The first visit of Sikhs in
British Columbia (BC) dates back to 1897, when they entered BC on an official
trip as a part of the Hong Kong Army regiments to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond
Jubilee. The second visit of Punjabi soldiers was in 1902, led by Sardar Major
Kadir Khan Bahadur, to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII. The warm
welcome and hospitality they received from British Columbians is evident from
the headline of a newspaper of that time which read: “Turbaned men excite
interest: Awe inspiring men from India held the Crowds”. The first period of
significant migration of Punjabis commenced from 1904-1908, when around 5000
Punjabi men arrived in Canada to begin their new lives. http://www.canadiansikhheritage.ca/en/node/9
When
looking at the history of the arrival of Sikhs in BC, the Komagata Maru
incident of 1914 is the most striking when a boat, on a continuous journey,
carrying 376 Indian passengers out of which 340 were Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12
Hindus was refused entry in BC. Deaths of many of these Sikh passengers
resulted after living on the boat for months. Many of Sikhs who witnessed this
tragedy became disheartened, thus resulting in relocation back to India in
1914. Click on the link for an in-depth
article on Komagata Maru incident. http://www.canadiansikhheritage.ca/en/node/10
In
1905, the first Sikhs arrived in Fraser Valley, where they worked on farms and
in forest industry. In a true community effort, the Sikhs started to build the
first Sikh Temple under the auspices of Khalsa Diwan Society in 1908. It took
them four years of physical and financial commitment to
finish the construction of the Sikh Temple. Situated on South Fraser Way street
in Abbotsford, this Sikh temple is not only the first ever temple to be built
in North America, but also the longest standing. It was declared as a National
Historic site by the Government of Canada on July 31, 2002. Once declared as a
National Heritage site, it took nearly five years of effort to preserve,
renovate, and modernize the structure of the Sikh Temple. http://www.canadiansikhheritage.ca/en/node/17