Diaspora (Commonwealth Union) _ The growing presence of South Asians around the world is a hallmark of modern global history. India boasts the largest diaspora, with over 32 million people of Indian origin living abroad. In 2020, the United States alone was home to over 4.4 million people of Indian descent. This year, Kamala Harris, the first U.S. Vice President of Indian heritage, has inspired widespread enthusiasm. Yet, the stories of the first South Asian women who immigrated to America remain largely untold, absent from history books and collective memory. Despite being forgotten, their lives are an essential part of the complex past of South Asians in this country.
The earliest South Asian immigrants in America were primarily Punjabi Sikh laborers and farmers who settled along the West Coast at the turn of the 20th century. By World War I, about 90% of the roughly 6,500 South Asians in the U.S. were Punjabi Sikhs. Their migration was driven by economic hardships in Punjab following British annexation in 1849. British colonial policies strained farmers in central Punjab, prompting many young men to seek financial opportunities overseas. Initially, Sikh men traveled the world as soldiers and police personnel throughout the British Empire. Hearing about promising prospects in North America, they ventured to Vancouver and San Francisco.
In the U.S., Punjabi laborers faced significant racial hostility and legal restrictions on immigration, citizenship, and civil liberties during the 1910s and 1920s. Very few Punjabi men could bring their wives to the U.S. until immigration laws eased in 1946. Scholars like Renisa Mawani, Nayan Shah, and Harish Puri have documented the early South Asian experience in North America, but women’s stories remain scant. Rattan Kaur is believed to be the first Punjabi Sikh woman to settle in the U.S., arriving in 1910 to join her husband, Bakhshish Singh Dhillon, an active member of the Ghadar movement advocating for India’s independence from British rule.
Kaur’s daughter, Kartar, provides one of the richest accounts of her life in her memoir, A Parrot’s Beak. Kartar describes her fraught relationship with her mother, who lived an itinerant life with no Indian female companionship and gave birth to eight children in 16 years. Rattan Kaur’s longing for Punjab, which she never saw again, marked her existence in America.
The Stockton gurdwara, established in 1912, became the heart of South Asian American life and a hub for the Ghadar movement. It was here that the community gathered for religious events and anti-colonial activities. Rattan Kaur embraced the Ghadar cause, seeing it as part of her family’s legacy of resisting injustice. She proudly displayed pictures of her ancestors, the Kuka Sikhs, who were executed by the British for their rebellion.
It wasn’t until the late 1940s that a significant number of South Asian women began arriving in the U.S. These women joined their husbands in farming communities in California’s Central Valley, including Yuba City. Having grown up during the tumultuous Partition of India in 1947, these young brides were often unprepared for the challenges they faced in America. They traveled on a disorienting four-day journey from Delhi to San Francisco, and many experienced intense isolation and homesickness.
Despite these challenges, the women played a crucial role in their communities’ success. They engaged in labor-intensive farming, formed close-knit friendships, and navigated cultural pressures to conform to American norms. By the 1970s, the Punjabi community in Yuba City saw a revival of faith and cultural traditions, bolstered by the Immigration Act of 1965. Women played active roles in religious and community activities, including organizing the first nagar kirtan in Yuba City in 1980.
The legacy of these early South Asian women is preserved through the memories and stories passed down to their descendants. Nand Kaur, for example, recounted the revolutionary fervor of the Ghadar movement to her children, connecting them to their cultural heritage through songs and stories. One such song, The Last Message of the Gunj, vividly captures the essence of the Ghadar movement in poetic, heartfelt language.
These pioneering women, though largely absent from historical records, laid the groundwork for future generations. Their resilience and contributions continue to inspire and shape the South Asian American community, highlighting the importance of preserving and sharing their stories.
