Sikhs in Argentina: Bibiana Jasbe Singh Kaur

Born in Argentina, Bibiana straddles two identities. Though her Sikh ancestors forbade beef, she acknowledges that at social events and in local culture, beef is everywhere. She says:

“It’s impossible to keep a distance. We eat beef. Not at home. But at birthdays, parties, there are only steaks.” sikhiwiki.org

Born to Punjabi Sikh parents who arrived in the 1970s, Bibiana grew up amid the scent of empanadas (gujiya/samosa ) and the distant low of cattle herds—a far cry from the mustard fields of Punjab. She savors the forbidden: tender slices of beef grilled over open flames, a ritual as sacred here as langar is back home. “It’s not rebellion,” she laughs, her dupatta fluttering like a flag of compromise. “It’s survival. My ancestors would faint at the sight, but in this land of gauchos ( nomadic horsemen of Argentina) , you don’t say no to a parrillada (barbecue ).” Yet, when the call of the Gurdwara echoes—its simple white walls rising humbly from the edge of town—she sheds that outer skin. There, in the cool shadow of the Guru Granth Sahib, Bibiana is pure vegetarian, sharing plates of dal and roti with a community that numbers just a few dozen. “The Gurdwara is my anchor,” she says. “It’s where I remember who I am, even if the rest of the week tastes like Argentina. sikhnet.com

Her Spanish accent is detectable; Punjabi is limited at home. She lives as an Argentine but keeps the Sikh identity alive in small, symbolic ways. Her story illustrates the everyday balancing act of identity in a small diaspora. newsgram.com

She left an arranged marriage to a Sikh for her Catholic Argentine current husband, with whom she owns and runs the two main supermarkets in Rosario de la Frontera. She has two sons, one from each union. The eldest, 10 years old, proudly embraces Sikh customs and wants to visit India. But Spanish is spoken at home, leaving the children with only limited Punjabi.

Indian Sikhs seize onto culture in remote Argentina: Bibiana Jasbe Singh Kaur

Kanwal Jeet Singh & his son Facundo — turbans, delivery jobs, and identity

Kanwal Jeet Singh migrated from India decades ago and is active in keeping the Gurdwara alive. He sometimes covers his turban with a cap when moving outside to avoid attention. His son Facundo attends a military high school and wears the uniform. In public, the young generation often tries to blend in. 

Yet at the Gurdwara, Kanwal Singh continues to wear his turban with pride, officiate prayers, and keep rituals alive. His life is a testimony to the tension between religious visibility and social acceptance. sikhglobalvillage.com

The only Gurdwara in all of South America is located in Rosario de la Frontera, Salta province.  On Sundays and important festivals, members from various parts gather there for prayer, langar, and community.

Religious life is kept alive, though modestly. The Gurdwara is an emblem of the community’s roots even as many members become integrated into Argentine life. SikhiWiki Because there are relatively few Sikh families, and because many have married non-Sikhs (especially Catholics), maintaining Punjabi language, customs, and religious identity is challenging

Simmarpal Singh — the “Peanut Prince of Argentina”

The Gurdwara in Argentina. Sikhs first arrived in Argentina in the early 19th century to work on British railways, followed by others in the 1970s.
The Gurdwara in Argentina ,built in 1988, is located in the northern town of Rosario de la Frontera, Salta province, and is the only Sikh temple in South America. Established by the small Sikh community in Argentina, it serves as a center for prayer, cultural rituals from Punjab, and vegetarian community meals.

Among the most high-profile Sikhs in modern Argentina is Simmarpal Singh, sometimes called the “Peanut Prince.” sikhiwiki.org,

Arriving in 2005 on behalf of Olam International to procure peanuts, he eventually expanded into cultivating peanuts, soy, corn, and more. globalindian.com

Over time, he leased large tracts of farmland (10,000–17,000+ hectares) and built a reputation in Argentine agribusiness. The Economic Times+2SikhiWiki+2 He speaks fluent Spanish; his wife, Harpreet Kaur (an IIT graduate), also adapted to local life. economictimes.indiatimes.com

Simmarpal’s success shows that even in marginal diaspora communities, individuals can transcend boundaries. His work also brought attention to Argentine Sikh contributions. sdministry.org 

Simmarpal Singh: From Peanut Prince of Argentina to agribusiness leader in India
He started small, leasing 700 hectares of land to test the waters. The pilot was a success, and in just a few years, Singh had scaled up the operation to a staggering 39,000 hectares, transforming Olam into a top peanut player in the Argentina's peanut industry. He is “Peanut Prince" of Argentina

The Migration Journey: From Punjab to the Southern Cone

But how did these families, with their tales of compromise and fusion, find their way to the southern cone? The journey began not with grand designs, but with dashed dreams and iron rails stretching into the unknown. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, as the British Raj tightened its grip on Punjab, young Sikh men—farmers, soldiers, and laborers—set sail from Calcutta’s bustling docks, eyes fixed on the golden promise of North America. Canada beckoned first, with its vast prairies mirroring Punjab’s own, and by 1908, over 5,000 Punjabis had crossed the Pacific to work in British Columbia’s lumber mills. But paradise soured quickly. Anti-Asian fervor swept the continent: the 1907 Vancouver riots saw white mobs torch Sikh homes, while Canada’s 1908 “Continuous Journey” regulation barred ships that stopped en route, stranding migrants mid-ocean. The United States, too, slammed its gates with the 1917 Immigration Act’s “Asiatic Barred Zone,” excluding nearly all South Asians and denying citizenship to those already there. Undeterred, many tried the perilous overland routes, smuggling across borders or laboring in limbo, only to be deported or trapped.

This is where Argentina enters the tale, not as a Plan A, but as the unexpected harbor. Lured by British recruiters seeking hands for the Salta-Antofagasta railway— a vital link to Bolivia’s tin mines—and sugar plantations in the north, the first Sikhs arrived around 1900. By 1925, as U.S. quotas choked the northern dream, Argentina became a reluctant refuge for hundreds more, its open immigration policies a stark contrast to the barbed wire up north. These pioneers, numbering perhaps a few dozen families in the 1920s and 1930s, cleared land, herded cattle (ironically, given beef taboos), and built lives in isolation. One such story belongs to Bhagat Singh, who, after a failed border crossing from Mexico in 1915, trekked south instead, founding a Sikh enclave in Jujuy province. His descendants still whisper of the “camino largo”—the long road—that turned exiles into Argentines.

The Sikhs are spread across the provinces of Salta, Rosario de la Frontera, and other northern parts of Argentina. many marriages between Sikh men and Argentine Catholic women are common, sometimes making it difficult for children to sustain Sikh traditions.  Some younger generations no longer speak Punjabi; Spanish is their everyday language. journeys.dartmouth.edu

Sikh married to Argentine woman- Sikhs in Argentina

Comparing Paths: The Argentine Route vs. the Mexican Settlement

Parallel paths diverge and converge in the Mexican story, a mirror to Argentina’s own. Just as U.S. restrictions peaked, Sikhs turned south of the border too. In the 1910s and 1920s, hundreds settled in Baja California and northern Mexico, drawn by cotton fields and rail work, but always with an eye on the Rio Grande. Denied U.S. entry, they married local women—creating the unique “Mexipunjabi” culture of Imperial Valley, where saris mingle with sombreros and chapati tacos are a staple. By the 1920s, Mexico hosted around 1,000 Sikhs, a number that swelled to 2,500 by mid-century, their Gurdwaras in Mexicali echoing with Spanglish ardaas. Like their Argentine kin, these settlers were “failed crossovers,” but Mexico’s proximity to the dream kept the northward pull alive—many eventually slipped across, leaving behind hybrid families that bridged borders. Argentina, farther flung, forced a deeper rooting: fewer returns, more fusion. Both routes, though, were born of the same exclusion—the 1917 Act’s shadow stretching from Vancouver to Veracruz, turning transients into transplants.

Population Growth: From Humble Beginnings to Today

From those humble seeds, the community has grown modestly. In the 1930s, Sikhs in Argentina numbered under 100, scattered like wild thistles. Today, estimates hover around 300—still a whisper in a nation of 46 million, but vibrant and recognized since 2018 as an official faith. The 3HO influx in the 1970s added yogic flair, while recent Punjabi migrants—fleeing farm crises back home—bolster the ranks with tech-savvy youth. sikhglobalvillage.com

Gurdwaras and Community Anchors

Gurdwaras anchor this growth: the pioneering one in Rosario de la Frontera, built in the 1988 from donated bricks, serves as the community’s beating heart, hosting weekly langars that blend aloo gobi with local humita. A smaller one graces Buenos Aires for the urban 3HO crowd, and whispers of a third in Córdoba hint at quiet expansion. These aren’t grand like Amritsar’s Golden Temple, but in their simplicity, they echo Guru Nanak’s call: equality in every shared bite.

Conclusion: Enduring Faith in a Vast Land

As Bibiana steps out from the Gurdwara one humid evening, the call to prayer fading into cricket chirps, she pauses at the gate. A gaucho on horseback tips his hat, mistaking her for just another local. She smiles, adjusting her kara—the steel bangle that grounds her. In Argentina’s vast embrace, the Sikhs have not conquered, but they have endured, their stories a testament to a faith that travels light: adaptable as wind, unyielding as the sierras. And in the langar line tomorrow, beef will be absent, but the warmth? That’s universal.

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