Sikhs in Australia & New Zealand: 1900-1947

Harpreet Singh

Auckland, New Zealand

The following photographs are a visual collection of Sikhs in Australia and New Zealand between 1900 and 1947. The start date coincides with the acceleration of Sikh mobility throughout the globe, and the end date signifies the end of colonial rule in India. The collection represents snapshots of Sikhs within the various archival sources and describes the community’s activities in public sphere around the world. The images reflect a blending of cultures, public curiosity, the mobility of Sikhs and their interactions with local communities. Also on display are the identifiers of the Sikh faith including names, turbans, beards and religious rituals, undertaken throughout the earliest and often misunderstood era of Sikh diasporic history. Sikh history is often framed through the caste and geographic identifiers such as Indian or Punjabi, jatt or saini, but for the Sikhs in these photographs, religion was also an important aspect of their identity and lives.

The images have been drawn from multiple sources across the world and represent only a portion of the many thousands of prints available and yet to be made available. The images are generally of lower quality due to the preservation process of old photographs and documents. The snapshot they provide scholars is invaluable all the same, as they show us the visual texture of an era dominated by written records.

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Australia

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Picture 1: Indian hawkers at Mt. Gambier. (National Library of Australia/Mount Gambier Collection, 1895)

Picture 2: A group of Sikhs at prayer with the Guru Granth, Reef Hills, near Benalla, Australia. (National Library of Australia/Howship Studios, 1910)

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Picture 3: Richmond gang of nine Sikh men (including a cook) in a cane field on the Richmond River. Local men travelled to wherever there was work. (National Library of Australia/Tweed Regional Museum, 1915)

Picture 4: Schnah Singh, a Sikh hawker from Western Australia. (Sunday Times, September 5th, 1926).

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Picture 5: The “Afghan” wrestler, Buttin Singh, recognized as Australia's best and one of the finest in the world, was a big draw to Wirth's Circus in the 1900’s. Here Singh and Wirth's Advance Manager, Charlie Petersen, meet again after 20 years. (National Library of Australia/HRRC, 1929)

Picture 6: T. Singh (left) winner of an exhibition 100-yard race in Queensland. (Sunday Mail, August 13th, 1933, p. 9)

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Pictures 7 & 7a: Sikhs cremating a fellow countryman on the Canning River, near Perth. (Mirror, June 30th, 1934, p. 8)

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Picture 8: Shur Singh and his nephew Bahadur Singh travelling South on the steamer Nieuw Zeeland. (Telegraph, January 5th, 1935, p. 13)

Picture 9: Mrs. Ram Singh with her son Mehar Singh, travelling to join the family in Couchy Creek, New South Wales. (Tweed Daily, September 8th, 1936, p.

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Picture 10: Sahib Singh came to the attention of local media when he played a local tennis tournament in this turban. (Telegraph, May 14th, 1937, p. 18)

Picture 11: Goodh Singh cremation ceremony at Lismore Cemetery. (Northern Star, September 6th, 1938, p. 9)

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Picture 12: Hassan Singh, a Sikh wrestler who competed across Australia. (West Australian, February 16th, 1939, p. 9)

Picture 13: Jaget Singh, an international wrestler who was famous in both New Zealand and Australia throughout the early 1900’s. (Truth, August 4th, 1946)

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New Zealand

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Picture 14: Sikh regiment officer poses for a photo with children, New Zealand, 1901. (Auckland Weekly News, February 20th, 1901, p. 6)

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Picture 15: Deportation of Sikhs, Auckland. (Auckland Weekly News, 1914, p. 50)

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Picture 16: Kartari Kaur with her father. (Auckland Star, November 29th, 1932, p. 7)

Picture 17: Kartari Kaur on her wedding day. (Auckland Star, November 29th, 1932, p. 7)

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Picture 18: A member of the Indian Army hockey team giving an indigenous Maori woman a Hongi (traditional greeting). (Press, June 24th, 1935, p. 20)