The History of the Asian Community in Britain - Essay Example

?Running head: THE HISTORY OF THE ASIAN COMMUNITY IN BRITAIN The history of the Asian community in Britain Insert Insert grade Insert instructor’s name April 15, 2011. The history of the Asian community in Britain Introduction The history of Britain is marked by a continued presence and increasing trends of Asian community migration and occupation. The recent decades have seen researchers, academicians, and scholars developing enthusiasm in the study of the history of the Asian community. Simply put, history explains the trends in the evolution of an entity since its inception and up to the point of its review. The history of the Asian community in Britain dates back to the 18th century, that is 1850s up to date, where they have along moved into Britain, making it one of the world’s multicultural centers, with diverse tribes from the four corners of the world. Migration and settlement of Asians in Britain is attributed to the existence of favourable emigration policies in the land of origin, as well as migration policies in the land of settlement. A conflict in the Asian land and the desire for employment among the Asian people has also caused great migrations. Asians are also known to be very outgoing people in regards to invention, and their presence in the land has excellent rationales, though some are attributed to negativity. The Asian community also consists of people from distinct origins, the earliest coming from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri-Lanka. Importantly, the presence of Asians in British land is known to have influenced the culture, agricultural, industrial and the urban sectors of the economy. In addition, the political and social sectors have not been exceptions from the influence by the long presence of these aliens. However, the continued migration and settlements of Asians in the recent years has drastically raised Britain’s populations to high scores (Addison and Jones, 2007). The discussion in this paper investigates the history of Asian community in Britain, in addition to the migration and settlement of the Asians in the land. An establishment of the Asian statistics in Britain is also included in the discussion, as well as the kind of influence on Britons and original settlers in Britain. History in Great Britain Asians in Britain have a long told and untold history dating back in the 1850’s. The migrations occurred in phases due to conformity with immigration laws that have Marjory controlled the immigration trends. The earliest settlement origins of the Asians from south Asian regions to Britain are not acknowledged. The middle ages are anticipated to be the original times with the inclusion of the Romani and Sinti tribes. The Sinti are believed to have emigrated from the areas today known as Pakistan and the Northern India. The period 1000 saw Asians begin to travel westwards, where the Southwest Asians mixed with people from Europe. Moreover, sizeable numbers of Romanis started arriving at the Western Europe in the 16th century. The 1660 saw the enactment of the Navigation act that restricted employment realms for sailors from Non-English regions. Records of baptism in the East-Greenwich indicate that Malarban coast people origins were seeking better areas to establish their religion. In addition, the south Asian people have been settling in the Great Britain since the time when the East India Company was established. The recruitment of lascars to fill the vacancies that had been left by men from India who did not get passage backs to accompany their company into Britain and the existence of the domestic servants as well as nannies and ayahs who had left their Asian country to get employed in the rich families of Britain also saw many people migrate (Spencer, 1939). The 17th century was marked by the incorporation of many lascars from South Asia into Great Britain due to the enlargement of the East India Company. The Bengali people majorly migrated to this area and married wives from Britain as a result of inadequacy of Asian women in the region at the time. The settlements of the earliest Asian communities occurred mainly in port towns. The desire for employment also saw many workers accompany migrates including cooks, most from the Sylhet division, today the Bangladesh. Sake Dean Mahomet was one of the earliest British East India Company captains of Bengali origin to arrive in Britain. The British Empire broke up and the Second World War acted as rationale for the increased migrations from the Asian land to Great Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. The majority of the people came from the commonwealth countries as well as Bangladesh, and the same time saw the former Caribbean colonies migrate to Britain (Spencer, 1939). The migration has been continuous through the recent decades, though a cluster of migratory phases is identifiable. The first phase consisted mainly of manual workforce, including the Anglo-Indians, on their recruitment to become railway workers as they had ealier worked on the Indian one. The Punjab region also represented the second wave, which arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, and were found working at English Midlands and Heathrow Airport based in west London. Other phases included the staff in the medical fields that travelled to Britain and rendered British courageous to initiate the NHS in the early 19th century. The most recent phases consist of teachers, academicians, and scholars who have the intention to further their education. Therefore, the Asians mark the History of Britain, being the first people to migrate to Great Britain (Spencer, 1939). The migration and settlements of Asians to the Britain The migration of Asians to Britain can be attributed to various phases in respect to distinct origin areas. The main Asian settlers anticipated to have settled in Great Britain in the seventeenth century are from South Africa, from the Bangladesh and the Pakistan regions. The emigration policies that were set in each of the Asian countries and their relationship with the immigration policies at work in Britain has been a long-term factor that contributed to the Asian immigration into the British territory. The second rationale entails the linkage between Britain and the South Asian countries in relation to economical, political, social, and military linkages. A third migration cause is the aspect of globalization in the fact that the world has been modified recently to appear like a small city where people can move to and fro. This has also made the movement process easy, making the movement of the Asians into the United Kingdom year-by-year (Spencer, 1939). Theories have long been put forward that provide broad literature concerning the immigration of the Asian people into Britain as well as into other countries. The push and pull forces that are considered causal for migration are abundant, and contributing to the actions of the pull and push theory. The push action of the theory is manifested in the fact that major factors are considered to cause the Asians move out of their original homeland into an alien land. These factors include search for labor, spirit of adventure, in search for better business as well as conflicts occurrence in the emigration land. The pull action comes in when the target alien land has a ground for provision of the opportunities needed by the immigrants. The Asians consider the Britain to possess important soil, geographical and development addition to social and culturally ample features. These are factors that make the Asians develop increased enthusiasm to travel abroad, constituting the push and pull theory (Visram, 2002). Migration is a major contributor to population increase in the British spheres. The earliest known Asian settlers in Britain were from the Bangladesh region, Pakistan and Sri-Lanka. However, the recent years have seen the Chinese and Japanese continue to settle in Britain for agricultural, industrial as well as urban and technological reasons. Therefore, the change in the agricultural, industrial, and urban sectors has experienced a boost as a result of increased migrations and settlement. The uncontrolled migrations have seen increased interactions leading to language influence, for instance, the Asians have influenced the Britons to embrace their language, and at the same time, the Britons have impacted their language on the immigrating Asians. Migration has also a causal factor for the adoption of new farming, industrial as well as technological skills (Kalra and Sayyid, 2008). Statistics of the population of South Asians in Britain The southern Asians are the earliest people known to have settled in Britain since the 16th century. The distinct types of the south Asians in the Britain region include those that came from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri-lanka. The Romani and the Sinti people are also present in Britain in large numbers, being the first groups to migrate to Britain in the middle ages. The 2001 statistics representation indicates a very high percentage of Asians in existence in Britain today. Millions of British Asians were evident, constituting 4.0% of the UK population, 1.8% was found to be Indians, while 1.3% was the people from Pakistan. The Bangladesh made up to 0.5% in addition to other Asians from other origins making up to 0.4%. The total population of the United Kingdom non-European people adds up to 50.3 according to the most recent statistical counts. There are only a few selected areas from which the Asians migrate from in the south Asian region. The Indians are the majority, migrating from Gujarat and Punjab regions, while the Mirpur District is the largest place of origin of the pakistanians to Britain. Other Pakistanians originated from chhachhi pathans in the Attock District, Ghazi, Nowshera, as well as Peshwar regions. 95% Bangladeshis are known to have originated from the Sylhet region, north of the country, and others from Beanibazar, Jagannathpurin addition to Bishwanath. Punjabi, Hindi, Kutchi Gujarati constitute the main languages spoken by the Indians while the pakistanians have four dialects inclusive of Punjabi, Hindko, Mirpuri, Urdu and Pashto, in addition to Seraiki Sindhi as well as Kashmiri. Bengali is also the language of those from Bangladesh and the Tamil dialect is for those from Sri-lanka. In addition, all forms of religions are solely practiced in Britain, with people from each region consisting of a particular percentage of these religious groups (Kalra and Sayyid, 2008). Influence on Britain by the presence of Asian community The style of life of the Britons has been greatly influenced by immigration and settlement of the Asian community in the land. The culture of the Britons was ideally eroded as a result of rampant interactions with the Asians. The language was also ideally influenced by the mix of cultures where each culture had to learn the language of the other. Basically, a strong adaptation skill to the region was a demand for all people found in the British continent. Primarily, the Asians are known to have a passion for music, arts and performances, theatre activities, factor which has long led to the establishment of experience economy centers. The establishment of the events industries including the tourism industry is a result of the increased interaction between distinct communities. Therefore, the Britons were taught how to adopt the agricultural practices, which have long caused the increases experienced in the economic fields. The history and the present day immigration to the Britain has become an issue of concern in the recent years, just as it has been in the US. This is attributed to the movement of people from other continents, predominantly the Asians, and specifically the Pakistan and the Bangladesh people. Following the enactment of distinct laws governing immigration by the different ruling regimes in the Britain, four waves have been seen come into the Britain, the first beginning in the 16th century consisting of lascars being recruited to work for the EAC. The second was in operation in the 1850’s up to 11860’s. The third was found to operate in the 1965 and up to 1980, while the last rate from 1980s to the present day, constituting the current immigration trends (Brown, 2007). Immigration emanates from the desire to boost the economic, social, as well as political status of a nation. It is also geared towards the achievement of better cultural conditions of the immigrants, for instance, immigrant women in the Britain due to the alienation of culture, thus they are able to acquire life with freedom. Scholars are migrating to enhance their knowledge as academicians search for better curriculum. Industries like Japan and China move in search for industrial location and business contraction sites, as the traders seek ample trade partners across the globe. Moreover, the enactment of immigration laws in countries like the UK has made it possible for many immigrants to emerge. The impacts of immigrations include global technological advancements, urbanization, and industrial developments, in addition to the conflicts and culture linkages and alienations in the current world. However, the Asians have left a mark in their rampant immigration trends to Britain (Brown, 2007). The rationale of the presence of the Asian community in Britain The presence of the Asians in Britain has had major positive and negative effects on the Britons, the immigrants as well as the entire country’s realms. The Asians are long known to possess a heart for development and making great industrial discoveries. Thus, the recent industrial advancements are known to have taken place partly because of the presence of the immigrants. In addition, the increment in the agrarian revolution and the agrarian shifts that have long taken place in Britain are attributed to the presence of the Asians in the region. Britain is today identified as one of the multicultural countries in the world due to continued presence of the Asians in Britain. Thus, alienation of cultures occurred to great extents such that, mostly the existence of mixed cultures is prominent. The recent technological advancements have had their way due to the increased occupation of the Asians in Britain. The experience economy sector has been ideally improved due to the influence of Britain by the immigrant Asians. Moreover, there has been development of arts, tourism, as well as the events industry (Brown, 2007). The recent industrialization trends have made it possible for the formation of linkages between the Asian and American continents, facilitating the movement of people from one corner to the other in search for better industrial linkages. These have made the Japanese and the Chinese people become common in the Unites states industrial realms, owing to the fact that they are industrial-minded people. In addition, they have moved and settled in the United Kingdom, fostering the best development patterns. The recent academic trends have also enabled immigration of people from the Asian continent to the American and European continents. Thus, the recent immigration trends are composed of all kinds of people, and the population of the Britain has solely increased (Brown, 2007). Conclusion The history of Britain is marked by a continued presence and increasing trends of Asian community migration and occupation, an area that has caused great concern among the researchers, academicians, and scholars. The recent statistics indicate the presence of large numbers of Asians in Britain, up to almost 50%. Moreover, the presence of Asians has ideally influenced the political, social and economic life of the Britons and other cultures though has a very great economic rationale. However, more research should be conducted to reveal correct statistical figures of Asian community in Britain. Reference List Addison, P. and Jones, H., 2007. A companion to contemporary Britain, 1939-2000. MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Brown, J., 2007. Global South Asians: introducing the modern Diaspora. NY: Cambridge University Press. Kalra, N. and Sayyid, V., 2008. A Postcolonial People: South Asians in Britain. Columbia University Press. Spencer, I., 1939. British immigration policy since 1939: the making of multi-racial Britain. NY: Routledge. Visram, R., 2002. Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History, Pluto Press. (Online). Available from http://www.fathom.com/course/21701766/index.html (Accessed April 15, 2011) Read More