English Sikhs number over 520,000 people and account for 0.92% of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's population in

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, forming the country's fourth-largest religious group. In 2006 there were 352

gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

s in

. The largest Sikh populations in the U.K. are in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

History

The permanent arrival of Sikhism in England is dated to 1850 A.D. with the arrival of Maharajah

Duleep Singh Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, GCSI (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), or Sir Dalip Singh, and later in life nicknamed the "Black Prince of Perthshire", was the last ''Maharaja'' of the Sikh Empire. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singh's youngest son ...

(last ruler of the Sikh Empire). The first Sikh place of worship, called a Gurdwara, was opened in 1911 in London and this was partly funded by the Maharaja of Patiala. Prior to this the first Sikh Society called Khalsa Jatha was formed in 1908. In 2019, the statue of

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

soldier was unveiled in the West Yorkshire to commemorate the Sikhs martyrs in the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Demographics

Geographical Distribution

National and Ethnic Origins

Between 2001 and 2011, the proportion of English Sikhs who identified as Indian declined from 91.6% to 74.0%, while the proportion of English Sikhs who identified as "Other Asian" rose from 4.6% to 12.0% and the proportion of English Sikhs who identified as "Other Ethnic group" rose from 0.7% to 9.5%.

Sikh Schools

There are currently 13 Sikh Schools in England that teach the national curriculum alongside Sikh values. These schools are often oversubscribed and outperform regular schools, for example the Nishkam High School in Birmingham was recently rated by Ofsted as outstanding in every area. The Nishkam School Trust is also developing a sister school in West London, which is an area with a large Sikh community, which is due to open in September 2016. The schools include: * Akaal Primary School, Derby * Atam Academy, Romford * Falcons Primary School, Leicester * Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College, Chigwell *

Guru Nanak Sikh Academy Guru Nanak Sikh Academy is a mixed Sikh all-through school and sixth form. It is located in the Hayes area of the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. The school is named after Guru Nanak, the founder of the religion of Sikhism and the fir ...

, Hayes * Khalsa Primary School, Slough * Khalsa Primary School, Southall * Khalsa Secondary Academy, Stoke Poges * Nishkam Nursery & Primary School, Birmingham * Nishkam High School, Birmingham * Nishkam School West London, Isleworth * Seva School, Coventry * The British Sikh School, Wolverhampton

Gurdwaras

Southall, in London, is home to the largest Sikh temple outside India, known as Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha. It opened in 2003 after almost three years construction and a cost of £17 million. Another large Gurdwara in Gravesend, Kent, Gravesend began construction in 2001, and was officially opened in November 2010 . In Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland, a former Church of England church has been transformed into a Sikh Gurdwara by the Sunderland Sikh Association. Many cities, especially those with large Sikh communities, now have several Gurdwaras to cater to their growing congregations. For example, Bradford is a city that now has 6 Gurdwaras. Many Gurdwaras will have had other uses and have been converted from industrial buildings to even former churches that have closed down. Increasingly, Gurdwaras are being purposely built, The Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara in Bradford is an example of a purpose built Gurdwara.

Notable British Sikh organisations

In addition to Gurdwaras there are now a variety of additional organisations which have been setup by Sikhs to support the community: * British Sikh Report * City Sikhs * Gurdwara Sahib Leamington and Warwick * Guru Nanak Nishkam Sevak Jatha * Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall * Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick * Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara * Nishkam SWAT * Sangat TV * Sikh Pioneers & Sikh Light Infantry Association UK * Sikh Channel * Sikh Federation (UK) * The Sikh Awards

Sikh Media

Sikhs in England have managed to establish a range of media outlets to propagate and encourage dialogue between Sikhs across the country, predominantly in Punjabi, although increasingly media is produced in English to include the new generation. Many Sikhs still speak Punjabi as a first and second language. In England there are currently no less than 4 Sky channels including, Sikh Channel, Sikh TV, Akaal Channel and Sangat TV, all are also broadcast worldwide and on the internet. In radio there are numerous stations broadcast on analogue in areas with large Sikh communities as well as internationally on the Sky platform, since 2001 Sukh Sagar on Sky channel 0150 is one such station that was also the world's first 24-hour Gurbani (Sikh prayer) radio station.
Sukh Sagar radio station, accessed on 1 October 2014

References

External links

National Network of British Sikh ProfessionalsGurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha's official website

Information Portal of the Sikh faith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikhism In England Sikhism in England,