Expansion of Amritsar

In 1830, a central walled city was planned which had twelve gates in all the directions of the city. The thick outer wall encircled by a wide and deep trench was made of unbaked bricks. The inner wall was also encircled by a trench but was thinner and made of baked bricks. Twelve gates with bridges on the trench controlled all the entrance and exit with a number of soldiers posted at each gate. Back then, people used to live only inside the gates. All the twelve gates are interconnected with each other and one can enter from one gate and leave from another. All of these gates lead way to Sri Harmandir Sahib.

Today these gates are popularly known as Hathi gate, Lohgarh gate, Lahori gate, Khazana gate, Hakiman gate, Bhagtanwala gate, Gilwali gate, Chattiwind gate, Sultanwind gate, Ram Bagh gate, Ghee Mandi gate and Mahan Singh gate. Later, British government built another gate and named it as Hall gate after the name of Mr. C. H. Hall, the then Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar. A special care was given to Ram Bagh gate which was skillfully designed by the architects from Delhi. Both inner and outer doors were connected to each other by a strong citadel. It faced to Ram Bagh palace and was an entrance to the city with trees on both sides of the road connecting the palace with the gate.

Palatial havelis and garden houses came up in and around Amritsar. More people started coming in to reside which resulted into the existence of new “Katras” and markets. Some of the famous “Katras” are Katra Karam Singh, Katra Jaimal Singh, Katra Sher Singh, Katra Baghian, Katra Ahluwalia, Katra Sant Singh and Katra Dal Singh. Similarly, new bazaars or markets came up and got famous all over the city. Some of them are Bazar Mai Sevan, Guru Bazar, Namak Mandi, Atta Mandi, Ghee Mandi, Swank Mandi, Majith Mandi, Misri Bazar, Papranwala Bazar and Tokrianwala Bazar.

The growing popularity of Amritsar attracted business men from Lahore and other cities and they migrated here. With the encouragement of Maharaja, Amritsar became a centre of trade where international business was done. Shawls, Grain, Ginger, clothes made of Silk and Wool were exported to Afghanistan and Central Asia and in return, Carpets, Gold, Raw Silk and Horses were imported.

Textiles became one of the most important industries of Amritsar. Many Kashmiri’s migrated to Amritsar who were expert in manufacturing Shawls like Pashmina. They started importing good quality of wool from Tibet and Ladakh and the number of manufacturing units rose in the early 1830’s. Amritsar was known as the home of Kashmiri shawls, especially Pashmina. At one time, Amritsar became the biggest processing centre in Pashmina goods in Punjab. Later traders started importing Silk yarn into Amritsar which was dyed and woven in the city. The dyers and weavers had their own areas and thousands of people were employed in the manufacturing and trade of Silk goods. Among others, largely manufactured cloth products were “Khes”, “Crude” and “Susi”.

Apart from textile, other businesses also flourished in the city. Utensils and other products made of Brass, Copper and Bell-Metal ware were manufactured and sold. Work in Gold and Silver was done in the famous market called Guru Bazar which is well known all over the world for Gold and Silver jewellery even today. Eatables like pappad, wadiyan, achaar and murabbas were also made here.

The city also did extremely well in Ivory work and Wood carving. One of the best Ivory works can be seen on the Darshani Deori doors of Sri Harmandir Sahib. Even today, beautiful wood work can be seen on some of the doors, window panels, railings, ceilings of the old houses in the walled city. Apart from these, there were other industries like carpet manufacturing, oil mining, rice and flour mills, soap industry, manufacturing of leather goods, etc.

The population of Amritsar increased much more than that of Lahore. Almost hundred thousand people from different religions settled here with most of them being Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. A large number of Gurdwaras alongwith Mandirs and Masjids were built all around the city during the Sikh rule. A lot of bungas and dharamshalas were also built to accomodate pilgrims and tourists. A special attention was given to education and around twenty schools were opened to educate children. Some Akharas, Gurmukhi schools, Pathshalas, Maktabs and Madrasas were also opened to impart elementary and religious education to the children from different backgrounds. Along with arithmetic and account keeping, they were also taught Arabic and Persian.

During this period, many Europeans visited Amritsar as tourists and some of them visited for diplomatic and political reasons. Lord Auckland, the Governor General of British India also visited Amritsar and Sri Harmandir Sahib with his family. They met few of the Sikh dignitaries of Amritsar and were impressed with their personalities having strong build up, flowing beards and big turbans. Visitors found the architecture and the structure of the city to be a combination of different cultures whereas Sri Harmandir Sahib for them was unique in its own way as a Sikh culture. They could not turn their eyes away from the beautiful gardens and forts built in the walled city and once the twelve gates were closed it looked like a fortress to them. Amritsar presented the scene of a majestic and pictorial city with the spiritual feel to the Britishers.

On 27th June, 1839, Maharaja Ranjit Singh died due to severe illness after the rule of 40 years. The Samadhi of Maharaja (tomb) was built near the Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. The building is a master piece of Sikh architecture with domes covered with gold and well designed flamboyant banister round the top. Maharaja’s ashes are contained in a marble vase in the shape of a lotus, protected under a marble porch made of nicely cut and polished colored stones in the centre of the tomb.

After Maharaja’s death, there were internal clashes, differences, breakdown and mismanagement that weakened the Sikh empire. There were conflicts between rival Princes, Generals, Ministers and Queens. The Britishers didn’t let go this opportunity and used it to ignite the first war between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company in 1845. Sikh army proved to be much larger and stronger, equipped with better artillery than the Britishers who were marshalling their forces from other places.

Sikh army was in a commanding position but still had to withdraw their forces because of the treachery of a high command Lal Singh and some of the non-Sikh elements in the force who underhand negotiated with the Britishers for their personal gains. Thereafter, there was a series of wars between the Sikhs and the Brithshers which resulted into a broken Sikh empire. By the end of 1849, separate princely states and the British Punjab Province came into being which were granted statehood.