Sikhism in China is a minority religion in the People's Republic of China (). Sikhism originated from the Punjab region of the northern Indian subcontinent. While it is purported that Guru Nanak travelled to Tibet and the writings of Guru Gobind Singh reference China, a substantial Sikh population in much of China took hold during the British colonial period. Sikhs came to China for work under the colonial framework or used it as a stepping-stone for further migration to other regions of the world. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the Sikh population declined. Today, Sikhs form a small minority in China.
History
Sikh gurus
Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak is traditionally locally referred to as Baba Foosa in China proper and as Nanak Lama in Tibet. In popular Sikh tradition, particularly the Puratan Janamsakhi,Cheuk, Ka-Kin. 2017. “China, including Hong Kong.” In Knut A. Jacobsen, Gurinder S. Mann, Eleanor Nesbitt, and Kristina Myrvold, eds, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Sikhism, 473–479. Leiden: Brill. https://www.academia.edu/37142074/Sikhs_in_China_including_Hong_Kong_2017_ Guru Nanak is believed to have visited Tibet during his distant travels. Nanak's travel itinerary through Tibet would have started by departing from Manikaran, onward to the Tibetan plateau, reaching Lahaul and Spiti (northeast of Kulu). Nanak would have travelled through both the Rohtang Pass and Chandan Kala Pass to reach Spiti. From there, Nanak went through the Sprang (Prang) Pass to reach Tibet through an old trade route between India and Tibet. Nanak would have then passed through both Chomurti and Boling to reach the sacred lake of Mansarovar, and finally Mount Kailash. Nanak would have encountered many members of the Siddha tradition on this route through Tibet. According to Sikh lore, in the area of lake Mansarovar and Mount Kailash, a dialogue is said to have taken place between Siddhas residing at the location and Nanak's retinue. They wanted to know how Nanak had successfully traversed the mountainous landscape and terrain to reach the sacred area, with Nanak replying that it was through faith in the divine. The Siddhas are then said to have posed questions to the guru about the state of affairs in the Indian subcontinent and the status of the commonfolk, to which Guru Nanak responded that India was in turmoil and suffering due to oppressive rulers. Guru Nanak then stated that true spirituality and religion was in decline in India due to hypocrisy, prudishness, bribe-taking, and evil. In response to one of the questions posed by the Siddhas, Guru Nanak is said to have reprimanded them for escaping to this distant site away from the happenings of the subcontinent, leaving the masses behind without a spiritual guide.
Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh makes mention of China, Tibet, and Manchuria in the Akal Ustat section of the Dasam Granth, stating:
Sikh Confederacy
In the 18th century during the reign of the Sikh Misls in Amritsar, increased stability led to the development of an import and export-based economy. Many goods were exported to Yarkand, Turfan, and Chinese Turkestan. The goods exported from Amritsar consisted of shawls, silks and woolen cloth, metalware, and agricultural products. The imported goods were gold, raw silk, horses, and weapons. Caravans took the goods back and forth along the Sikh Road, from Amritsar to Kabul, and then to Bukhara, where they were further distributed.
Sikh Empire
In March 1831, Victor Jacquemon, a French botanist and geologist, paid a visit to Lahore during the reign of Ranjit Singh and met with the ruler. During a discussion between the Frenchman and the Sikh ruler, the latter inquired about Tibet and wanted to know details about the region. Jacquemon responded that Tibet was a land of "high altitude, cold weather, barren land" and was a "poor country". After hearing this description, Ranjit Singh is said to have replied that "he will not bother to conquer a poor country."
In 1834, after Zorawar Singh's success against Ladakh, Ranjit Singh forbade him from taking further action to avoid any conflicts with the Chinese.
According to Sohan Lal Suri's Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Zorawar Singh, a Dogra general of the Sikh Empire, expressed interest in expanding into western Tibet for territorial gains during a meeting with Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the village of Jandiala Sher Khan in March 1836.Singh, Inderjeet. "Revisiting Zorawar Singh Campaign in Tibet During 1841." The Tibet Journal, vol. 43, no. 1, 2018, pp. 17–33, However, Ranjit Singh did not grant permission for the proposed Tibetan military expedition. Ranjit Singh remarked that the Chinese emperor possesses an army consisting of 1.2 million soldiers so a war against them would not favour him.
According to Giani Gian Singh's Raj Khalsa, after the triumph of Zorawar Singh over the Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh, Zorawar Singh was rewarded with a siropa (robe of honour) and other gifts. Zorawar Singh then petitioned Ranjit Singh again for a campaign against the Tibetans for the purpose of annexing it into the Sikh Empire but the idea was again turned down as the time was not "opportune" as per Ranjit Singh. According to Inderjeet Singh, the Sikh monarch may have declined the proposition to invade Tibet because the terrain was difficult and the region was poor in natural resources.
After the Chinese did not respond to the Sikh hostilities against Ladakh, Nau Nihal Singh permitted Zorawar Singh to capture Iskardu of the Maqpon dynasty of Baltistan. Eventually, a later Sikh ruler, Sher Singh, agreed to Zorawar Singh's proposed campaign against Tibet. Zorawar Singh led an invasion force into Tibet in May 1841. The invasion force consisted of three divisions and reached lake Mansarovar in September of the same year, where an encampment was established. Whilst initially successful against the local Tibetan forces, the Tibetan winter set-in and the invading forces were defeated and routed on 12 December 1841 by the Qing-Tibetan forces, with Zorawar Singh being beheaded. The Qing-Tibetan forces then attempted to invade Ladakh but were repelled. The war ended with the Treaty of Chushul between the Sikh Empire and Qing Dynasty.
The Tibetan word for a Punjabi Sikh is Singpa. When the Tibetans captured prisoners-of-war during the Dogra-Sikh invasion, the POWs were initially taken to central Tibet. Instead of executing the POWs, the Tibetans decided to show mercy and disperse them to localities across Tibet.
In March 1856, a treaty between Tibet and the Kingdom of Nepal, known as the Treaty of Thapathali, was signed. Clause 4 of the treaty freed the remaining Sikh/Dogra prisoners-of-war still held in Tibetan captivity whom were captured in 1841. This clause was included in the treaty at the behest of Gulab Singh of Kashmir to free the remaining prisoners, possibly for political capital. Of the original soldiers whom were taken as prisoners by the Tibetans, 34 could not be located but 106 were successfully assembled in Kathmandu at the British residence. However, only 56 of these mustered 106 original soldiers wished to return to India and the rest opted to remain in Tibet, as many had since settled in southern Tibet since the war, had married local women and thus now had a family, and were running businesses. The 56 former POWs who opted to return were each awarded with silver medals bearing a bust of Maharaja Surendra Bikram Shah of Nepal and a robe of honour.
According to Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, more than 200 of these POWs preferred to remain in Tibet rather than be repatriated back to their homeland. These Dogra-Sikh POWs settled in Lhasa, Yarlung, Chongye, and other parts of southern Tibet. Eventually, the former POWs married local Tibetan women, adopted Tibetan customs, and took up professions as butchers, fruit-tree cultivators, amid other jobs. The former POWs introduced the cultivation of apricots, apples, grapes, and peaches to Tibet. Since they were outsiders, they were stigmatized by the local Tibetans and thus formed relations with other marginalized groups within Tibetan society, such as Muslims, which led to former POWs slowly adopting Islam themselves. The former POWs came to be known as Singpa Khache by the local Tibetans, which blends the Tibetan word for a Sikh and Muslim together. The Singpa Khache came to become an important group within Lhasa's Muslim community and they had the honour of serving meat dishes to the Dalai Lama. However, David G. Atwill argues that the Singpa Khache descend instead from Muslim soldiers that were in Zorawar Singh's invading army. Of the nearly 200 Barkor Khache families that resided in Lhasa in the early 1950s, approximately 20% were of Singpa Khache background. Many descendants reside in the Lhokha region.
Colonial period In the colonial-era, Sikhs in China were most prominent in Hong Kong, with Shanghai following next. Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala State visited China, Japan and Java (Indonesia) between 18 October 1903 to 1 February 1904, afterwards publishing a memoir recounting his journey through these lands. In his memoir, he recounts about his experience in Shanghai and surrounding parts of China, including him making a donation to the local Sikh cause for constructing a Sikh temple in Tientsin. Jagajit Singh would return to Shanghai many times over the years, with local Sikhs hosting him for dinner at a local hotel.
Sikhs in China had been observing the Chinese migrating to Canada, seeing as it was an attractive destination for settlement, and emulated the Chinese by attempting to migrate to Canada themselves whilst alerting their friends and family back home in India on the prospect. Many Sikhs who were aboard the ill-fated Komagata Maru en route to Canada hailed from Shanghai.
According to Cao Yin, Shanghai played a pivotal role in the establishment of a Sikh diaspora throughout the world as Shanghai was often the first-stop in the global migration of Sikhs throughout the globe.
Accounts of the Sikh population in Shanghai at various times are spurious and contradicting. One source claims a population of "a few thousand" Sikhs in Shanghai by 1890. According to another source, by 1907, there were 850 Sikhs in Shanghai.
Prior to 1908, the gurdwara located on Boone Road (now Tonggu Road) in Shanghai served the needs of the Sikh community. However, during a Guru Nanak Gurpurab celebration in 1907, the local Sikhs decided to become affiliated with the Chief Khalsa Diwan based in Amritsar but the Boone Road gurdwara was too small to suit their needs and the growing Sikh population. Thus, it was decided that a new temple premises needed to be constructed. A committee, led by Jalmeja Singh, and Gurdwara Building Fund was established for the effort of constructing a new, larger Sikh temple funded by donations from local Sikhs. The local Shanghai Sikhs had been desiring a larger gurdwara for several years and had been making requests to the community for donations and the Shanghai Municipal Council for land for the temple.
The Dong Baoxing Road Gurdwara's foundation stone was laid on 11 August 1907 on a Sunday. The Old Sikh Gurdwara at 326 Dong Baoxing Road was opened in 1908. The Gordon Road Gurdwara was opened on 21 July 1916 on a Friday. Both the newer Gordon Road and older Dong Baoxing Road gurdwaras were under the same management committee, however the latter came to be visited by watchmen and visitors whilst the former was used by Sikh policemen of the Shanghai police. The purpose of the British constructing the Gordon Road Gurdwara was to isolate Sikh policemen from Ghadarite elements at the Dong Baoxing Road Gurdwara by giving them a separate place of worship which was under the supervision of the Shanghai Municipal Council and restricted to policemen. Furthermore, the construction of the Gordon Road Gurdwara was a gesture of gratitude for the participation of Sikhs in World War I.