on November 12, 2007 in India... |
828 | N/A | Channel 662 (Freesat) |
| 9XM 9X 9X is an Indian Hindi general entertainment channel based in Mumbai. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel was launched on November 12, 2007 in India... |
829 | N/A | N/A |
| NDTV Imagine NDTV Imagine Imagine TV is a Hindi general entertainment channel, owned by Turner Broadcasting System based in Mumbai.- History :The channel was established by NDTV Group under the stewardship of former STAR India CEO Sameer Nair. The channel, was launched in India on January 21, 2008 as NDTV Imagine... |
831 | N/A | N/A |
| British owned | Sky British Sky Broadcasting British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland.... channel |
Virgin Media channel | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| MATV | 793 | 823 | N/A |
Radio
The BBC Asian NetworkBBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British radio station serving those originating from and around the Indian subcontinent. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, Leicester and London...
is a radio station available across the entire United Kingdom which is aimed predominantly at Britons of South Asian origin under 35 years of age, besides this popular station there are only a few other national radio stations for or run by the British Indian community - including Sunrise
Sunrise Radio
Sunrise Radio is the United Kingdom's first Independent Local Radio station to cater specifically for the Asian community. Dr Avtar Lit is the chairman and chief executive of this media group which also operates kismat radio,buzz asia,punjabi radio as well as sunrise tv-Transmission:It initially...
and Yarr Radio
Yarr Radio
Yarr Radio is/was a British music radio station aimed at a young Asian audience. It broadcast on digital radio in various regions of the UK and on Sky Channel 187...
s. Regional British Indian stations include Asian Sound
Asian Sound
Asian Sound Radio is a radio station based in Broadcast House, Southall Street in Manchester. It is the only 24-hour radio station in the North West dedicated to the Asian community, broadcasting across the whole region from Preston in the North to Stockport in the South...
of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Hindu Sanskar
Hindu Sanskar Radio
Hindu Sanskar Radio is a Hindu teachings based radio station broadcast from Leicester. It is run by volunteers and the local Hindu temples. It transmits on DAB Digital Radio and from its website. During Hindu religious festivals, it also transmits on analogue radio....
and Sabras Radio
Sabras Radio
Sabras Radio is a commercial radio station in Leicester, England specialising in South Asian music and culture.The radio station itself is located within the Belgrave area of the city; broadcasting on 1260 kHz, DAB Radio and also via the net...
s of Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, Kismat Radio
Kismat Radio
Kismat Radio is a radio station broadcasting from the Crystal Palace Transmitter in south-east London.- Background :The target audience is British Asians and South Asian expats aged 30+, with programme formats comprising Asian Talk and music....
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Radio XL
Radio XL
Radio XL is the first 24 hour Asian radio station to broadcast to Birmingham, England. However the station can be heard across the whole West Midlands. With its wide reach Radio XL is available to a potential Asian audience in excess of 250,000 people from the 15+ age group.Radio XL is aimed...
of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and Sunrise Radio Yorkshire
Sunrise Radio (Yorkshire)
Sunrise Radio Yorkshire is an Asian radio station in Bradford, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom.-Availability:The station broadcasts 24 hours a day on 103.2 FM and on DAB to Bradford, Huddersfield and Keighley. A feed is also available world wide via the stations website...
based in Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
(which itself has a much larger Pakistani than Indian community).
Discrimination
Discrimination against persons of Indian origin in the United Kingdom is not completely widespread, but has been known to happen in certain instances. There are several areas across the country where hostility between the local Indian and Pakistani communities occur, although the names and racial slurs given to British Indians by some members the whiteWhite people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
community are evidence of lack of knowledge and ignorance, the term "Paki" is likely to be the most commonly used anti-Asian phrase in the UK and despite it being a shorted and derogatory term for a person of Pakistani origin it is all to often used to refer to anyone from the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
. However, some young British Pakistanis have attempted to reclaim the word and use it in a non-offensive way to refer to themselves.Verbal discrimination such as explained above has become somewhat more common after the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks, even though Islam extremists who committed these atrocities have little to do with the British Indian community. One of the best examples of anti-Indian sentiment in the UK is the 2007 Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy
Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy
The Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy was a series of events related to incidents of perceived racist behaviour by contestants on the television series Celebrity Big Brother 2007 shown on British television station Channel 4...
which received significant media coverage, white contestants Jade Goody
Jade Goody
Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody was an English celebrity. She came into the public spotlight while appearing on the third series of the Channel 4 reality TV programme Big Brother in 2002, an appearance which led to her own television programmes and the launch of her own products after her eviction from...
(who is mixed race), Danielle Lloyd
Danielle Lloyd
Danielle Lloyd is an English glamour model. The former Miss England 2004 and Miss Great Britain 2006, she first rose to prominence when she was stripped of her Miss Great Britain 2006 title after posing for nude pictures featured in the December 2006 edition of Playboy magazine and her alleged...
and Jo O'Meara
Jo O'Meara
Joanne Valda O'Meara is an English singer-songwriter, television personality and actress. Formerly one of the lead singers of pop group S Club, she launched a solo single after the group's split in 2003, which cut short the production of a proposed album following an appearance on Celebrity Big...
were all seen to have been mocking Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa Shetty is an Indian film actress and model. Since making her debut in the film Baazigar , she has appeared in nearly 40 Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films, her first leading role being in the 1994 Aag. Although she has been through years of decline during her career, Shetty has been...
because of her accent. They also persisted on making fun on general parts of Indian culture, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
went ahead and screened the arguments which received over 50,000 complaints. The controversy generated over 300 newspaper articles in Britain, 1,200 in English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
newspapers around the globe, 3,900 foreign language news articles, and 22,000 blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
postings on the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Another example of discrimination is the Expulsion of Asians in Uganda in 1972
Expulsion of Asians in Uganda in 1972
On 4 August 1972, the then President of Uganda, Idi Amin, ordered the expulsion of his country's Indian minority, giving them 90 days to leave Uganda...
(a decision made by the President of Uganda to ethnically cleanse the country) which lead to tens of thousands of East African Indians coming to the UK to start a new life, the majority of these already had British passports, due to Uganda at that time being part of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. In 2007, the controversial documentary Undercover Mosque
Undercover Mosque
Undercover Mosque is a documentary programme produced by the independent television company hardcash productions for the Channel 4 series Dispatches which first aired on 15 January 2007 in the UK. The film caused a furore in Britain and the world press due to the content of the released footage...
was aired on British television, it showed secret filming in mosques throughout the UK, in this many extremist comments were made including one by now deported Abdullah el-Faisal
Abdullah el-Faisal
Abdullah el-Faisal is a muslim cleric who preached in the United Kingdom until he was convicted of stirring up racial hatred and urging his followers to murder Jews, Hindus, Christians, and...
who said “You have to bomb the Indian businesses
Indophobia
Indophobia refers to hostility towards Indians and Indian culture. Indophobia is formally defined in the context of anti-Indian prejudice in East Africa and Australia as follows: "Indophobia is a tendency to react negatively towards people of Indian...
, and as for the Jews you kill them physically.” Again this is evidence that discrimination towards British Indians can come from any other race or ethnicity. Other examples of discrimination towards British Indians in the mainstream population include the case of 27 year old Chetankumar Meshram, a call centre trainer from Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
who was compensated £5,000 after his boss told him he was to be replaced by a better English speaker. Also Meena Sagoo, 42 is demanding over £100,000 after herself and a fellow employee of the ING Bank of Sri Lankan
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
heritage were called The Kumars at No. 42
The Kumars at No. 42
The Kumars at No. 42 was a British television show. It won an International Emmy in 2002 and in 2003. It ran for seven series totalling 53 episodes.-Plot:...
(after the popular TV comedy show of the same name). The same bank has been noted to have paid out £20,000 to a worker of Chinese origin who also claimed racial harassment in office. Another form of discrimination towards British Indians is stereotyping, one example is British Asians being stereotyped as being the majority of newsagent
Newsagent
A newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest. In Britain and Australia, these businesses are termed newsagents...
and convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
shopkeepers, the stereotype "Paki shop"; and also making a majority of doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, these are all again often associated as being hardworking. This stereotype was made fun in the television and radio sketches of Goodness Gracious Me
Goodness Gracious Me (TV & radio)
Goodness Gracious Me is a BBC English language sketch comedy show originally on BBC Radio 4 and later televised on BBC Two based on four British Indian actors: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia...
by four British Indian comedy actors themselves. In the comedy sketch Little Britain
Little Britain
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
, a British Indian character called Meera continuously receives racist comments from weight loss advisor Marjorie Dawes who always makes it know that she does not understand a word of what Meera says, although it is completely obvious to the surrounding people and the viewer.
Female Infanticide
According to a study published by Oxford University 1500 girls are missing from birth records in England and Wales over a 15 year period from 1990 to 2005. The vast majority of the abortions are carried out in India as finding a doctor willing to carry out an abortion is difficult in Britain.Economic status
The richest person in Britain Lakshmi MittalLakshmi Mittal
Lakshmi Narayan Mittal is an Indian steel magnate. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company....
is an Indian citizen with an estimated fortune of £10.8 billion in 2009. A study by Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is a British social policy research and development charity, that funds a UK-wide research and development programme. It seeks to understand the root causes of social problems, to identify ways of overcoming them, and to show how social needs can be met in practice...
in 2007 found British Indians have among the lowest poverty rates among different ethnic groups in Britain second only to white British. Of different ethnic groups Bangladeshis (65%), Pakistanis (55%), black Africans (45%) had the highest rates; black Caribbeans (30%), Indians (25%), white Other (25%) and white British (20%) had the lowest rates. According to BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
findings, the economic makeup in 2001 of Indian-born British Indians only is as follows. 65.98% of new immigrants were employed with 16.43% being 'low earners' (people earning less than £149.20 a week) and 18.13% being 'high earners' (people earning more than £750 a week). By comparison settled Indian immigrants to the UK are actually slightly less likely to be in employment, 62.85%; in fact, the percentage of low and high earners for settled immigrants stood at 15.9% and 7.88% respectively. Therefore on average, 64.42% of Indian-born immigrants to the UK are employed. This figure is approximately 10% lower than the rate of employment for British-born people (regardless of ethnicity) which stood at 73.49% in 2001.
Sikhs are on average the wealthiest Indians, and the second wealthiest religious group after Jewish people
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, in the UK, with a median total household wealth of £229,000.
Caste issues
Many British Hindus and Sikhs still adhere to the caste systemCaste system in India
The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis....
and still seek marriage with individuals who are of similar caste categories. There have been several incidents involving abuse of low caste British Hindus, known as Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
s, by higher caste individuals in schools and workplaces. However, other Hindus say that caste discrimination is a thing of the past in Britain, and that the Asian community has moved on.
Crime rates
In a list of the top 20 non-British communities engaged in crime in London this year, British Indians ranked 8th; committing 748 crimes, 235 of which were violent. This is, however, one rank lower than the previous year, though it is the highest rate of crime for any Asian ethnic group.Between October 2006 and May 2008, UniVisa - a company run by three Indian illegal immigrants - submitted 980 fraudulent visa applications to the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
for would-be Indian immigrants. It has also been reported recently, that there are large numbers of illegal immigrants coming in from India. An MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
described it as a big problem.
Religion
- Hinduism in the United KingdomHinduism in the United KingdomHinduism was the religion of 558,342 people in the United Kingdom according to the 2001 census but an estimate in a British newspaper in 2007 has put the figure as high as 1.5 Million....
- Islam in the United KingdomIslam in the United KingdomIslam has been present in the United Kingdom since its formation in 1707, though it was not legally recognised until the Trinitarian Act in 1812. Today it is the second largest religion in the country with estimates suggesting that by 2010 the total Muslim population had reached 2.869 million.The...
- Sikhism in the United KingdomSikhism in the United KingdomSikhism was recorded as the religion of 336,179 people in the United Kingdom at the 2001 Census. While England is home to the majority of Sikhs in the UK, small communities also exist in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales...
Subgroups
- British Indo-Caribbean communityBritish Indo-Caribbean communityThe British Indo-Caribbean community consists of residents of the United Kingdom who are of Caribbean origin and whose ancestors were indigenous to India...
- Indian community of LondonIndian community of LondonIndians are London's largest non-white ethnic minority group, with a population of around 500,000 ....
- PunjabiPunjabi peopleThe Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
- GujaratiGujarati peopleGujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
- ParsiParsiParsi or Parsee refers to a member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities in South Asia, the other being the Irani community....
- TamilTamil peopleTamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
(British Tamils) - Malayali
Related groups
- Anglo-IndianAnglo-IndianAnglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
- British AsianBritish AsianBritish Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
- British BangladeshiBritish BangladeshiA British Bangladeshi is a person of Bangladeshi origin who resides in the United Kingdom having emigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose parents did so; they are also known as British Bengalis...
- British Pakistani
- British Bangladeshi
- Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian OriginNon-resident Indian and Person of Indian OriginA Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...
Other
- List of Indian Britons
- Lists of U.K. locations with large Indian populations
- Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922Immigration to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1922 has been substantial, in particular from Ireland and the former colonies and other territories of the British Empire - such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Caribbean, South Africa, Kenya and Hong Kong - under...
- British India