British Indians

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about British people of Indian origin. For Indian people of British origin, see
Anglo-Indian. For other uses, see British Indian (disambiguation)
.

Indians in the United Kingdom
(British Indians)
Distribution by local authority in the 2011 census.
Total population
United Kingdom United Kingdom: 1,864,304 – 3.1% (2021)[1]
England England: 1,843,248 – 3.3% (2021)[2]
Scotland Scotland: 32,706 – 0.6% (2011)[1]
Wales Wales: 21,070 – 0.7% (2021)[2]
Northern Ireland: 9,881 – 0.5% (2021)[3]
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Religion
Part of a series on
British people
United Kingdom
Eastern European
Northern European
Southern European
Western European
Central Asian
  • Kazakh
  • Kyrgyz
  • Tajik
  • Turkmen
  • Uzbek
East Asian
South Asian
Southeast Asian
West Asian
African and Afro-Caribbean
Northern American
South American
Oceanian

British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. Currently, the British Indian population exceeds 1.8 million people in the UK, making them the single largest

sixth largest in the Indian diaspora, behind the Indian communities in the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Nepal. The majority of British Indians are of Punjabi and Gujarati origin with various other smaller communities from different parts of India including Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.[4][5]

Rishi Sunak is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 25 October 2022, the first person from the British Indian community to become Prime Minister.

History

Among the first Indians to settle in the United Kingdom was a young boy called Peter Pope.[6] The boy was given by a commander of a Dutch ship on its way to Myanmar to the British sailor, Thomas Best in 1612. The boy was brought to England in 1614 where he was placed under the care of Patrick Copland who was a chaplain and who subsequently taught him to read and write in English. His education in England was paid for by the East India Company.[6]

Under Patrick Copland's recommendation, the boy was baptised on 22 December 1616 and given the name of "Peter" which was given by King James I. A few months after his baptism, he returned to India with Copland to "convert some of his own nation".[6]

18th–19th centuries

People from India have settled in Great Britain since the

Madras, died. She petitioned the Directors from Chelsea Hospital 'in a state of destitution' to pay for her return to India. They agreed to pay to return her and her three children.[7]

The

St Nicholas at Deptford
.

During the 19th century, the East India Company brought thousands of Indian lascars, scholars and workers to Britain largely to work on ships and in ports. Some of whom settled down and took local British wives, partly due to a lack of Indian women in Britain and also abandonment due to restrictions on South Asian crew members being employed on British ships such as the Navigation Acts.[9] It is estimated 8,000 Indians (a proportion being lascar sailors) lived in Britain permanently prior to the 1950s.[10][11][12] Due to the majority of early Asian immigrants being lascar seamen, the earliest Indian communities were found in port towns. Naval cooks also accompanied them.

The first Western-educated Indian to travel to Europe and live in Britain was

Prime Minister of Great Britain William Pitt the Younger, and then dined with the Duke of York before presenting himself in front of the King.[15]

Sake Dean Mahomed
, one of the early Indians to settle in the United Kingdom

One of the most famous early Indian immigrants to Britain was

Indian restaurant, the Hindoostanee Coffee House. He is also valued for introducing shampoo and therapeutic massage to the United Kingdom.[17]
Another early Indian to settle in the United Kingdom was the
Purnea in Bihar, Elizabeth Sharaf un-Nisa, who married into the aristocratic Ducarel family and moved to the United Kingdom in 1784 where she lived until 1822 when she died in Newland, Gloucestershire.[18]

In July 1841,

British Parliament. He was the member of Parliament for Sudbury but was later removed in April 1842 due to allegations of bribery.[19]

British Parliament
of Indian descent

By the mid-19th century, more than 40,000 Indian seamen, diplomats, scholars,

soldiers, officials, tourists, businessmen and students had travelled to Britain, the majority of them being seamen working on ships,[20] Lascars lodged in British ports in between voyages.[21] Most Indians during this period would visit or reside in Britain temporarily, returning to India after months or several years, bringing back knowledge about Britain in the process.[22]

20th century

In the early twentieth century, some Indian nationalists, such as Sukhsagar Datta came to Britain because they feared arrest in India itself and hoped to propagate the cause of Indian Independence.[23] This group went on to found the India League in England in 1928, under the leadership of V. K. Krishna Menon.

The 1931 Census of India estimated that there were at least 2,000 Indian students in English and Scottish Universities at the time, from an estimated, and overwhelmingly male population of 9,243 South Asians on the British mainland, of which 7,128 resided in England and Wales, two thousand in Scotland, with a thousand in Northern Ireland, and 1 on the Isle of Man. Their origins were recorded as:

Indian population of Great Britain by region of birth, 1931[24]
England and Wales Northern Ireland Scotland
Region of birth Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
Bengal 2,229 2,189 40 - - - 615 614 1
Bombay 929 851 78 - - - 261 257 4
Madras 382 342 40 - - - 84 79 5
Punjab 1,088 1,062 26 - - - 374 374 -
Other provinces 1,867 1,779 88 - - - 357 353 4
Unspecified 634 621 13 1,003 485 518 312 309 3
India 7,179 6,844 285 1,003 485 518 2,003 1986 17
Year British Indian
Population[25]
1931 (estimate) 10,186[24]
1932 (estimate) 7,128[26]
1951 (estimate) 31,000
1961 (estimate) 81,000
1971 (estimate) 375,000
1981 (estimate) 676,000
1991
(census)		 840,000
2001
(census)		 1,053,411 (1.79%)
2011
(census)		 1,451,862 (2.30%)
2021 (census)

In 1932, the Indian National Congress survey of "all Indians outside India" (which included modern Pakistani and Bangladeshi territories) estimated that there were 7,128 Indians living in the United Kingdom, which included students, lascars, and professionals such as doctors. The resident Indian population of Birmingham was recorded at 100 by 1939. By 1945 it was 1,000.[27]

Following the

Second World War and the breakup of the British Empire, Indian migration to the UK increased through the 1950s and 1960s. This was partly due to the British Nationality Act 1948, which enabled migration from the Commonwealth with very few limits.[28] In 1950 there were probably fewer than 20,000 non-white residents in Britain, almost all born overseas.[29] 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:

Demographics

Population pyramid of Asian or Asian British Indians in 2021 (in England and Wales)

Population

In the 2021 Census, 1,864,318 people in England and Wales were recorded as having Indian ethnicity, accounting for 3.1% of the population.[31] In Northern Ireland, the equivalent figure was 9,881, or 0.5% of the population.[3] The census in Scotland was delayed for a year and took place in 2022; ethnicity results for Scotland are expected to be published in late 2023 or early 2024.[32]

The

2001 Census was 1,053,411 (1.8 per cent of the total UK population).[33]

People born in India are the UK's largest foreign-born population, totalling an estimated 880,000 in 2020.[34] According to the 2011 census,[35] the cities with the most Indian-born residents are London (262,247), Leicester (37,224), Birmingham (27,206) and Wolverhampton (14,955).

The city or district with the largest population by 'Indian' ethnicity outside the capital, according to the 2021 census in England and Wales, was Leicester (pop. 126,421), followed by Birmingham (66,519), Sandwell (44,378), Wolverhampton (42,052), Coventry (32,096), Slough (30,209), Bolton (26,238), Blackburn with Darwen (24,389), Buckinghamshire (24,181) and Kirklees (22,739).[36] Many of these are however outnumbered by nine London boroughs, namely Harrow, Brent, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Ealing, Redbridge, Newham, Barnet and Croydon.[36]

Ethnicity

In the 2001 UK Census, Indians in the UK were most likely to have responded to

Vietnamese
).

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.

Indian Punjabi account for another 45 per cent of Indians living in the UK, based on data for England and Wales.[5] There is a large community of Goans in Swindon, with smaller communities in Hayes, Romford and Cranford.[38] There are significant numbers of British Indians originating from Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.[5]

Population distribution

Year of arrival (2021 census)[39]

  Born in the UK (43.8%)
  Before 1950 (0.1%)
  1951 to 1960 (0.7%)
  1961 to 1970 (6.0%)
  1971 to 1980 (7.2%)
  1981 to 1990 (3.3%)
  1991 to 2000 (4.3%)
  2001 to 2010 (13.5%)
  2011 to 2021 (21%)

The table below shows the distribution of British Indians people in the United Kingdom. The figures for all countries, regions, cities and boroughs are based on the 2011 census.[40][41][42] 42.9% of people from the Indian ethnic group were born in the UK. 41.9% were born in Southern Asia and 11.1% were born in South and Eastern Africa (for example, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania). Indian people born in South and Eastern Africa were more clustered than those born in the UK or Southern Asia, with 11.0% living in Harrow and 10.6% living in Leicester.[43]

Indian population in the United Kingdom countries and regions
Region Population
of region 		Indian
population 		Percentage of
total population 		Significant
communities
London
8,799,725
656,272
7.5%
 Harrow - 28.6%
Hounslow - 21.1%
Brent - 19.5%

Hillingdon - 18.7%
Redbridge - 16.5%
Ealing - 14.9%
Newham - 11.0%

West Midlands
5,950,757
276,030
4.6%
 Wolverhampton - 15.9%
Sandwell - 13.0%
Coventry - 9.3%
Walsall - 8.0%
Birmingham - 5.8%

Solihull - 5.2%
Warwickshire - 4.9%

South East
9,278,063
241,537
2.6%
 Slough - 19.1%
Wokingham - 7.0%

Windsor and Maidenhead - 6.4%
Reading - 6.2%
Milton Keynes - 3.2%
Buckinghamshire - 4.4%

East Midlands
4,880,054
229,831
4.7%
 Leicester - 34.3%
Leicestershire - 5.9%

Derby - 4.8%
Nottingham - 3.6%
West Northamptonshire - 2.3%
North Northamptonshire - 2.0%

East
6,335,068
136,974
2.2%
 Bedford - 5.4%
Luton - 5.4%
Hertfordshire - 4.0%
Peterborough - 3.3%
Thurrock - 2.3%
North West
7,417,398
140,413
1.9%
 Blackburn with Darwen - 15.8%
Bolton - 8.9%
Trafford - 4.3%
Manchester - 2.7%

Lancashire - 2.0%

Yorkshire and the Humber
5,480,774
81,322
1.5%
 Kirklees - 5.2%
Bradford - 2.6%
Leeds - 2.6%
Sheffield - 1.2%
South West
5,701,186
58,847
1.0%
 Swindon - 7.6%
Bristol - 1.8%

South Gloucestershire - 1.7%

North East
2,647,014
22,021
0.8%
Newcastle Upon Tyne
- 2.4%

Middlesbrough - 1.9%
Darlington - 1.0%

Scotland
5,295,403
32,706
0.6%
 Glasgow - 1.5%
Aberdeen - 1.5%
Edinburgh - 1.4%
Wales
3,107,494
21,070
0.7%
 Cardiff - 2.4%

Newport - 1.3%
Swansea - 0.9%

Northern Ireland
1,810,863
6,198
0.1%
 Belfast - 0.8%

Communities

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London is one of the largest Hindu temples in the world outside India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets British Indian children in London in 2015

London

Main article: Indian community of London

Indians number over half a million in Greater London, which is the county's single largest non-white ethnic group. Indians have a significant impact on the culture of the British capital.[

Indian diaspora in the UK, affiliated to the Indian National Congress
(Congress (I)), and formed in 1969.

Leicester

As of 2021,

Hindi and Bengali.[46]

Birmingham

Most Indians live in west Birmingham in areas such as Handsworth, Harborne. Punjabi is the most spoken Indian language in Birmingham with some Urdu and Bengali speakers.

Slough

Slough has the largest

Hindi and Tamil
.

Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is home to the second largest Sikh community after Slough with 9.10 percent of the population are Sikhs. Hindu communities can be found with 3.70 percent are Hindus. The most spoken language is Punjabi and then Gujarati for Indians in Wolverhampton. Majority of the Indians there live in South Wolverhampton but are scattered almost everywhere.

Overseas territories

There are Indian communities in the UK's

overseas territories, such as the communities in Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands, Virgin Islands, Anguilla and Montserrat. The majority of the community in Gibraltar originated in Hyderabad in Sindh, and came as merchants after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1870; many others migrated as workers after the closure of the frontier with Spain in 1969 to replace Spanish ones.[47]

Religion

See also:
List of Gurdwaras in the United Kingdom and List of Hindu temples in the United Kingdom

Although the plurality of British Indians are Hindu, the UK is home to the second largest Sikh community outside India.

Ravidassia
communities outside India; this was first recognised by 2011 Census. According to the 2021 census of England and Wales, there were close to 800,000 Indians who identified as Hindus and just over 385,000 who identified as Sikh.[49]

Religion England and Wales
2011[50] 2021[49]
Number % Number %
Hinduism 621,983 44.02% 797,684 42.79%
Sikhism 312,965 22.15% 386,825 20.75%
Islam 197,161 13.95% 246,968 13.25%
Christianity 135,988 9.62% 225,935 12.12%
No religion 44,281 3.13% 84,574 4.54%
Judaism 819 0.06% 557 0.03%
Buddhism 3,637 0.26% 3,587 0.19%
Other religions 33,003 2.34% 38,274 2.05%
Not Stated 63,121 4.47% 79,913 4.29%
Total 1,412,958 100% 1,864,317 100%

Culture

The British Council, Indian High Commission and UK government named 2017 the ‘UK India Year of Culture’, which was launched by the Queen.[51][52] The year it was held was significant as it marked 70 years of Indian Independence from the British Raj. Its aim was to celebrate the relationship between the two nations through cultural events, exhibitions and activities organised in both countries throughout the year. The Nehru Centre is the cultural wing of the High Commission of India in the UK which was established in 1992.

Cuisine

See also: Anglo-Indian cuisine
Chicken tikka masala is regarded as a British national dish.

Hindoostanee Coffee House which opened in 1810.[54] Curry gained popularity in the UK in the 1940s and 1950s.[54]

There are around 9,000 Indian restaurants located across the UK, which equates to approximately one per 7,000 people.[citation needed] The popularity of the Indian curry in the UK was mainly made by South Indians, Bangladeshi, and Punjabi restaurateurs, where 85 percent of Indian restaurants in the UK are in fact owned by Bangladeshi Sylheti Bengalis.[55]

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.[56][57] Veeraswamy, located on Regent Street in London, is the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the UK, having opened in 1926.[58] Veeraswamy is believed to be the origin of combining a curry and a pint of beer.[59]

Seven Indian restaurants have a Michelin Star - six of which are located in London including Veeraswamey, with the only Michelin rated restaurant outside of London based in Birmingham - Opheem.[60]

Film

Param Singh
at the British Indian Awards in 2019

Notable British Indian films include

Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and Jab Tak Hai Jaan
. The following is a partial list of films based on British Indian life, British films shot in India or with an Indian theme or has British Indian actors:

Music

Singer, Jay Sean
See also: Asian Underground, Bhangra (music), Indian pop, and Raga rock

Indian influence on

BRIT Award-nominated Nerina Pallot
.

Literature

British Indians have also contributed to British literature. Well known examples include author

Harry Potter series, by British author JK Rowling, also features two notable characters who are presumed to be of Indian Marathi descent - Padma and Parvati Patil.[68]

Art

British Artist F. N. Souza was one of the first Indian artists to work in Britain after the war. Together with Avinash Chandra they were the first British Indian artists to be included in the national collection at the Tate. In 1962, the ''Festival of India'' - a six-month celebration of Indian culture and art - was held across a number of prestigious galleries and museums in London and was called "most comprehensive collection of Indian painting and sculpture ever assembled anywhere" by the New York Times.[69] The Indian Painters Collective (IPC) was formed in London in 1963. They created the first artistic body of its kind outside of India and achieve the first group showing of Indian artists in the UK.[70][71] In 1978 IPC was renamed Indian Artists UK (IAUK) with the desire to establish an Indian Academy of Visual Arts in Britain. Sir Anish Kapoor is a British sculptor who came to prominence in the 1980s and later went onto win the Turner Prize in 2002.

Fashion

Neelam Gill is the first British Indian model to feature as a high fashion model.[72] Supriya Lele is a British Indian fashion designer who blends her heritage into her work.[73] Priya Ahluwalia is a British designer of Nigerian and Indian descent and the founder of menswear brand Ahluwalia and was given the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design.[74][75] In March 2020, Ahluwalia was featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 European Arts and Culture list.[76] Mandeep and Hardeep Chohan, twin sisters of Indian origin jointly own fashion label, Nom de Mode, which draws inspiration from their roots.[77]

Television

Long-running British soap operas such as

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 which originally aired on the BBC. British Indian actors not only have a strong presence in the UK, but also in the United States, where Parminder Nagra, Naveen Andrews and Kunal Nayyar (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. Dr Ranj is a British Indian TV host best known as a celebrity dancer on Strictly Come Dancing
, and co-creating and presenting the CBeebies show Get Well Soon.

There are dozens of TV channels aimed at the British Indian community available on Satellite and Cable, which include:

Indian owned
Sky
channel 		Virgin Media channel Other
Sony TV Asia
 782 806 N/A
STAR One
 783 N/A N/A
STAR Plus
 784 803 N/A
Zee TV 788 809 Channel 555 (TalkTalk TV)
Zee Music
 789 N/A N/A
Zee Cinema
 617 810 N/A
Alpha ETC Punjabi
 798 812 N/A
SET Max
 800 806 N/A
Aastha TV 807 N/A N/A
STAR News
 808 802 N/A
STAR Gold
 809 N/A N/A
Zee Gujarati 811 N/A N/A
SAB TV
 816 N/A N/A
Sahara One 817 N/A N/A
Aaj Tak 818 N/A N/A
Peace TV 820 N/A N/A
Zee Jaagran 838 N/A N/A
Joint owned
Sky
channel 		Virgin Media channel Other
B4U Movies 780 815 N/A
B4U Music 781 816 Channel 504 (Freesat)
9X 828 N/A Channel 662 (Freesat)
9XM 829 N/A N/A
NDTV Imagine
 831 N/A N/A
British owned
Sky
channel 		Virgin Media channel Other
MATV 793 823 N/A

Radio

The

Hindu Sanskar and Sabras Radios 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).

Social issues

Politics

Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak, the first British Indian Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister (2022–present)

David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre was the first British politician of Indian descent to win a seat in parliament; he was elected to represent the Sudbury constituency in July 1841, but was removed in April 1842 due to bribery in the election.[78] Dadabhai Naoroji was the second British Indian politician to win a seat in parliament; he was elected as a Liberal MP for Finsbury in 1892.

British Indians have historically tended to vote for the Labour Party, due to strong links with local party branches and a degree of community voting, but it has been argued that the assimilation of younger British Indians and the consequent weakening of community bonds and parental political ties, this relationship has started to break down. The Conservative Party's modernisation and efforts to attract British Indian voters have also contributed to changing political affiliations.[79]

The Ethnic Minority British Election Study estimated that 61 per cent of British Indians voted Labour in the 2010 general election, 24 per cent Conservative and 13 per cent Liberal Democrat.[80] A 2019 analysis by the Runnymede Trust estimated that, in the 2010 general election, 57 per cent of British Indians voted for the Labour Party and 30 per cent voted for the Conservative Party. Academic research in the build-up to the 2015 general election indicated that 69 per cent of British Indians supported Labour and 24 per cent the Conservatives.[79]

In 2015, the safest Conservative Party seat in the UK was given to a British Indian, Rishi Sunak.[81] Shami Chakrabarti, who was born to Indian immigrant parents, is one of a few British Indian life peers.[82] Others include Lord Desai who is of Gujarati descent.[83]

In the 2015 general election, approximately 57.5 per cent of British Indians voted for Labour and 31 per cent voted for the Conservatives. In the 2017 general election, approximately 58 per cent of British Indians voted for Labour, while 40 per cent of British Indians voted for the Conservatives.[84] According to the same report, British Indians were more likely than most other ethnic minorities to vote for Brexit, although 65 per cent to 67 per cent of British Indians voted to remain in the European Union.

During the

Times of India reported that supporters of Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were actively campaigning for the Tories in 48 marginal seats,[85] and the Today programme reported that it had seen WhatsApp messages sent to Hindus across the country urging them to vote Conservative.[86][87] Some British Indians spoke out against what they saw as the BJP's meddling in the UK election.[88][89]

The

Hindu Council UK has been strongly critical of Labour, going as far as to say that Labour is "anti-Hindu"[90] and objected to the party's condemnation of the Indian government's actions in the disputed territory of Kashmir.[87]

Sophia Duleep Singh - British Indian suffragette sells newspapers

Research conducted by UK in a Changing Europe in 2023 has suggested that British Indian and British Chinese voters held more economically right-wing views, but held the most socially liberal attitudes, in particular towards the LGBT community, compared to other ethnic minorities in the UK. Survey data indicated Conservatives (45 per cent) led Labour (35 per cent) by 10 points amongst Hindus in 2019.[91]

Political activism

Sophia Duleep Singh was a suffragette of Indian origin.[92] A number of organisations exist that have been established by British Indians to promote and advocate for issues important to Indian Britons. These include the India League (formally established in 1928), which was a Britain-based organisation whose aim was to campaign for the full independence and self-governance of India.[93] The Indian Workers' Association (IWA) is a political organisation in Great Britain consisting of Indian immigrants to Britain and their descendants. IWA branches are organised in some major cities such as Birmingham and London. It fought for better working and living standards, it also lobbied for Indian independence and campaigned on issues such as racism and on civil liberties.

Caste system

A number of British Hindus still adhere to the caste system 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 Dalits, by higher caste individuals in schools and workplaces.[94][95]

Female foeticide

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 reports suggest that abortions rejected on the NHS would force some British Indians to travel to India for the procedure. There have also been cases where British Indian doctors who would pass on details to their patients about clinics abroad which offer sex selective screening and abortion for women who have passed the 24-week abortion limit in the United Kingdom.[96][97]

Discrimination

See also: Stereotypes of South Asians and Racism in the United Kingdom
Rock Against Racism marches were commonplace in the United Kingdom in response to racist attacks on racial minorities

Discrimination against people of Indian origin in the United Kingdom has a long history.[98]

Starting in the late 1960s[99] and peaked during the 1970s and 1980s, Indians and other racial minority groups living in the United Kingdom were the victims of racist violence and they were often subjected to physical violence by supporters of far-right, anti-immigration and racist political parties such as the National Front (NF) and the British National Party (BNP).[100][101] The political organisation Indian Workers' Association was one of many organisations which helped to oppose racist attacks.[102] In 1976 the Rock Against Racism political and cultural movement was formed as a reaction to racist attacks that were happening on the streets of the United Kingdom.

Verbal discrimination has become somewhat more common after the

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 in making fun of general parts of Indian culture. Channel 4 screened the arguments between the contestants, 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.[104]

Another example of discrimination is the

ethnically cleanse the country) which led to tens of thousands of East African Indians coming to the UK to start a new life, the majority of them already had British passports, due to Uganda at that time being part of the British Empire
.

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

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.[106][needs update
]

Another form of discrimination towards British Indians is stereotyping, one example is British Asians stereotyped as being the majority of

Marjorie Dawes
who always makes it known that she does not understand a word of what Meera says, although it is completely obvious to the surrounding people and the viewer.

Economic status

Indian wedding in Nottingham
, 2006

A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2007 found that British Indians have among the lowest poverty rates among different ethnic groups in Britain, second only to white British. Of the different ethnic groups, Bangladeshis (65%), Pakistanis (55%) and black Africans (45%) had the highest poverty rates; black Caribbeans (30%), Indians (25%), white Other (25%) and white British (20%) had the lowest rates.[108]

According to official UK Government figures from 2018, British Indians had the highest employment rate of all ethnic minorities at 76%; the overall employment rate in the UK is 75%, with the employment rate for White British people also standing at 76%.[109] The unemployment rate of British Indians was 4% in 2018, the lowest of all ethnic minorities. The overall unemployment rate in the UK in 2018 was 4%, with the unemployment rate for White British people also standing at 4%.[110]

Research from the Resolution Foundation published in 2020 has found that British Indians hold the highest median total household net wealth among major British ethnic groups at £347,400.[111]

Ethnic group Median total household net wealth (2016–18)
Indian £347,400
White British £324,100
Pakistani £232,200
Black Caribbean £125,400
Bangladeshi £124,700
Other White £122,800
Chinese £73,500
Black African £28,400

Among the working-age population, with pensions thus excluded, British Indians have the highest median total wealth at £178,980:[112]

Ethnic group Median total household wealth (excluding pensions) (2006/8)
Indian £178,980
White British £174,007
Black Caribbean £62,702
Other minority ethnic groups £41,500

According to official figures, British Indians have the third highest average pay levels in the UK among all ethnic groups:[113]

Ethnic group Median hourly pay (2022)
White Irish £20.20
Chinese £17.73
Indian £17.29
Mixed White and Asian £16.93
White British £14.42

UK Government figures also demonstrate that British Indians have the highest proportion of workers in professional and managerial occupations, out of all ethnic groups in the UK:[114]

Ethnic group Percentage of workers in professional and managerial occupations
Indian 43%
Other 34%
White 31%
Mixed 30%
Pakistani/Bangladeshi 27%
Black 25%

Academic performance

According to official UK Government statistics, British Indian pupils have a high average level of academic performance. 77% of British Indian pupils attained A* to C grades in English and Maths in the 2015–16 academic year, second only to Chinese pupils, of whom 83% attained A* to C grades in English and Maths.[115] At A-Level, in the 2016–17 academic year, 15.3% of British Indian pupils achieved at least 3 'A' grades at A-Level, with only the British Chinese ethnic group (24.8%) achieving the same benchmark at a higher rate.[116]

According to

Attainment 8 scoring at GCSE level.[118] According to the National Equality Panel, Indian Hindu and Sikh pupils were found to achieve better academic results than Indian Muslim pupils.[119] Trevor Phillips, former Chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has argued that Chinese and Indian-heritage pupils achieve high standards of academic attainment regardless of the school attended or poverty levels.[120]

Notable individuals

Main article: List of British Indians

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "2011 Census: Ethnic group, local authorities in the United Kingdom". Office for National Statistics. 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b "2021 Census: Ethnic group, local authorities in the United Kingdom". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b "MS-B01: Ethnic group". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  4. S2CID 158114056
    .
  5. ^ a b c Chanda, Rupa; Ghosh, Sriparna (2013). "The Punjabi Diaspora in the UK: An Overview of Characteristics and Contributions to India" (PDF). CARIM-India Research Report. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute. pp. 2–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9781441175342
    .
  7. ISBN 9788178241548
    .
  8. ^ "The Goan community of London". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  9. ISBN 81-7824-154-4
    .
  10. ISBN 9780521699747
    .
  11. ^ Visram (2002). Asians in Britain. pp. 254–269.
  12. ISBN 9781136018244
    .
  13. ^ C.E. Buckland, Dictionary of Indian Biography, Haskell House Publishers Ltd, 1968, p.217
  14. ^ Alam, Shahid (12 May 2012). "For casual reader and connoisseur alike". The Daily Star.
  15. ISBN 9781108097222
    .
  16. S2CID 162301711
    .
  17. ^ "Curry house founder is honoured". BBC News. 29 September 2005. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  18. doi:10.1093/ahr/rhad008
    .
  19. ISBN 9781849040006.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link
    )
  20. S2CID 146613125
    .
  21. ^ "The lascars' lot". The Hindu. 5 January 2003. Archived from the original on 7 November 2015.
  22. ISBN 9788178241548. Archived
    from the original on 2 September 2017.
  23. ^ Rohit Barot, Bristol and the Indian Independence Movement (Bristol Historical Association pamphlets, no. 70, 1988), pp. 15-17
  24. ^ a b Hutton, J.H, ed. (1931). Census of India. Government of India. p. 78.
  25. ISBN 978-1-84277-449-6
    .
  26. ISBN 9781317415336
    .
  27. ISBN 9781317415336
    .
  28. ^ "The National Archives | Exhibitions | Citizenship | Brave new world". Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  29. ISBN 9789287149749
    .
  30. ^ "2001 Census and earlier - Office for National Statistics". Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  31. ^ "Ethnic group, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  32. ^ McNeill, Kirsty (18 March 2021). "March 21st is Census day - but Scotland will have to wait". Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  33. ^ "Focus on Ethnicity & Identity" (PDF). for National Statistics. March 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  34. ^ "Table 1.3: Overseas-born population in the United Kingdom by country of birth and sex, January 2020 to December 2020". Office for National Statistics. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021. Figure given is the central estimate. See the source for 95% confidence intervals.
  35. ^ "2011 Census: Country of birth (expanded), regions in England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  36. ^ a b "Ethnic group, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  37. ^ "Gujaratis in the UK". Times Now. 21 April 2022.
  38. ^ Sonwalkar, Prasun (12 July 2015). "Goans go British, thanks to Portugal citizenship law". Hindustan Times. India. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  39. ^ "Ethnic group and year of arrival in the uk - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  40. ^ Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights Census 2011 Data Ethnicity by Local Authority Area Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 January 2015
  41. ^ 2011 Census: KS201EW Ethnic group: local authorities in England and Wales Archived 24 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 January 2015
  42. ^ Group: KS201NI (administrative geographies) Census 2011 NISRA[permanent dead link]. Retrieved 30 January 2015
  43. ^ "Indian ethnic group: facts and figures". www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  44. ^ "Check Browser Settings". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  45. ^ "Check Browser Settings". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  46. ^ "The Diversity of Leicester May 2008, A Demographic Profile". Leicester City Council. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  47. ^ Archer, Edward G.: Gibraltar, identity and empire, page 45. Routledge Advances in European Politics.
  48. ^ "British Sikhs mark 300 years". BBC News. 14 April 1999. Archived from the original on 6 January 2004. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  49. ^ a b "Ethnic group by religion - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  50. ^ "DC2201EW - Ethnic group and religion" (Spreadsheet). ONS. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2016. Size: 21Kb.
  51. ^ "The Queen launches the 2017 UK-India Year of Culture". The Royal Family. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  52. ^ "Prime Minister announces 2017 UK-India Year of Culture". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  53. ^ Jahangir, Rumeana (26 November 2009). "How Britain got the hots for curry". BBC News.
  54. ^ a b Mukherjee, Debabrata. "The British Curry".
  55. ^ From Bangladesh to Brick Lane Archived 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Guardian (Friday 21 June).
  56. ^ "Title". punjab.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009.
  57. ^ "Indian cuisine and eating in the UK". Archived from the original on 14 February 2009.
  58. ^ Jones, Dion (3 October 2019). "The 20 new places you can get Michelin-starred meals - including one with NO menu". Daily Mirror.
  59. ^ "Veeraswamy: A Michelin star for duck vindaloo". BBC News. 24 November 2016.
  60. ^ "MICHELIN Restaurants – the MICHELIN Guide". MICHELIN Guide. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  61. ^ Gritten, David (2 May 2012). "'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel': From Pleasant Surprise to Box Office Phenomenon". Indiewire. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  62. ISBN 9780711983083
    . Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  63. ^ James Ellis (27 October 2009). "Biddu". Metro. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  64. ^ Malika Browne (20 August 2004). "It's a big step from disco to Sanskrit chants, but Biddu has made it". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  65. ^ "Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  66. ^ Keith Caulfield (6 January 2010). "Taylor Swift Edges Susan Boyle For 2009's Top-Selling Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  67. ^ Youngs, Ian (23 September 2009). "British R&B star conquers America". BBC News. Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  68. ^ "How Harry Potter's only Indian characters, Parvati and Padma Patil were cast from amid scores of contenders". Hindustan Times. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  69. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  70. ^ "The roots of the Indian artists' collectives in Britain | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  71. ^ "The Roots of the Indian Artists' Collectives | 11 July - 9 August 2019 - Overview". Grosvenor Gallery. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  72. ^ Butter, Susannah (1 October 2015). "Neelam Gill, the first British Indian to break into the modelling". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  73. ^ "The British Designer Blending Her Indian Heritage With Lo-Fi Luxury". British Vogue. Condé Nast. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  74. ^ ""We Are Business Owners, You Can't Be A Wallflower": Priya Ahluwalia, Tolu Coker & Torishéju Dumi Are Leading The Charge For Sustainable British Design". British Vogue. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  75. ^ "Indo-British designer receives Queen Elizabeth II Award for design - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  76. ^ "London Fashion Week - AHLUWALIA". London Fashion Week. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  77. ^ "Designer name to know: Nom de Mode". Vogue India. Condé Nast. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  78. ISBN 81-7824-154-4
    .
  79. ^ a b Ram, Vidya (26 April 2017). "Will British Indians remain with Labour?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  80. ^ Heath, Anthony; Khan, Omar (February 2012). "Ethnic Minority British Election Study – Key Findings" (PDF). Runnymede Trust. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 June 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  81. ^ "Safest Tory seat in Britain: no campaign and no suspense". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
  82. ^ "Baroness Shami Chakrabarti (LLB, 1994)". London School of Economics and Political Science. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  83. ^ "Contact information for Lord Desai - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  84. ^ Martin N, Khan O. "Ethnic Minorities at the 2017 British General Election" (PDF Archived 21 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine), Runnymede Trust, February 2019.
  85. ^ "BJP support group bats for Tories in 48 key UK seats". The Times of India. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  86. ^ "What's behind the Labour Party's rift with Hindu voters?". New Statesman. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  87. ^ a b "General election 2019: Labour seeks to calm Hindu voters' anger". BBC News. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  88. ^ Siddique, Haroon (11 November 2019). "British Indians warn Hindu nationalist party not to meddle in UK elections". The Guardian.
  89. ^ "Hardline Hindus are pushing the Indian government's agenda on British voters". 26 November 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  90. ^ "Fresh blow for Labour as Hindu Council claims party discriminates against community". Politics Home. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  91. ^ Kanagasooriam, James (3 January 2024). "Non-white Britain is more diverse than ever". The Times. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  92. ^ "The campaign for women's suffrage: key figures". The British Library. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  93. ^ "India League". Making Britain: Discover how South Asians shaped the nation, 1870-1950. Open University. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  94. ^ Puri, Naresh (21 December 2007). "British Hindus divided by caste". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  95. ^ "Low caste Hindus 'abused'". BBC News. 21 December 2007. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  96. ^ "UK Indian women 'aborting girls'". BBC News. 3 December 2007. Archived from the original on 17 February 2009.
  97. ^ McDougall, Dan (21 January 2006). "Desperate British Asians fly to India to abort baby girls". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017.
  98. ^ Shompa Lahiri (2013). Indians in Britain Anglo-Indian Encounters, Race and Identity, 1880-1930. pp. 109, 219.
  99. PMID 28479657
    .
  100. ^ Puri, Kavita (20 December 2019). "They came from south Asia to help rebuild Britain. The racism they saw then is back". The Guardian.
  101. ^ Chaudhary, Vivek (4 April 2018). "How London's Southall became 'Little Punjab'". The Guardian.
  102. ^ Stan Taylor (1982). The National Front in English Politics. p. 139.
  103. ^ "Profiles of the 4 bombers who killed 52 people in London on 7/7". The Independent. 6 July 2015. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018.
  104. ^ Alan Cowell (21 January 2007). "Racial Subplot on British 'Big Brother' Grabs Nation and Ratings". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  105. ^ "British-Indian call centre worker wins racial discrimination case". Thaindian News. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  106. ^ "British Indian woman slams racism case against ING bank". C.A.R.D. December 2006. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  107. ^ Kenan Malik (11 June 1994). "Asians denounce media myth of the corner shop: One in five driven to seek self-employment". The Independent.
  108. ^ "Poverty rates among ethnic groups in Great Britain". Joseph Rowntree Foundation. April 2007. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010.
  109. ^ UK Government, "Ethnicity Facts and Figures: Work, pay and benefits: Employment" Archived 13 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  110. ^ UK Government,"Ethnicity Facts and Figures: Work, pay and benefits: Unemployment" Archived 13 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  111. ^ Bangham, George (December 2020). "A gap that won't close" (PDF). Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  112. ^ Rowlingson K. "Wealth inequality: key facts" Archived 8 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Policy Commission on the Distribution of Wealth, December 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  113. ^ "Ethnicity pay gaps, UK: 2012 to 2022". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  114. ^ UK Government, "Ethnicity Facts and Figures: Work, Pay and Benefits: Employment by Occupation" Archived 20 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  115. ^ UK Government, "Ethnicity Facts and Figures: Education, skills and training: A* to C in English and Maths GCSE attainment for children aged 14 to 16 (Key Stage 4)" Archived 21 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  116. ^ UK Government, "Ethnicity Facts and Figures: Education, skills and training: Students aged 16 to 18 achieving 3 A grades or better at A Level" Archived 15 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  117. ^ a b "Students getting 3 A grades or better at A level". gov.uk. Department for Education. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  118. ^ a b "GCSE results (Attainment 8)". gov.uk. Department for Education. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  119. ^ "An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK" (PDF). equalities.gov.uk. National Equality Panel. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  120. ^ Phillips, Trevor (28 January 2018). "Being afraid to ask why Indian and Chinese heritage pupils excel at school helps no one". The Telegraph.
  121. ^ "GCSE English and maths results". gov.uk. Department for Education. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.

Further reading

  • Fisher, Michael H. (2006). Counterflows To Colonialism: Indian Travellers and Settlers In Britain 1600-1857. New Delhi: Permanent Black.
    ISBN 978-81-7824-154-8
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=British_Indians&oldid=1219076799"