Sikhs form a very small minority in Iran, with a 2011 estimate stating some 60 to 100 families to be residing in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. Members of the community speak Punjabi among themselves, and Persian and Balochi with the larger community. Most Sikhs living in Iran are Iranian citizens.

History

The first presence of Sikhs to Iran began in the 1900, when both Sikh business people as well as Sikh troops in the British military during its occupation of Iran. The primary target of Sikh immigration was initially the hamlet of

Zahedan Zahedan (Balochi and fa, , ' ) is a city and capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 587,730. The city was the site of a deadly crackdown in October 2022, with dozens citizens killed by pro-g ...

, near the border with then

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

) during the 1920s when the

Trans-Iranian Railway The Trans-Iranian Railway ( fa, راه‌آهن سراسری ایران) was a major railway building project started in Pahlavi Iran in 1927 and completed in 1938, under the direction of the then-Iranian monarch Reza Shah. It was entirely built ...

project was started. According to a

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

it is believed that when

Reza Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi ( fa, رضا شاه پهلوی; ; originally Reza Khan (); 15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was an Iranian Officer (armed forces), military officer, politician (who served as Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran), ...

visited the city he saw

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

in white robes living there and thus changed the name from ''Dozdab'' (Land of thieves) to ''Zahedan'' (plural of the persian word (), meaning 'pious') after the Sikhs who were considered zâhid (Sages) by him. An Indian school was started in 1930s located in Zahedan serving Sikh families. It was shifted to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

in 1952 and became

Kendriya Vidyalaya Tehran Kendriya Vidyalaya Tehran ("Central School Tehran"; hi, केन्द्रीय विद्यालय संगठन; fa, مدرسه هندی تهران) is an Indian co-educational international school in the Baharestan District, Tehra ...

in 2004. In 1979 there were around 250 Sikhs in Zahedan who own motor parts distributorships, construction firms and import-export companies. After the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

a number Sikhs left for India and Europe and remaining shifted to the capital city of Tehran. In 2019 State Government of Punjab, India announced that a chair will be installed in the name of

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated ...

in 11 universities, of which seven are in Punjab, three in other parts of India and one

University of Religions and Denominations The University of Religions and Denominations ( fa, دانشگاه اديان و مذاهب ) is a teaching and research center focusing on the study of religions and Islamic sects. The president of the university is Sayyid Abulhasan Navab, one ...

in Iran. The Chair will conduct research on life and teachings of Guru Nanak.

References

{{Asia topic, Sikhism in

History

See also

References