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Military History Companion:

Amritsar massacre

On 10 April 1919 in Amritsar, the holy city of the Sikhs (see Sikh wars), rioting broke out following the arrest of nationalist leaders by British authorities. Some Europeans were killed, British women attacked, and British commercial interests burned. On 13 April, 20, 000 protesters crammed into the Jallianwala Bagh, an enclosed square. The local British commander, Brig Gen Reginald Dyer, arrived with a company of troops. He gave the order to open fire. In a matter of minutes, 1, 650 bullets were fired into the crowd, killing 397, including women and children, and wounding 1, 500. In 1920, an official inquiry condemned the massacre and Dyer was forced to retire. He nevertheless enjoyed some public support in Britain and remained convinced that he had carried out his duty, arguing that he had neither panicked nor overreacted, but taken deliberately firm action to suppress a potentially explosive situation.

— Paul Cornish

 
 
British History: Amritsar massacre

Amritsar massacre, 1919. On 13 April 1919 at Jallianwalla Bagh in Amritsar, General R. E. H. Dyer ordered his soldiers to fire on a protesting though unarmed crowd, killing 400 people. The massacre became a symbol of British oppression. Mahatma Gandhi led nation-wide demonstrations, which brought him to leadership of the Indian national movement.

 
 

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Military History Companion. The Oxford Companion to Military History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
British History. A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more

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