ABSTRACT
Early Sikh migrants remitted a high proportion of their earnings to support their families left behind. Most had intended to return to Punjab and dreamt of a comfortable family life. As many shared a peasant background, owning land in their ancestral villages was considered "real wealth". Reflecting this, considerable amounts of overseas remittances went to augment family farms by buying more land in the home village, sometimes in nearby villages or even in other districts and states. From the 1960s, farm prices in Doaba villages rose sharply due to this factor. Sikhs with nonfarming backgrounds invested in new houses and urban properties besides maintaining considerable savings in the banks. Many village and town banks had large savings accounts deposited by overseas Sikhs. These remittances have enriched the rural economy of the Punjab, resulting in the establishment of factories, warehouses, machine workshops and transport companies in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and other towns. The impact of Sikh visitors, increasing in volume after a lull due to violent conditions has benefited the Punjabi economy in general.2 While a few Sikhs have built houses for retirement, many others have invested in various businesses.
