The British Period
During the British rule between year 1859 to 1884, Amritsar was made the headquarters of district Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Sialkot (present day Sialkot is in Pakistan). But at the same time, in regards to governmental and administration position, Amritsar lost its importance as compared to Lahore which was made the capital of the Punjab province under the British rule.
Taking some quick steps, Britishers removed the fortifications of Amritsar. The citadels of Gobindgarh fort and the wall close to the Lahori gate were demolished. The entire double wall of the city was demolished and only a few feet thick wall was constructed in its place. The citadel of the Ram Bagh gate was also removed and only the inner gate stood as a fine piece of architecture.
The other gates were either demolished or reconstructed with outer trench being used for drainage and a circular road was constructed along the new wall. The walls of Ram Bagh palace were also demolished and the main palace with other garden houses was used by the Britishers for residential and official purposes. With time, British rulers built new houses and offices for the increased staff that came in from England.
Even after all the changes happening around, Amritsar remained as the holiest city of the Sikhs and the most important commercial and industrial hub in North India. During this period, Amritsar gained immense popularity as a business centre with traders visiting from Nepal, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Persia and many other parts of India. It became a textile hub with almost 4000 looms involved in the manufacturing of different kind of shawls.
A much attention was given to the education at the times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh which was carried over by the Britishers in Amritsar. A lot of new schools were opened along with the District School in 1851 which was the first English school. Later Christian missionaries opened many schools and other institutions in the city like St. Paul’s Church on the Court Road, the Church Mission Society outside the Ram Bagh Gate and Church Mission House near Mahan Singh gate which was the headquarters of the Society. The Church Missionary Society also established the Alexandra School for girls in 1877.
The Town Hall building was completed in 1870 and the Government School next to it in 1873. Britishers opened Victoria Hospital in 1891 and a Civil Hospital outside the Ram Bagh gate which was later shifted to the new building. During this time, some people started building houses outside the walled city as well. A need for Railway Station was also felt which was constructed in 1862 and the fully functional District Courts and the Treasury in 1876.
With the growth of population, trade and industry also grew at a rapid speed in the city. In 1873, Hall gate was constructed to connect the Town Hall with the Railway Station and the Civil Lines area. On both sides of this road, shops were opened by traders and businessmen to fulfil the needs of the European and affluent residents of the city. Today this bazar is popularly known as Hall Bazar which is adjoining to the shopping cum residential areas of Katra Sher Singh and Chowk Farid.
The area of the Ahluwalias was developed in 1889 and the Ghee Mandi area developed inside the Daburji Gate. Chitta Katra or Katra Sufaid was developed on the site of the Bhangi fort. Multi storeyed buildings were constructed inside the walled city to accommodate the growing population. Immigrants kept coming from the areas of Hoshiarpur, Guradspur and Sialkot which made city more populated.
By the beginning of the 20th century, new colonies like Bagh Ramanand, Dhab Khatikan, and Shakti Nagar were developed within the walled city. At the same time, more and more people started living outside the walled city which was called as Civil Lines. In 1920’s and 1930’s a number of houses and palatial bunglows were built on Maqbool Road, Mall Road, Lawrance Road, Dayanand Nagar, Braham Nagar, Green Avenue, Model Town and Rani Ka Bagh areas. Along with residential areas, equal importance was given to the industries which developed in Batala Road, Islamabad and Putlighar areas.
Britishers wanted to increase national and international trade from Amritsar for which they constructed a network of roads and railway lines to connect the city with other central business hubs. Amritsar was connected by rail with cities like Pathankot, Delhi, Mumbai (then Bombay), Kolkata (then Calcutta), Lahore, Karachi, Multan and Peshawar (all four latter cities now in Pakistan). With time, means of communication like Postal, Telephone and Telegraph were developed which strengthened national and international trade and business.
Amritsar had one of the leading grain markets in India and exported huge quantities of rice, wheat, gram and oil seeds to other parts of the country. Wheat turned out to be the best business and was in huge demand so traders started purchasing wheat from Ludhiana, Lahore, Gurdaspur, Sialkot, Lyallpur and other cities and supplied to other parts of India and overseas. A few flour mills also came up which purchased wheat from Amritsar and sold flour. Amritsar also had a monopoly in the business of tea which even today is a big trade in the city. Tea was imported from Assam, Darjelling, Kangra, and Dehradun and then processed, blended and exported to other places.
In the late 1930’s, Amritsar became the leading business market of Punjab. Demands were pouring in from all over India and overseas market. It also became the main market of European and Indian goods like carpets, canvas, table cloths and bed sheets. Amritsar traders imported goods from Europe and exported them to Afghanistan and Central Asia and also to other parts of India. After the Second World War, goods industry flourished more and according to a report, Amritsar did crores of business in this industry. The city also got famous as a big market of horse trade.
A successfully running distillery near Mahan Singh gate was moved to Khasa because of the growth in demand and labour. In 1940’s, more iron foundaries were set up which manufactured iron rods, machine tools and steel products. As a central hub of trade, Amritsar was already exporting pashmina shawls, copper and brass utensils, chemicals, silk cloth, leather products and steel. Most of the goods exported were manufactured in the city itself. Amritsar became such an important and growing commercial hub of North India that all business transactions were being carried from the city.
During this period, Amritsar saw immense physical, commercial and industrial growth. British government was also concerned about the socio cultural and political developments of the city so they established municipal committee which had officials and some members. The committee looked after the public works and health department, sanitation, safety, medical facilities and education of the residents.
Apart from commerce and business, Amritsar did very well in the field of education as well. Premier institutions like Khalsa College and Hindu College were established in those days. Also, foremost Sikh organizations like SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee) and Chief Khalsa Diwan came into existence in the second decade of 20th century and were more concerned with educational, religious and cultural development of the Sikh community and the responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of the Gurdwaras and shrines.
Along with academic education, Amritsar became the centre of Punjabi prose and poetry and became a home to early Punjabi poetry and literature on Sikhism. Bhai Vir Singh, born in Amritsar in 1872 was the most famous poet, writer, scholar and novelist who worked extensively in the modern Punjabi literature and adopted Punjabi language as its main medium. There were many other literary personalities like Giani Harinder Singh Roop, Bhai Mohan Singh Vaid, Nanak Singh, Charan Singh Shaheed, Gurbax Singh Preetlari, Master Tara Singh and Dhani Ram Chatrik who made a huge contribution to the Punjabi literature.
At the same time when Punjabi literature was being acknowledged, Urdu literature also flourished in Amritsar. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the famous Urdu poets of those times was teaching English in Islamia College in Amritsar. Another prominent writer in Urdu, Saadat Hasan Manto was also a resident of Amritsar. The city also had a good name in the art of painting since Maharaj Ranjit Singh’s days. Painting flourished as an art in the 20th century in terms of expression and technique. Thakur Singh was considered as the father of modern art of painting who made a huge comtribution to the art and today the city has an Art Gallery after his name, Thakur Singh Art Gallery.
Then there was a time when a new wave was blowing throughout India against the British rule and as expected Punjab was one of the major contributors in this fight. Amritsar became a centre of revolutionary activities in the year 1918 when Punjab Provincial Congress held its meetings in Amritsar. Eminent leaders like Ajit Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Rash Bihari Bose, Dr.Satya Pal and Dr.Saifuddin Kitchlu were involved in the political activities.
On a call by Mahatma Gandhi, Amritsar observed a peaceful and successful strike against Rowlatt Act on 6th April, 1919. On 10th April, the governor of the Punjab, Michael Francis O'Dwyer, moved two leaders Dr. Saif-ud-din Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal from Amritsar to another location. This enraged the public and a huge crowd gathered to hold protest against the Britishers. The crowd was stopped and fired upon by the British forces which killed and injured several people. A group of angry mob attacked and damaged the government offices, buildings and banks. During one such attack, the mob got hold of Marcella Sherwood, an English missionary in a narrow street. She was badly beaten and injured but was rescued by another group of locals who took her to a safe place.
On the morning of 13th April, 1919, General Dyer passed an order to ban all kind of gatherings and pubic meetings in Amritsar but a huge number of people from far and near villages had already come to the city to celebrate the festival of Baisakhi. Local leaders asked people to assemble in the Jallianwala Bagh in the evening for a peaceful protest and meeting. Thousands of pilgrims including men, women, elderly people, children visiting Sri Harmandar Sahib and the Baisakhi festival gathered at the Jalianwala Bagh. General Dyer with a group of his 50 rifle men and two armoured vehicles with machine guns mounted on them reached Jallianwala Bagh at around 5:30pm. However, the armoured vehicles could not enter the Bagh because of the narrow lanes.
The Bagh was surrounded by houses and buildings on all sides and had only narrow entrances with all of them being locked. Dyer and his men guarded the main entrance and started firing at the public without giving any warning or a chance to the crowd to disperse. People tried to climb high walls and locked gates but were only shot on their backs and killed. Many people died of crushing in the stampedes while escaping from the bullets and many died saving themselves by jumping into the well built on the Bagh. (Later on, 120 bodies were removed from the well itself). The firing continued for several minutes on the unarmed people and was stopped only when the ammunition finished. Thousands of innocent men, women, elderly people and children were killed and an equal number of people were wounded.
This cold blooded massacre of innocent people by the Britishers laid a huge effect on the people of Punjab and the entire country. The incident strengthened the political struggle and in December, 1919, Indian National Congress held the annual session in Amritsar which was attended by many national leaders and thousands of people. A motion was passed in the session to push upon the British Govenment about the need of establishing fully responsible government in India on the principle of self determination.
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre changed the Singh Sabha politics into Akali politics. In November 1920, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) took control of all the Gurdwaras and shrines in a very peaceful manner. The keys of toshakhana (treasury) of Sri Harmandir Sahib were handed over to SGPC by the British government in February, 1922. The Sikh Gurdwara Act was passed in 1925. All the Gurdwaras and shrines came under the management of the SGPC.
The political leaders of the city continued to participate in the national politics. A branch of the All India Trade Union Congress was opened in the city in 1936. The people of Amritsar were in the forefront during the Quit India Movement but the thought of partition damaged communal harmony all over the country including Amritsar. It witnessed loot, destruction and disaster everywhere in Punjab especially border cities.
The division of India was carried out as per “Mountbatten Plan”. On 3rd June, 1947, Mountbatten announced the plan and the date of independence at a press conference. The plan mentioned in detail that Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in Punjab and Bengal legislative assemblies would meet and vote for Partition. If a simple majority of either group wanted partition, then these provinces would be divided. The provinces of Sind and Balochistan had a choice to decide which country they wanted to join. The future of the Northwest Frontier Province and Sylhet district of Assam was to be decided by a referendum. The plan also mentioned that India would be independent by 15th August, 1947 and a boundary commission would be set up to draw up the borders. Leaders from the Congress and League accepted the plan and that the dominion of Pakistan and India would come into existence on the midnight of 14th and 15th August.
On 8th July, 1947, Cyril Radcliffe, a lawyer from England arrived in India. With no previous knowledge or experience with geopolitics, he was asked to work on the borderline in five weeks. A border commission was formed for this task which was headed by Radcliffe as a chairman. He met Lord Mountbatten and travelled to Kolkata and Lahore to meet other members of the border commission including Jawaharlal Nehru from the Indian National Congress and Muhammad Ali Jinnah from the Muslim League. The demarcating line, the international boundary today between India and Pakistan on the western side and between India and Bangladesh on the eastern side was named after Radcliffe as “Radcliffe Line”. Radcliffe was asked to complete the demarcation by 15th August but for some reasons, the final declaration was made on 17th August.
Dividing the country on the basis of religious majority was a tough task and a fair decision had to be made while drawing a boundary. It was not only the division of the people but the also the roadways, railway lines, power systems, telephone, postal and telegraph services, irrigation schemes and individual landholdings. The intention was to minimize the separation of farmers from their fields and also reduce the number of people who would migrate to the either side. Since there was no concensus between the leaders of the Congress and League so the final decision was to be taken by Radcliffe.
On 15th August, 1947, the Indian subcontinent got freedom from the clutches of British but was divided into two parts - India and Pakistan. During the partition, a large number of Sikhs and Hindus moved from Pakistan to India and many Muslims shifted from India to Pakistan. During this shifting of large populations, communal riots were ignited and brutal heinous crimes were executed on both the sides and people were slaughtered like animals. The partition saw more than a million deaths and about 12 million people were displaced. Millions of Punjabi Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims who have lived with peace and harmony all these years were facing each other with hatred. A terrible massacre was seen on both sides of the border. Trains and convoys exchanging the refugees were attacked and people were killed until the bogies and roads were clogged with crushed people. The world history has never seen such a big exchange of population with so much bloodshed. The British authorities did nothing to control the situation but played a mute role and watched the killings.
After the partition of India in 1947, the situation changed as the city which dominated and held a central position was now a town just 28 kms away from the international border. Amritsar bore the maximum loss because of partition as a big part of the city was burnt down due to riots. The partition left a deep scar on Amritsar but the city started getting reformed with time. The border tried to slow down its progress as it had to face wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971 which affected the growth of the city.
Amritsar is always known as a city of martyrdom and patriotism because of the supreme sacrifices of Shaheeds like Sri Guru Arjan Dev Sahib, Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib, Baba Deep Singh ji and Bhai Mani Singh ji. It is a city of patriots like Darshan Singh Pheruman, Madan Lal Dhingra, Master Tara Singh, Dr. Satyapal, Dr. Saif-ud-din Kitchlu, Shaheed Udham Singh and thousands of un-named patriots who laid down their life in the fight for freedom.
When ever Amritsar came back to the life of normalcy, something pulled it back to the black days. The city along with entire Punjab saw a politically motivated period of extreme terrorism through 1980’s and 1990’s when thousands of innocent people were killed. During this period there was a huge setback to the business, industry, trade and commerce and the city suffered huge financial losses.
Since then nothing has stood in the way of its growth as Amritsar has developed significantly in every field. It has maintained its importance in the field of business, trade, commerce and industry and also in the field of art and literature. Amritsar also made a great progress in the field of education with the existence of large number of schools and colleges and its very own Guru Nanak Dev University established on 24th November, 1969, named after the first Sikh Guru.