[1] Local Indonesian-Sikh folklore claims Guru Nanak visited the island of Sumatra during his Udasis (travels), yet there is no evidence to support this myth.

[4] A record dated to 1828 from the Hakka Chinese state, the Langfang Republic, located in western Borneo, contains an account of "two turbanned and black-bearded Indians", named Nancha Singh and Mika Singh, who were Sikh advisors to the state's army leader about the prospect of recruiting men from India to combat the encroaching Dutch colonists.

[2][3] The early Sikh settlers to Sumatra arrived via the Malayan post of Penang, with a minority possibly coming from the Andaman Islands.

[4] According to academics K. S. Sandhu and A. Mani, the early Sikh migrants to Sumatra consisted of unmarried men who worked for six to seven years before returning to the Punjab to get married.

[4] The early Sikhs who settled in northern Sumatra in the late 19th century originated from the Jalandhar and Amritsar areas of the Majha and Doaba regions of the Punjab.

[2] Sumatran Sikhs of the time also were engaged in the dairy, security, and taxi industries, later branching out to business, trading, sports equipment manufacturing, and textile sectors later-on.

[4] By the late 19th century, a Medan branch of the De Javasche Bank was established, with Sikhs working as security guards at it.

[2] However, some of these Sikhs began sympathizing with the local Indonesians and switched their allegiance to the native rebels and engaged in anti-colonial activities such as taking over Dutch ships.

[4] The British authorities, whilst admitting this had been going on for some years, decried this increasing trend as of late and wished to bring an end to it.

[2] With increased demand for sports equipment, many Sikh migrants from Sumatra were drawn to settle in Batavia to work as labourers.

[2] Around the end of the First World War in 1918, many Sikhs established textile shops, with their garments being sourced from Sindhi firms.

[4] In Medan, the Sikh settlers replicated the lifestyles they had back in their Punjabi homeland, with characteristic animal husbandry (cattle rearing and dairy farming) and by being family-orientated.

[6] In Medan, many Sikhs resided in the Kampung Keling area early-on but eventually began to move to more affluent neighbourhoods of the city.

[2] The Khalsa School did not only have Sikh pupils, many native Sumatran children attended it as their families hoped they could become proficient in the English-language as a result.

[4] A source from 1930 describes how Sikh women also arrived in considerable numbers and makes an observation of them donning nose rings and distinctive clothing.

[6] During World War 2, the Sikh community of Sumatra did not flee the island and were joined by the Indian National Army (INA), which was propped-up by the Japanese.

[8] After the war, general Mohan Singh, a prominent figure of the INA, was interned for several months on either Selat Panjang or Bengkalis off the coast of Sumatra.

[2][6] As a result of their uncertainty, local Sikhs began to shift to the Dutch enclave of Pasar Baru in Jakarta for their security.

[2] During the Indonesian National Revolution, many Sikh soldiers protected Dutch civilians from being lynched by native mobs.

[6] After the Dutch transferred sovereignty to the United States of Indonesia, the vast majority of local Sikhs decided to remain in the archipelago.

[4] Between 25 and 27 January 2010, the World Sikh Council – America Region (WSC-AR) participated in US-Indonesia bilateral interfaith conference in Jakarta sponsored by the governments of both countries.

[7] The Indian Consulate located in Medan coordinates with the local Sikh temples to commemorate religious events, such as the 550th Guru Nanak Gurpurab celebrations at the GPC Khalsa Gurudwara in November 2019.