The Impact of "Sik" Immigrants in Zahedan (1928 - 1948)

On the verge of the First World War, the English connected the national railroad network of India by India's Baluchistan to Dozdab in Iran's Baluchistan in order to keep the connection line between Iran and India. After this and when the transport of goods to India accelerated, a number of Indian Siks immigrated to Dozdab, whose name later changed to Zahedan. But the residence of Siks next to Muslims was followed by some conflicts and rivalries that were affected by the political and religious conditions of India. Using the comparative and analytic method and based on library resources and records, this paper aims to answer this question: Were there any tangible changes in Zahedan before and after the independence of India - as the main home of the Siks – that was the consequence of the presence of Sik immigrants in this region? A comparative analysis of three variables i.e. the economic, social and religious conditions of the immigrating group to the region and the effect of the political and religious conditions of the destination and source of immigration on these three variables indicates that the immigration of a minority of non-Muslims and non-Iranians to Zahedan was due to the formation of the customs office, the connection of the railroad of India to Dozdab and also because of economic goals. The economic opportunities in Zahedan were more or less rooted in the economic and commercial policies in India which had direct effect on the economic development of Zehedan. The Indian immigrants, especially the Siks, achieved substantial profit by taking advantage of these policies and in some cases they caused local merchandisers to be deprived form such profits. Following the changes in the economic policies of India, which were mainly due to religious and political conflicts, the status of immigration completely changed and with the reduction of economic opportunities in Zahedan, the customs of this city which was developing became stagnant.