Out of all the groups in India, why is it that its mostly Punjabis who emigrate?

[Valmy]

I have to say that is a very bizarre stereotype to have of Sikhs.

[garbon]

I have to say that is a very bizarre stereotype to have of Sikhs.

It is Jos.

[Josquius]

I can't find the actual quote now but its not something I'm making up. It is a viewpoint that was believed at the time.

I have to say that is a very bizarre stereotype to have of Sikhs.

Not really when you think about it. The Sikhs even to this day make up a disproportional amount of the armed forces of India. In the British Empire days it was even more so.
Being in the army is all about discipline and following orders. Exactly the qualities you want from your shop floor workers.

[grumbler]

I have to say that is a very bizarre stereotype to have of Sikhs.

It is Jos.

He "has heard" pretty much anything he wants to believe is true.

[Barrister]

So I started looking it up.  In most countries, Sikhs / Punjabis (as I understand it all Sikhs speak Punjabi, but not all Punjabi-speakers are Sikhs) Punjabi-speakers form the majority of South Asians in Canada, as well as in the UK and US. 

Where did you find that information?  Because I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find anything that clearly breaks down the linguistic/regional origin of Indian-Americans.

I would withdraw the comment that Punjabis are the majority in the US.  But it does appear to be true for Canada and the UK.

[Gups]

So I started looking it up.  In most countries, Sikhs / Punjabis (as I understand it all Sikhs speak Punjabi, but not all Punjabi-speakers are Sikhs) Punjabi-speakers form the majority of South Asians in Canada, as well as in the UK and US. 

Where did you find that information?  Because I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find anything that clearly breaks down the linguistic/regional origin of Indian-Americans.

I would withdraw the comment that Punjabis are the majority in the US.  But it does appear to be true for Canada and the UK.

There are a lot of Punjabis in the UK but they aren't a majority. They make up about 45% of the UK diaspora.

A few of half-baked theories as to why Punjabis are over-represented:

- Partition. Millions of Punjabis lost their homes due to partition and may have been more willing to emigrate as a result (and this was at a time when the UK was encouraging immigration and had open borders to the Commonwealth)
- Caste - many upper caste Hindus believes they would lose caste if they went overseas. That view is not widespread now but it was during the grat waves of Asian migration in the 50s and 60s. Sikhs did not take this view.

There are also a lot of Gujaritis here following their expulsion from Uganda.

Other big communities are Bengalis (mainly from Bangladesh and mainly in the restaurant trade) and Tamils

[Fate]

So I started looking it up.  In most countries, Sikhs / Punjabis (as I understand it all Sikhs speak Punjabi, but not all Punjabi-speakers are Sikhs) Punjabi-speakers form the majority of South Asians in Canada, as well as in the UK and US. 

Where did you find that information?  Because I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find anything that clearly breaks down the linguistic/regional origin of Indian-Americans.

I would withdraw the comment that Punjabis are the majority in the US.  But it does appear to be true for Canada and the UK.

There are a lot of Punjabis in the UK but they aren't a majority. They make up about 45% of the UK diaspora.

A few of half-baked theories as to why Punjabis are over-represented:

- Partition. Millions of Punjabis lost their homes due to partition and may have been more willing to emigrate as a result (and this was at a time when the UK was encouraging immigration and had open borders to the Commonwealth)
- Caste - many upper caste Hindus believes they would lose caste if they went overseas. That view is not widespread now but it was during the grat waves of Asian migration in the 50s and 60s. Sikhs did not take this view.

There are also a lot of Gujaritis here following their expulsion from Uganda.

Other big communities are Bengalis (mainly from Bangladesh and mainly in the restaurant trade) and Tamils

Not just Uganda. East Africa in general became pretty hostile to Gujaratis during/after decolonization. My (2nd gen Indian) girlfriend's family owned a store in Mombasa which was burned down by black rioters in the 60s. They applied to the UK and US simultaneously, but ended up in the US.

[Josquius]

I have to say that is a very bizarre stereotype to have of Sikhs.

It is Jos.

He "has heard" pretty much anything he wants to believe is true.

Why would I want to believe that? What benefit is there to lying about a random obscure fact?

[LaCroix]

the stereotype iirc is their religion makes them crazy good fighters. I don't think I've heard the one that says their religion makes them loyal

[Valmy]

the stereotype iirc is their religion makes them crazy good fighters. I don't think I've heard the one that says their religion makes them loyal

Just ask Indira Gandhi.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Mainly Gujaratis in my neighbourhood, both Muslim and Hindu.

I'd prefer to include Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in the totals though, the current setup is an aberration 

[dps]

So I started looking it up.  In most countries, Sikhs / Punjabis (as I understand it all Sikhs speak Punjabi, but not all Punjabi-speakers are Sikhs) Punjabi-speakers form the majority of South Asians in Canada, as well as in the UK and US. 

Where did you find that information?  Because I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find anything that clearly breaks down the linguistic/regional origin of Indian-Americans.

I would withdraw the comment that Punjabis are the majority in the US.  But it does appear to be true for Canada and the UK.

I'm not saying that you were wrong, just that I can't find any information one way or the other.

[Barrister]

So I started looking it up.  In most countries, Sikhs / Punjabis (as I understand it all Sikhs speak Punjabi, but not all Punjabi-speakers are Sikhs) Punjabi-speakers form the majority of South Asians in Canada, as well as in the UK and US. 

Where did you find that information?  Because I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find anything that clearly breaks down the linguistic/regional origin of Indian-Americans.

I would withdraw the comment that Punjabis are the majority in the US.  But it does appear to be true for Canada and the UK.

I'm not saying that you were wrong, just that I can't find any information one way or the other.

I went back and did more searching, best I could find was a news article from India reporting on US census results, which showed Hindi as the most popular "Indian" language in the US, with Punjabi back in 4th or 5th place.

I was hoping Gupta would be able to enlighten me, but if he can't, then there's probably no easy answer to the patterns and distribution of the Indian diaspora. 

The one factor though is immigration patterns can be self-re-inforcing.  Once the first immigrants get established, they sponsor in their family (who then in turn sponsor in more family).  One a city becomes established as having a large community, other resources such as churches/temples, newspapers, restaurants, and the like come along, which encourages even more immigration.  Maybe that's all that's been happening.

[Gups]

Don't forget that the vast majority of Punjabis are Muslim. 100m Punjabis are Mulsim compared to about 15m Sikhs and maybe 10m Hindus. Punjabi is more of a Pakistani language than an Indian one - west Punjab in Pakistan has 5 times the population of its Indian neighbour