British Asian
Top row: George Edalji, Konnie Huq, Lakshmi Mittal. Bottom row: Monty Panesar and George Alagiah
Total population
2,331,423 4% of the UK population
Regions with significant populations
London, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber, Lancashire, Glasgow.
Languages
British English, Indo-Aryan languages, Iranian languages, Dravidian languages
Religions
Hinduism,Sikhism,Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Judaism

The term British Asian is used to denote a person of South Asian ancestry or origin, who was born in or was an immigrant to the United Kingdom. Britain has a large Southern Asian population due to British India once being the most populous portion of the former British Empire. Note: this term, in British English, does not include East Asians, who are known by their respective national origins (e.g. Chinese, Japanese) or under the umbrella term "Oriental".

Usage

In British English, the word "Asian" usually refers to those of South Asian origin, particularly Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis, and also the less numerous Sri Lankans, Nepalis, and Maldivians.^[1] Additionally, British who marked the "Other Asian" category on the UK census were of Afghan, Iranian, Iraqi, Turkish and Yemeni ancestries.^[2] It may also refer to people from other parts of Asia,^[3] but those of East Asian (such as Chinese or Japanese) or Southeast Asian origin are usually not included in the term; they may instead be called "oriental", which is a term no longer used in American English (in which the term "Asian" commonly refers to peoples from East Asia). This is reflected in the "ethnic group" section of UK census forms and other government paperwork, which treat "Asian" and "Chinese" as separate. Most Central Asians are generally not included in the British categorisation of 'Asian' either.

The terms "Asian" or "British Asian" are contested. According to Rashmee Roshan Lall, Britain's Hindu community considers the term somewhat vague given the religious and national origin difference between Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. Britain's Hindu community is debating whether to adopt a specific label based on nationality (e.g. "British Indian") or religion (e.g. "British Hindu"). Some British Indians do not feel they want to be in the same ethnic group as British Pakistanis.^[4] Others see a certain degree of unity in the South Asian diaspora; the term desi is also sometimes used to name a South Asian person, pointing to a common identity, but is more often a word used within the Asian community.

Demographics

According to the 2001 UK Census there are 2.33 million British Asians, making up 4% of the population of the United Kingdom. This further subdivides to 1.05 million of Indian origin (1.8% of the population), 747,000 of Pakistani origin (1.3%), 283,000 of Bangladeshi origin (0.5%), and 247,000 from other Asian origins (0.4%) (largely of Sri Lankan origin). British Asians make up 50.2% of the UK's non-European population. British Indians tend to be religiously diverse, with 45% Hindu, 29% Sikh, and 13% per cent Muslim, while their counterparts of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin are much more religiously homogeneous, with Muslims accounting for 92% of each group.^[5] 2004 estimates show that the British Asian community is 2,799,700 including people of mixed White British and Asian descent.

British Asians who marked "Other Asian" as an ethnic group and then wrote in their specific ethnic group were mostly (23%) of Sri Lankan origin. This was followed by fill-ins of Middle Eastern (9%) origin. Due to a growing sense of affiliation with Britain, many third generation Asians chose to not mark "Asian or British Asian" and instead marked "British Asian" in the "Other Asian" write in section.^[6]

In terms of key demographic measures, the two Asian groups, Indians and Pakistani/Bangladeshis have developed significant differences. The unemployment rate in Indians in UK is about 7%, comparable to that of the White British. On the other hand Bangladeshis have among the highest unemployment rates of 13-14%^[7] with Pakistanis having around 11%^[8] Indian pupils are likely to achieve among the highest grades in schools where as Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are likely to score lower.^[9] Persons of Indian or mixed Indian origin are more likely than White British to have university degrees, whereas Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are less likely.^[10]

British Asian ethnic groups mostly originate from a few select places in South Asia. British Indians tend to originate mainly from two Indian States, Punjab and Gujarat. However, in recent years, there has been significant Hindu-Tamil immigration from Sri Lanka. British Pakistanis originate largely from Pakistani administered Kashmir, particularly from the Mirpur area, with the remainder originating from cities and villages in Punjab Province and North-West Frontier Province along with some from Karachi. British Bangladeshis largely originate from the Sylhet region of the country.

According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, British Asian men from all British Asian ethnic groups intermarried with another ethnic group more than British Asian women. Among British Asians, British Indians intermarried with a different ethnic group the most both absolutely and proportionately, followed by British Pakistanis and British Bangladeshis.

History in Great Britain

No one actually knows the earliest origins of settlement of South Asians in the British Isles for certain; if the Romani (Gypsies) are included, then the earliest arrivals may have been in the Middle Ages — although not normally included as South Asian, the Roma and Sinti (most in the UK have been Sinti) are both believed to have originated in parts of what is now North India and Pakistan and to have begun travelling westward around 1000 CE, though they have mixed with Southwest Asians and Europeans over the centuries. Romani began arriving in sizeable numbers in parts of Western Europe in the 16th century.

People from South Asia have settled in Great Britain since the East India Company (EIC) recruited lascars to replace vacancies in their crews on East Indiamen whilst on voyages in India. Many were then refused passage back, and were marooned in London. There were also some ayahs, domestic servants and nannies of wealthy British families, who accompanied their employers back to "Blighty" when their stay in Asia came to an end.

The Navigation Act of 1660 restricted the employment of non-English sailors to a quarter of the crew on returning East India Company ships. Baptism records in East Greenwich suggest that young Indians from the Malabar Coast were being recruited as servants at the end of the seventeenth century., and records of the EIC also suggest that Indo-Portuguese cooks from Goa were retained by captains from voyage to voyage.^[11] In 1797, 13 were buried in the parish of St Nicholas at Deptford.

Following the Second World War and the break up of the British Empire, Asian migration to the UK increased through the 1950s and 1960s from Commonwealth countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, at the same time as immigrants from former Caribbean colonies were also moving to Britain.

Although this immigration was continuous, several distinct phases can be identified:

• Manual workers, mainly from Pakistan, were recruited to fulfill the labour shortage that resulted from World War II. These included Anglo-Indians who were recruited to work on the railways as they had done in India.
• Workers mainly from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan arrived in the 1950s and 1960s. Many worked in the foundries of the English Midlands and a large number worked at Heathrow Airport in West London
• During the same time, medical staff from the Indian subcontinent were recruited for the newly formed National Health Service. These people were targeted as the British had established medical schools in the Indian subcontinent which conformed to the British standards of medical training.
• During the 1960s and 1970s, large numbers of East African Asians, who already held British passports, entered the UK after they were expelled from Kenya, Uganda and Zanzibar. Many of these people had been store-keepers in Africa and opened shops when they arrived in the UK, thereby reviving the traditional British corner-shop which until that point had been in decline.

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 Asian community has come from the births of second- and third-generation Asian Britons.

Influence on popular culture

The biggest influence of British Asians on popular culture has probably been the so-called Indian restaurant, though in fact most of these are run by people of Bangladeshi origin. A recent poll found that chicken tikka masala has surpassed fish and chips in terms of popularity as the national dish.^[12] Chicken tikka masala, like the popular balti, is itself a British Asian invention. British Asian have also played a pivotal role in rejuvenating a number of UK street markets. According to the New Economics Foundation, Queen's Market, Upton Park is officially the most ethnically diverse.

Bhangra music has in addition become popular among many in the general British public (especially younger people)^[13] not only from the works of British Asian musicians such as Panjabi MC, Swami and Rishi Rich but also incorporated into the works of a number of non-Asian musicians not only British but including North American artists such as Canadian Shania Twain, who created a whole alternate version of her multi-platinum album Up! with full Indian instrumentation, produced by legendary British Asian producers Simon & Diamond. Diamond, better known as DJ Swami has also collaborated with superstar rapper Pras, of The Fugees, and his band Swami have become one of the most renowned acts in British Asian music history, having had songs in major Hollywood movies and best-selling video games.

The films East is East, Chicken Tikka Masala and Bend It Like Beckham and the TV shows Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42 have managed to attract large, multi-ethnic audiences. The success and popularity of British Pakistani boxer Amir Khan influenced the revival of boxing on ITV Sport. In 2006, Time Asia magazine voted the late British Asian musician Freddie Mercury, the lead singer and writer of the rock band Queen, as one of the most influential Asians in the past 60 years.^[14]

Lakshmi Mittal is currently Britain's richest man and the fifth richest man in the world. He owns Arcelor-Mittal, the world's largest steel manufacturer, which was known as Mittal Steel Company before the merger with Arcelor. He was listed in the Forbes List of Billionaires (2006) as the richest Indian and the fifth richest man in the world with an estimated fortune of $55.0 billion and, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, is the richest in the UK, with a net worth of £29 billion. The Financial Times named Mittal its 2006 Person of the Year. In 2005, he was the third richest man in the world according to Forbes List of billionaires (2005).

Literature

This refers to the growing body of literature that refers to and documents aspects of the British Asian experience.

Well-known British Asian writers include: Salman Rushdie, Gurinder Chadha, Hanif Kureshi, Monica Ali, Meera Syal and Raman Mundair.

Celebrities in popular culture

Early British Asian stars include Sabu Dastagir, who had been famous for playing non-specific foreigners in British and Hollywood films, fondly remembered for his lead roles in The Thief of Bagdad and Jungle Book.

Since the 1970s, British Asian performers and writers have achieved significant mainstream cultural success. The first British Asian to gain wide popularity in the UK and worldwide fame was the late Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara), who led the rock band Queen, although most people may be unaware of his ethnicity. Famous British Asian actors in the 1980s included Ben Kingsley, who won an Academy Award for his performance in Gandhi, as well as Art Malik for his roles in The Jewel in the Crown and The Living Daylights.

The comedians Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal and Shazia Mirza are all well-recognised figures in British popular culture. The actress Parminder Nagra has a prominent role in the US TV series ER, and played the lead role in the successful British film Bend It Like Beckham. The actor Naveen Andrews plays the role of Sayid Jarrah in the popular US TV series Lost, and also had a prominent role in the award-winning film The English Patient. Hardeep Singh Kohli is a presenter, reporter and comedian on British television. British Pakistani boxer Amir Khan represents Britain in boxing and is the current IBF inter-continental light welterweight champion. British Kashmiri, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian contestants have appeared on The Apprentice including Tre Azam, Syed Ahmed, Lohit Kalburgi, Ghazal Asif and most notably Saira Khan, who is now a British TV presenter. The broadcaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Sameera Ahmed, meanwhile, present the Channel 4 News. There are also the Cricketers Sajid Mahmood and Monty Panesar,Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara who play for England.

In the disability arena Ivan and Charika Corea founded the Autism Awareness Campaign UK.

Communities

Although there are Asian communities all over the UK, towns and cities with particularly significant Asian populations include:

• Batley 30% S. Asian. 40.72% in Batley East^[15] and 21.43% in Batley West^[16]
• Bedford (Queens Park, Cauldwell) 7.7% S. Asian
• Birmingham (especially Sparkhill, Sparkbrook, Small Heath, Balsall Heath, Washwood Heath, Saltley, Handsworth, Handsworth Wood)19.5% S. Asian
• Blackburn 20.6% S. Asian
• Bolton 9.1% S. Asian
• Bradford (Manningham, Great Horton) 18.9% S. Asian
• Cardiff (Butetown, Grangetown, Riverside) 3.96% S. Asian
• Coventry 11.3% S. Asian
• Derby 8.4% S. Asian
• Dewsbury (Ravensthorpe, Thornhill Lees, Savile Town) around 30% Asian. Savile Town is "97-100% Muslim"^[17]
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow (especially Pollokshields, Pollokshaws, Govanhill and Woodlands) Scotland0.9% S. Asian
• Halifax 10% S.Asian'''
• High Wycombe 7.5% S. Asian
• Keighley 15% S. Asian
• Leeds (Beeston, Harehills, Chapeltown) 4.5% S. Asian
• Leicester (especially Belgrave, Rushey Mead, Highfields, Spinney Hills, Evington) 29.9% S. Asian
• Luton 18.3% S. Asian
• Manchester (especially Longsight, Rusholme, Whalley Range and Cheetham Hill) 9.1% S. Asian
• Newcastle upon Tyne (especially Arthurs Hill and Elswick) 3.8% S. Asian
• Newport (especially Maindee and Pillgwenlly) 2.6% S. Asian
• Oldham (especially Glodwick, Westwood and Werneth) 11.9% S. Asian
• Oxford (especially Cowley Road) 5.8% S. Asian
• Pendle (especially Nelson) 14.1% S. Asian
• Peterborough 7.0% South Asian
• Preston 11.6% S. Asian
• Reading borough 5.2% S. Asian
• Rochdale 9.8% S. Asian
• Burnley (borough) 7.2% S. Asian
• Rugby (especially New Bilton, Benn and Brownsover) 5.3% S. Asian
• Sheffield (especially Burngreave, Sharrow and Darnall) 4.6% S. Asian
• Slough 27.9% S. Asian
• Sandwell 14% S. Asian
• Southampton 3.8% S. Asian
• Sunderland (especially Eden Vale, Hendon and Thornhill) 1.2% South Asian
• Wakefield 5% Asian. The College Grove area is estimated at 36.49% Asian^[18]
• Walsall 10.4% S. Asian
• Wolverhampton 14.3% S. Asian
• Note: Some local authorities contain large areas of countryside surrounding the actual towns, e.g. Bedford, Bradford, Leeds, Newport, Sunderland and High Wycombe. This may lead to the local Asian and ethnic minority populations being underestimated in these places.

Counties with a high population of British Asians include -

• Lancashire 5.3% S. Asian
• Greater Manchester 5.6% S. Asian
• West Yorkshire 8.7% S. Asian
• West Midlands (county) 13.4% S. Asian
• Greater London 12.09% S. Asian
• Berkshire 6.8% S. Asian
• Buckinghamshire 4.3% S. Asian
• Bedfordshire 8.3% S. Asian
• Leicestershire 11.9% S. Asian

London Boroughs with high a population of British Asians include -

• London Borough of Tower Hamlets 36.6% South Asian
• London Borough of Brent 27.7% South Asian
• London Borough of Ealing 24.5% South Asian
• London Borough of Harrow 29.7% South Asian
• London Borough of Hounslow 24.7% South Asian
• London Borough of Newham 32.5% South Asian
• London Borough of Redbridge 25.0% South Asian

See also

• Desi
• List of British Asian people
• List of British Asian owned businesses
• Asian-Scots
• BBC Asian Network
• British Pakistanis

External links

• All in Online - Building Community Leading South Asian Community Portal
• UK Asian UK's Longest Running Asian Community Portal - Started by a student in 1996
• Hindu Cultural Association of Wales UK
• SL2UK.com is a website dedicated to the Sri Lankan and South Indian communities living in the UK, including Interviews with prominent South Asians including A R Rahman, M.I.A, Jay Sean, Rishi Rich, etc.
• Paki.fm Is a web based radio station that reafirms Young British Asian Identities
• History Talking.com is a source of oral history of the Asian community in the UK
• paki.tv is a web project from the East India Dock of Former British Empire
• BBC Radio Player discussion on the dissatisfaction over the term Asian
• Black Youth Empowerment
• hWeb - An outline of the immigration pattern of the Pakistani community in Britain
• Dr Desi - Desi Lifestyle Magazine
• Weaver v NATFHE In the Weaver v NATFHE (now part of the UCU) race discrimination case an Industrial Tribunal upheld a union’s decision not to assist a British Asian woman lecturer, at Bournville College, Birmingham, who brought a case of racial harassment against a fellow worker at Bournville College of Further Education, Birmingham, because he could lose his job. The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the decision.
• British Council Arts - Contemporary Writers information on British Asian writer Raman Mundair.
• The British Asian who changed the Face of English Justice a non-fictional account of the conviction of George Edalji, solicitor son of a Parsee convert to Christianity, falsely imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. The outcome of this case was mainly responsible for the creation of the English Criminal Court of Appeal.
• BBC News Many Asians 'do not feel British' 30/07/07 based on ICM Research poll conducted 4 - 12th July 2007
• Reassessing what we collect website - The Asian Community in London History of Asian London with objects and images

References

•  • [ e] UK Census 2001-2011 "ethnic groups" [8]
"White" • "Mixed" • "Asian or British Asian" • "Black or Black British" • "Chinese or other ethnic group"