[11] In British English usage, especially in less formal contexts, the term "Asian" usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent or South Asia, contrary to other Anglosphere countries such as Australia, Canada, Latin America, and the United States, where the term "Asian" usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to the East, South, North and Southeast Asia.

Immigration of small numbers of South Asians to England began with the arrival of the East India Company to the Indian subcontinent, and the decline of the Mughal Empire, at the end of the 16th century.

The most significant wave of Asian immigration to and settlement in the United Kingdom came following the Second World War with the resumed control of Hong Kong, the breakup of the British Empire and the independence of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and later Bangladesh, especially during the 1950s and 1960s.

An influx of Asian immigrants also took place following the expulsion or flight of Indian communities (then holders of British passports) from the newly-independent Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in the early 1970s.

[15] As approximately defined concepts, sometimes due to varying geographical regionalisation of the Asian continent, the subgroups are often utilized in broad ethnic or cultural classification.

[22] In alphabetical order, some of these subgroups are: Terms to describe British people with Asian heritage are varied and are subject to gradual change created by study in academia, reporting in journalistic works, coverage in other media forms, as well as concepts of self-identity and personhood.

[35][36] In 1999, Alibhai-Brown published an Institute for Public Policy Research report,[37] advising various departments of the Government of the United Kingdom to use the term Asian Briton.

[2] The ten local authorities with the largest proportion of people who identified as Asian were: Redbridge (47.33%), Slough (46.75%), Harrow (45.23%), Tower Hamlets (44.43%), Leicester (43.40%), Newham (42.21%), Luton (36.99%), Hounslow (36.73%), Blackburn with Darwen (35.66%) and Hillingdon (33.32%).

Based on 2011 census figures for England and Wales (94.7 percent of UK statistics), Muslims account for 43% of the group, while Hindus make up over 18%, and Christians almost 11%.

British Gujaratis are predominantly Hindu, belonging to various caste organizations, with large minorities of Muslims, Jains, and smaller numbers of Christians and Zoroastrians.

[91] The first educated South Asian to travel to Europe and live in Britain was I'tisam-ud-Din, a Bengali Muslim cleric, munshi and diplomat to the Mughal Empire who arrived in 1765 with his servant Muhammad Muqim during the reign of King George III.

[102] Following the Second World War and the breakup of the British Empire, South Asian migration to the UK increased through the 1950s and 1960s from Pakistan (including present-day Bangladesh), India and Sri Lanka (who are all members of the Commonwealth).

Although this immigration was continuous, several distinct phases can be identified: Bengali social reformer and founder of the All-India Seamen's Federation, Aftab Ali's work is recognised to have helped thousands of Asian lascars to migrate, settle and find employment in Britain.

Many such displaced people who were predominantly of Gujarati origins had left behind successful businesses and vast commercial empires in Uganda, but built up their lives all over again in Britain, starting from scratch.

[111] Art Malik had notable roles in The Jewel in the Crown and The Living Daylights, and Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji) is one of Britain's most acclaimed and well-known performers.

[113] Parminder Nagra, who played a prominent role in the US TV series ER, starred in successful British film Bend It Like Beckham (2002).

[125] Well-known South Asian writers include Muhammad Mojlum Khan, Abdur Rouf Choudhury, Aminul Hoque, Shahida Rahman, H.S.

Bhabra, Salman Rushdie, Ghulam Murshid, Tahir Shah, Gurinder Chadha, Nazrin Choudhury, Rekha Waheed, Hanif Kureishi, Monica Ali, Meera Syal, Gautam Malkani, Bali Rai and Raman Mundair.

The first South Asian musician to gain wide popularity in the UK and worldwide fame was Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar, East Africa, to parents of Parsi descent from Bombay (now Mumbai).

British Bangladeshi YouTuber-turned-rapper Koomz is best known for his breakthrough single "Mariah" which has hit over 10 million streams and views across many platforms and also Number 1 in the Official Asian Music Chart of 2018.

[140][141][142] Aston Villa defender, Neil Taylor and Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury are the first players of Bengali descent to play in the Premier League.

[citation needed] Amir Khan, born in Bolton, won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and went on to become a world light-welterweight boxing champion.

In 2008, in the second series of reality television Britain's Got Talent, one of the country's most successful reality television shows, the South Asian dance duo Signature, consisting of Suleman Mirza (a British Pakistani) and Madhu Singh (a British Indian) performing a fusion of Michael Jackson and Bhangra music and dance styles, came second on the show.

Humza Arshad and Ali Shahalom are well known British Asian comedians for their YouTube careers which normally consists of stereotyping Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Muslim culture.

Part of the top ten since 2018, property magnate, and London-resident, Samuel Tak Lee is of East Asian descent and born in British Hong Kong.

These organisations and ceremonies include: British Asians from a wide range of backgrounds have faced discrimination and racism since the second half of the twentieth century.

Following Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech, and the establishment of the National Front in the late 1960s, the South Asian community in particular faced racial discrimination.

ITV News has reported: "For many in the Asian Community the fear of stigma or rejection from family leads them to hide their true self and in extreme cases turn to alcoholism, drugs and even suicide".

In 2014, Nazim Mahmood, a British Asian medical doctor working in Harley Street, committed suicide after being advised to "seek a cure" for his sexuality by his parents.

[189] The broadcaster also reported how a ComRes survey showed that Asian British people, of all ages, appeared to hold "more socially conservative views on gay relationships".