According to the 1931 census, of the 3,475 Indians in Hong Kong, 1,270 were in the army; 398 in the police force; 127 in the civil service; 1,294 in trade and commerce; 108 were professionals, and 34 worked as domestic or personal servants with Indian families. The remainder worked as guards, watchmen and lay priests.

In the early 1870s, the police force comprised Punjabi, Sikh and Mus-lim constables as well as British officers. Chinese constables were recruited several decades later.

In the first 100 years of the colony, Indians were mostly employed in the civil service in the police and prison services, with a few others working as engineers with the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corpo-ration, doctors, teachers, tele-graphists, etc.

Most Indian merchants and tra-ders who did business with China and later settled in Hong Kong came from Bombay and nearby towns on the west coast of India. The majority of these merchants were Parsees. In the 1860s, there were 17 Parsee-owned firms listed in the Hong Kong Directory. Parsees are followers of Zoroastri-anism.

The first Indian firm to open an office in Hong Kong was Cawasjee Pallanjee & Co, a subsidiary of a Bombay-based trading house, Cursetjee Bomanjee & Co. The subsidiary was set up by Cawasjee Pallanjee in Canton in 1794, and the firm moved to Hong Kong in 1841. When he died in 1842, his business was carried on by one of his sons, Pestonjee Cawasjee. Opium, spices and silk were the firm's traditional business.

The firm Mody and Paul Chater was Hong Kong's first and largest firm to deal in stock exchange and share brokerage. Sir Catchick Paul Chater was an Armenian businessman. He also co-founded Hong- kong Land with James Johnstone Keswick. Chater Road was named in his honour. The senior partner of the firm, Sir Hormusjee Nawrotjee Mody, came to Hong Kong in 1861 to enter the service of an Indian banker and opium trader called S. A. Seth. He later set up his own opium business and then switched to other business. In 1889 he built the Prince's Building and Queen's Building (now the Mandarin Oriental) in Central.

Sir Hormusjee Nawrotjee Mody was also a prime mover in the setting up of the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He responded to a proposal in the @M4China Mail@M0 in 1905. Two years later he wrote to the Governor, Frederick Lugard, offering to erect the buildings for HK$150,000 and to give an additional HK$30,000 towards an endowment fund. The proposal set off discussions at various stages and Mody set a deadline for the project since he wished to see it come to fruition. The Butterfield and Swire Group of companies donated A40,000 and the Viceroy of Canton committed HK$200,000. The money was raised and the university built by the end of 1911.

Hong Kong's first bank, which opened its doors in 1845, was a branch of a Calcutta (now Kolkata) bank - the Oriental Bank. The bank issued the first local bank notes payable in dollars to its Hong Kong branch. Notes in seven denominations from HK$5 to HK$1,000 were circulated, and by the end of 1856 the Oriental Bank had almost HK$250,000 worth of notes in use. It was not until 1857 that the Hong Kong Government accepted these as legal tender. The design on the first note, Britannia seated on an island, was replaced in 1866 with the British Royal Arms. In 1884, the Oriental Bank Corporation went into liquidation and ceased printing notes. It reopened four months later as the New Oriental Bank Corporation, but did not issue notes.

The Ruttonjee Hospital on Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, is an enduring reminder of the Ruttonjee family's philanthropic work in Hong Kong. The former naval and military hospital was known as the Ruttonjee Sanatorium until 1991, when it was renamed. The family's business also continues to this day. J. H. Ruttonjee, a Parsee, founded the family business in 1887, initially a provisions business named B M Ruttonjee & Co. The company dealt in wines and spirits and later diversified into other business.

Among Sindhi businesses that distinguished themselves is the Harilela family enterprise. The firm was founded by Naraindas Mirchandani, who set up his business in Canton and moved to Hong Kong in 1934. The business dealt in ready-made garments before moving into custom tailoring. Later, it branched out into hotels and real estate. Today it is a global enterprise.

F. T. Melwani, who came to Hong Kong in the early 1930s and set up a retail store on Queen's Road, founded the Hindu Association in 1945 and the Hindu temple in Happy Valley.

Well-known Sindhi businessman K. Sital, who chaired the Indian Chamber of Commerce in 1970, '71, '73, '79, '81 and '82 has made a major contribution to the social aspects of the Indian community. He is president of the Hindu Association, which manages the Hindu Temple in Happy Valley, and chairman of the Hindu Commu-nity Trust of Hong Kong. He also heads the Council of Hong Kong Indian Associations.

Sources: The Overseas Indian Community in Hong Kong by Professor K. N. Vaid, University of Hong Kong, and SCMP archives