Bangladesh

Bangladesh, independent since 1971, holds some of the oldest places of Sikh memory in Bengal, though its Sikh community is tiny. Banglapedia says Guru Nanak visited Dhaka in 1504, arriving by boat at Shivpur village and digging a well at Zafrabad, and that Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed in Dhaka for about two years, from 1666 to 1668, and founded Gurdwara Sangat Tola in Bangla Bazar.

Key moments

• 1504: Guru Nanak's visit to Dhaka, according to Banglapedia.
• 1666 to 1668: Guru Tegh Bahadur at Dhaka. The shrine at Nanak Shahi is said to hold a pair of wooden sandals believed to be his.
• 1830: Gurdwara Nanak Shahi, on the University of Dhaka campus and once called Sujatpur Sikh Sangat, was completed, Banglapedia says. Who built it is told in more than one way: a priest named Almast sent by Guru Hargobind, a missionary sent by Baba Gurditta, or Guru Tegh Bahadur.
• After 1947: the gurdwara was neglected and almost abandoned. In 1960 and 1961 the East Pakistan government ordered the acquisition of 1.40 of its 1.63 acres, and the caretaker, Swarn Singh, challenged this in court.
• 14 December 1971: Swarn Singh was reportedly murdered around this date, along with a Muslim friend. On 16 December Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora secured the surrender at Dhaka of about 93,000 Pakistani soldiers, which Lieutenant General A. A. K. Niazi signed. Aurora later sat in the Rajya Sabha as an Akali Dal nominee, from 1986 to 1992.
• 2 January 1972: after a Sikh deputation from Takht Sri Patna Sahib led by Captain Bhag Singh recovered the gurdwara, Sri Guru Granth Sahib was installed again, and Acting President Sayyad Nazar-ul-Islam attended and pledged to protect and rebuild it.

Today: Banglapedia counts five gurdwaras, two in Dhaka, two in Chittagong and one in Mymensingh, most of them in poor condition apart from the one at Dhaka University. Sikhs are a small minority, mostly businesspeople or staff of Indian missions, and many stay only for a time. Members of the Balmiki community attend the Friday services at Nanak Shahi, and a management board with local and foreign members runs it.