Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
International

Century-old ledger on Sikh diaspora found in Australia

Darpan News Desk IANS, 03 Oct, 2022 01:43 PM
  • Century-old ledger on Sikh diaspora found in Australia

Canberra, Oct 3 (IANS) In Dongara, some 351 km northwest of Perth, more than a century-old leather-bound book containing entries written in Gurmukhi - the official script of the Punjabi language - has been found.

The discovery was confirmed by Tarun Preet Singh of the Sikh Association of Western Australia (SAWA), who went to Dongara in person to see the newly-discovered treasure, which offers rare insight into the largely forgotten Sikh community of Dongara, the SBS Punjabi reported.

Sikhs are known to have arrived in Australia in the mid-nineteenth century and found work as hawkers, cane cutters, and camel drivers. In the early part of the 20th century, they became active with the wrestling circuit all over Australia.

"The gurdwara in Canning Vale got an email that some old leather ledger with transactions written in Punjabi script had been found and that the Western Australia Museum wanted help with the translations," Singh told SBS Punjabi.

Singh, who is actively engaged in uncovering Sikh history in Australia, said that the ledger shows that even 100 years ago, Sikh settlers were established businessmen in Australia and carried out their day-to-day transactions in their own language.

He credited the discovery of the ledger to the Western Australia Museum's search efforts to find old artifacts as a part of its expansion programme.

"Someone found it from the ashes... it didn't get burnt due to their thickness," Singh said.

The Geraldton and Dongara areas were booming regions for the pioneer Sikhs of Western Australia (belonging to the Indian ethnicity), including Sojan Singh, Pola Singh, Ruhr Singh, and Anzac Nain Singh Sailani, who all belonged to these regions.

Sojan Singh was one of the few early Punjabi settlers of Western Australia, who owned a store and even a holiday home in Donagara. The earliest recorded evidence of a Sikh being in Western Australia was Pal Singh who arrived in Perth in 1886. He was a camel owner and settled in Wyndham, according to SAWA.

Now, the Sikhs form one of the largest subgroups of Indian Australians with 210,000 adherents according to the 2021 census, having grown from 12,000 in 1996, 17,000 in 2001, 26,500 in 2006, and 72,000 in 2011.

Photo courtesy of IANS. 

MORE International ARTICLES

Charges expected today in July 4 rooftop shooting

Charges expected today in July 4 rooftop shooting
Six people were killed and more than two dozen injured when shots rang out in the middle of a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. Video clips posted to social media showed the festivities collapsing into panic as revellers realized they were under fire and scrambled for cover.

Charges expected today in July 4 rooftop shooting

5 killed in shooting at July 4 Parade near Chicago

5 killed in shooting at July 4 Parade near Chicago
Five people have been shot dead, as per city officials, in the parade in Highland Park, north of Chicago, which was suddenly halted about 10 minutes after it began as gunshots were heard. 

5 killed in shooting at July 4 Parade near Chicago

3 dead in Copenhagen shopping mall shooting

3 dead in Copenhagen shopping mall shooting
At 5.48 p.m., a 22-year-old Danish man in possession of a rifle and ammunition was arrested outside the shopping mall. The motive for the shooting remains unknown and the suspect will face questioning by a judge on Monday. On Sunday night, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark had suffered a cruel attack.

3 dead in Copenhagen shopping mall shooting

Padma Shri Raj Bothra acquitted of all charges in US trial

Padma Shri Raj Bothra acquitted of all charges in US trial
US attorneys said the defendants illicitly prescribed over 13 million pills and made false claims to illegally collect over $20 million from Medicare, over $17 million from Medicaid and over $15 million from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, from 2013 to 2018.

Padma Shri Raj Bothra acquitted of all charges in US trial

All eyes on airlines as July Fourth holiday weekend nears

All eyes on airlines as July Fourth holiday weekend nears
Problems were popping up well before the weekend, with some disruptions caused by thunderstorms that slowed air traffic. American Airlines canceled 8% of its flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, and United Airlines scrubbed 4% of its schedule both days, according to FlightAware.

All eyes on airlines as July Fourth holiday weekend nears

WHO: COVID-19 cases rising nearly everywhere in the world

WHO: COVID-19 cases rising nearly everywhere in the world
The biggest weekly rise in new COVID-19 cases was seen in the Middle East, where they increased by 47%, according to the report released late Wednesday. Infections rose by about 32% in Europe and Southeast Asia, and by about 14% in the Americas, WHO said.

WHO: COVID-19 cases rising nearly everywhere in the world