Timeline of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre

The following timeline presents a chronological overview of the key events before, during, and immediately after the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre on 13 April 1919.

Date Time Notes
6 February - 21 March Rowlatt Act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council on the recommendation of the Sedition Committee, intended to extend wartime emergency powers on the basis of a perceived threat from revolutionary nationalism in India, enabling authorities to suppress political dissent by restricting or deporting influential Indian leaders.[1][2][3]
Saifuddin Kitchlew, a lawyer, and Satyapal, a physician, emerge as key leaders in Amritsar, opposing the Rowlatt Bill and anticipated Turkish peace terms, and join Gandhi's civil disobedience movement through the satyagraha vow.[4]
29 March Satyapal is issued with a Punjab Government order under the 1915 Defence of India Act prohibiting him from speaking at public meetings or leaving Amritsar.[1]
30 March Hartal and meeting led by Kitchlew at Jallianwalla Bagh passes peacefully.[4]
During the hartal in Delhi, scuffles break out.[5] Reginald Dyer, then commanding 45th (Jullundur) Brigade drives through the city.[5]
4 April Lieutenant Governor of Punjab since 1913, Sir Michael O’Dwyer, in Lahore, applies for Gandhi to be deported.[5]
Kitchlew is issued with a Punjab Government order (dated 3 April) under the Defence of India Act prohibiting him from speaking at public meetings or leaving Amritsar.[5][6]
5 April Afternoon Miles Irving, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, receives intelligence that the planned hartal for the 6th is not taking place.[7]
Late evening Hansraj and others walk through the streets of Amritsar beating a drum to announce a hartal for the following day.[7]
Irving notes feeling betrayed by the intelligence he received from the Khan Bahadurs and Rai Sahibs.[7]
6 April Indian barrister Badrul Islam Ali Khan addresses a meeting of 50,000 delegates, passing a resolution to revoke the orders issued to Kitchlew and Satyapal.[8]
Hartal passes peacefully.[7]
9 April Government of India informs O’Dwyer that Gandhi would not be deported, but his activities would be confined to Bombay.[9]
Wife of Khalsa College's Principal Gerard Wathen, Melicent Wathen, notes in her diary rumours of an imminent rebellion.[10]
O’Dwyer consults with civil surgeon Lt.-Col. Henry Smith who had come from Amritsar, about the likely impact of deporting the political leaders Kitchlew and Satyapal, and is assured that it would not provoke any disturbance.[9][11][12]
Hartal, largely organised by Satyapaal, Kitchlew, Dr. Bashir, and Hans Raj, on Ram Naumi passes peacefully.[9]
Evening Irving receives a letter from O'Dwyer ordering the removal of Kitchlew and Satyapal to the furthest end of Punjab.[9]
Irving holds a meeting at his house with Superintendent of police in Punjab, John F. Rehill, Deputy Superintendent of police, Plomer, officer commanding the military station at Amritsar, Captain J. W. Massey, and Smith.[9][11]
On his way to Amritsar, Gandhi is stopped at Palwal, prevented from entering Punjab, and ordered to return to Bombay.[9][11]
10 April 8 a.m. At the instruction of O'Dwyer, Irving summons Kitchlew and Satyapal to his residence for 10 a.m.[13]
10 a.m. Kitchlew, Hans Raj, and Jai Ram Singh arrive at Irving's house, followed shortly by Satyapal.[13] The two leaders are met by Irving, Rehill, and Assistant Commissioner Ronald B. Beckett, and are secretly arrested under the Defence of India Act 1915 while Hans Raj and Singh wait outside with the Somerset Light Infantry on guard.[13]
10.30 a.m. Rehill, drives Satyapal and Kitchlew to Dharamshala.[13][14]
Massey arranges pickets at key entry points to Amritsar's European quarters; Rego Bridge, Hall Gate Bridge, and the Hospital level crossing.[13]
11 a.m. Around half an hour after Rehill leaves Irving's house, Irving instructs Hans Raj and Singh to deliver letters from the two leaders to their families, after which they proceed to Bashir's residence.[13]
11.30 a.m. Bashir instructs Hans Raj and Singh to visit the telegraph office to inform the Press, Gandhi, and the Satygraha Committee in Bombay, before calling for a city-wide hartal, and informing the local leaders Ratto and Bugga, who gather a large unarmed procession towards Irving's house.[13]
News of the deportation spreads rapidly through the city, shops close, and crowds gather, with a large procession forming in Hall Bazaar which begins to move towards Hall Bridge.[13]
Beckett and his officers attempt to hold the civil lines as the procession advances.[14]
Mounted troops open fire, and some in the crowds pick up stones and rubble..[14]
1-5 p.m. Damage to National Bank, Alliance Bank, Town Hall.[15]
Marcella Sherwood, an English missionary with the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society, is assaulted.[16]
Lady physician to the Zenana Hospital, Mary Isobel Easdon, avoids capture by hiding in a toilet and later escapes disguised in a burkha.[16]
Captain Gerald Philip Crampton and 260 Gurkhas, en route to Peshawar, make a stop at the train station in Amritsar.[17]
8 p.m. A. J. W. Kitchin arrives at Amritsar train station from Lahore by car, accompanied by Deputy Inspector General of Provincial Police, Mr Douglas Donald.[18][19]
Irving requests reinforcements and briefs Kitchin on the day’s events, in the presence of Massey, Rehill, Donald and Plomer.[19]
Kitchin assumes charge over civil and military control.[20][21][18]
10-11 p m. 181 men of the 1/124th Baluchis and 130 men of the 2/6th Royal Sussex Regiment, commanded by Major MacDonald, pull into Amritsar train station.[22] There, Kitchin, without written orders or reference to higher authority, replaces Massey with MacDonald to be in charge of civil and military control of Amritsar and gives him permission to act as he sees fit, and martial law is assumed without proclomation.[18][22]
Midnight [22]
11 April At the request of Kitchin, M. H. L. Morgan, then based in Lahore, is selected and recruited by Sir William Beynon to take military command of Amritsar.[2][23]
O'Dwyer declines a proposal to meet with Indian leaders of the anti-Rowlett campaign.[2]
Before Morgan reaches Amritsar, Dyer arrives there, accompanied by F. C. C. Briggs.[24][25] Dyer meets Irving and takes formal command of civil and military authority.[21]
12 April Early morning Dyer marches through Amritsar with 50 troops.[26]
10 a.m. Observation by air reports a large crowd at Sultanwind Gate.[26]
Arrest of Bugga.[26]
4 p.m. Hans Raj arranges a meeting at the Hindu Sabha School, where it is announced that Lala Kanhaiya Lal will address a meeting on 13 April at Jallianwalla Bagh.[21]
13 April 9 a.m. Dyer conducts a three-hour march through Amritsar, making 19 stops to proclaim a citywide curfew, excluding the areas of the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh.[27] He is accompanied by the mounted police officers Ashraf Khan and Obadullah, followed by Malik Farid Khan and the town crier, with a large military escort and senior officers Irving, Rehill, and Plomer travelling with him in open cars, and followed by two armoured vehicles.[27] The procession sets out from the town hall, passes through Hall Bazaar and Hall Gate, follows the line of the western city wall, and concludes after several stops in the southwestern quarter of the city.[27]
1 p.m. Hans Raj sees to the completion of the sweeping of Jallianwalla Bagh, arranges the platform construction and drinking water, and is noted to confer with two CID officers.[21]
3 p.m. First speech begins.[28]
4 p.m. An aeroplane is seen flying above the Bagh.[28]
Rehill informs Dyer that a meeting at Jallianwala Bagh is taking place, with at least 1,000 people already gathered.[29][30] In addition to political speakers and holidaymakers, the crowd at the Bagh includes traders following the early closure of the annual horse and cattle fair.[31][21]
4.15/4.30 p.m. (appx.) Dyer, Briggs, Morgan, and Dyer's two bodyguards, Anderson and Pizzey, travel in the same car to Jallianwalla Bagh.[32][33] In front are the Gurkhas, following the 54th and 59th.[32] Behind Dyer is an armoured vehicle followed by a car with Plomer and Rehill in, and the second armoured vehicle at the rear.[32]
5 p.m. Durga Das Vaid, editor of Waqt speaks after eight previous speakers.[28]
Girdhari Lal takes his position on an adjacent roof, becoming a key eye witness.[34]
5.05 p.m. (appx.) On reaching the narrow entrance to Jallianwala Bagh, Dyer and his troops encounter a crowd of more than 20,000 unarmed civilians, and within about 30 seconds, without issuing a warning, he orders his men to open fire, continuing for around 10 minutes and firing approximately 1,650 rounds.[31][15]
During the Jallianwala Bagh shooting, Plomer stands just to Dyer’s left and Briggs to his right, with Anderson positioned a few paces behind and slightly to the right.[32][35]
8 p. m. Ratan Devi, an eyewitness to the aftermath, becomes confined to the Jallianwalla Bagh alongside her dead husband.[36]
10 p.m. Dyer visits his pickets accompanied by Morgan.[28][37]
Midnight Captain John T. Botting of the Royal Field Artillery and in charge of the Amritsar's permanent garrison, inspects the city and notes "their was not a soul about".[2]
14 April 3 a.m. O'Dwyer and Kitchin are in Lahore when they were awakened by Wathen's note from Irving with news of the massacre, after which Kitchin is sent back to Amritsar.[2][37][38]
Morning Three Royal Air Force aircraft, piloted by Douglas Carbery, Oddie, and Second-Lieutenant Vincent, equipped with bombs and machine guns, drop bombs on Gujranwala, aiming at people in a farm, on a village road, in a school courtyard and boarding house, and in the town itself.[39]
15 April Midnight Martial law introduced in Punjab at midnight between 15 and 16 April 1919.[31]
16 April Early morning Extra assistant commissioner of Sheikhupura orders an armoured train to shoot its machine guns towards anyone it sees between Sheikhupura and Chuharkana.[40]
19 April
Dyer visits Sherwood and imposes the Crawling Order.[41] Reginald Mortimer Howgego of the 25th Cyclist Battalion, known for his photographs, holds a picket at one end of Kucha Kaurianwala, where Sherwood was assaulted.[42]
21 April Martial law backdated to 30 March 1919 by the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, at the request of O'Dwyer.[31][43]
22 May Montagu contemplates setting up an enquiry.[44]
8 July Letter read out in House of Commons by Sir W. Joyson-Hicks stating that Sherwood was "convinced that there was a real rebellion in the Punjab, and that General Dyer saved India and us from a repetition of the miseries and cruelties of 1857".[45][46]
25 August Dyer submits his statement to Beynon.[44]
September Indemnity Bill[47]
14 October Disorders Inquiry Committee appointed.[44]
29 October First hearing.[44]
25 March 1920 Congress Report published.[44]

References

  1. ^ a b Wagner, pp. 42-45
  2. ^ a b c d e Collett, Nigel A. (2011). "The O'Dwyer v. Nair Libel Case of 1924: New Evidence Concerning Indian Attitudes and British Intelligence During the 1919 Punjab Disturbances". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 21 (4): 469–483. doi:10.1017/S1356186311000435. ISSN 1356-1863. JSTOR 41490046.
  3. ^ Committee, Sedition (1918), Sedition Committee Report, 1918, Home Department, Government of India.
  4. ^ a b Wagner, pp. 54-58
  5. ^ a b c d Wagner, pp. 62-64
  6. ^ Congress Party Inquiry I, p. 46
  7. ^ a b c d Wagner, pp. 65-69
  8. ^ Jaffe, James (September 2017). "Gandhi, Lawyers, and the Courts' Boycott during the Non-Cooperation Movement". Modern Asian Studies. 51 (5): 1340–1368. doi:10.1017/S0026749X1600024X. ISSN 0026-749X.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Wagner, pp. 70-73
  10. ^ Wagner, p. 53
  11. ^ a b c Datta, pp. 39-40
  12. ^ Hunter, William Hunter; Datta, V. N. (1975). New light on the Punjab disturbances in 1919: volumes VI and VII of Disorders Inquiry Committee evidence. Simla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study. Comprises the final two suppressed vols. of the evidence presented before the committee headed by William Hunter; the report and five vols. of evidence published in London, 1920
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Wagner, pp. 74-76
  14. ^ a b c Datta, pp. 41-44
  15. ^ a b Datta, V. N. (2005). "General Dyer and Jallianwala Bagh". Economic and Political Weekly. 40 (47): 4911–4913. ISSN 0012-9976.
  16. ^ a b Wagner, pp. 95-97
  17. ^ Wagner, pp. 98-100
  18. ^ a b c Wagner, pp. 116-117
  19. ^ a b Perkins, pp. 62-63
  20. ^ Hunter Report (1920), p. 41
  21. ^ a b c d e Datta, pp. 127-134
  22. ^ a b c Perkins, pp. 64-67
  23. ^ Ilahi, Shereen (2020). "Punjab disturbances". Imperial Violence and the Path to Independence: India, Ireland and the Crisis of Empire. London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 41–48. ISBN 978-1-350-15306-6.
  24. ^ Datta, p. 57-60
  25. ^ Collett, p. 215
  26. ^ a b c Wagner, pp. 134-136
  27. ^ a b c Wagner, pp. 143-146
  28. ^ a b c d Datta, pp. 65-68
  29. ^ Wagner, p. 151
  30. ^ Datta, pp. 61-64
  31. ^ a b c d Sayer, Derek (May 1991). "British Reaction to the Amritsar Massacre 1919-1920". Past and Present (131): 130–164. doi:10.1093/past/131.1.130.
  32. ^ a b c d Wagner, p. 156-160
  33. ^ Collett, pp. 258-260
  34. ^ Wagner, p. 161-162
  35. ^ Swinson, p. 210
  36. ^ Kaur, Gagandeep (2022). "Literature on Women during Jallianwala Bagh Massacre" (PDF). Journal of Software Engineering and Simulation. 8 (7). Quest Journals: 67–70. ISSN 2321-3809.
  37. ^ a b Wagner, pp. 174-175
  38. ^ Wagner, pp. 248-249
  39. ^ George, Joppan (1 December 2024). "Gujranwala, 14 April 1919: Terror from air and airmindedness in late colonial India". The Journal of Transport History. 45 (3): 445–467. doi:10.1177/00225266241262473. ISSN 0022-5266.
  40. ^ Condos, Mark (2017). "Introduction: fear, panic, and the violence of Empire". The Insecurity State. Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-108-41831-7.
  41. ^ Wagner, pp. 192-199
  42. ^ Willcock, Sean (2 January 2019). "Guilt in the Archive: Photography and the Amritsar Massacre of 1919" (PDF). History of Photography. 43 (1). Taylor & Francis: 47–59. doi:10.1080/03087298.2019.1613791. ISSN 0308-7298. Archived from the original on 5 September 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  43. ^ Collett, p. 275
  44. ^ a b c d e Datta, pp. 73-91
  45. ^ Wagner, p. 239
  46. ^ "ARMY COUNCIL AND GENERAL DYER. (Hansard, 8 July 1920)". api.parliament.uk. Hansard. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  47. ^ Wagner, p. 218

Further reading

Bibliography

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