Jallianwala Bagh
Jallianwala Bagh The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place on 13 April 1919 in the heart of Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs, on a day sacred to them as the birth anniversary of the Khalsa. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre lead by a senior British military officer,involved the killing of hundreds of unarmed, defenceless Indians. On 9 April, the governor of the Punjab, Sir Michael Francis O’Dwyer (1864-1940), suddenly decided to deport from Amritsar Dr Satyapal and Dr Saif ud-Din Kitchlew,... read more »
Babbar Akali Movement
The Babbar Akali Movement came into existence when the peaceful Akali struggle for Gurdwara reform was passing through a crucial stage. Popular Sikh shrines like Nankana Sahib, Tarn Taran Sahib and Guru-ka-Bagh were occupied by the Mahants, who had made the shrines into their personal property, vanquishing the sanctity of the holy places. The Mahants had become the puppets of the government of the Punjab. With the open backing of the Punjab Government, the Mahants stood against the Akalis and attempted... read more »
Saka Tarn Taran
A religious gathering was held at Akal Takht, Amritsar on 15th-16th November 1920. In this, a committee of 175 was formed which was named Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Commitee (SGPC). The aim of the SGPC was to manage Gurdwaras and uplift the religious moral and cultural level of the Sikhs. As such, the committee was taking the management of the Gurdwaras in their hands from the mahants who had been occupying them. The committee of the Sikhs was in control of managment of Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar... read more »
Nankana Sahib Massacre
Nankana Sahib Massacre The Nankana Sahib Massacre refers to the grim episode during the Gurdwara Reform Movement/Akali Movement in which a peaceful batch of reformist Sikhs were subjected to a murderous assault on 20 February 1921 in the holy shrine at Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. In October 1920, a congregation was held at Dharowal, District Sheikhupura to inform the sangat of the the misdeeds being committed inside Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. This shrine along with six others... read more »
Gaddar Party/Movement
Gaddar, commonly translated as “mutiny,” was the name given to the newspaper edited and published for the Hindustani Association of the Pacific Coast which was founded at Portland, United States of America, in 1912. The movement this Association gave rise to for revolutionary activity in India also came to be known by the designation of Gaddar. As land holdings were becoming uneconomical in the Punjab, the farmers started, by the turn of the century, going abroad to seek new pastures.... read more »
Akali Movement
The Akali Movement also known as Gurdwara Reform Movement came into full swing from the early 1920′s. It’s aim was to bring reform in the working and management of Sikh Gurdwaras. The campaign which gained tremendous support, especially, from the rural masses, took the form of a peaceful agitation-marches, divans, religious gatherings, and demonstrations for Sikhs to assert their right to manage their places of worship. The Gurdwaras, its property and wealth were being misused by the... read more »
Komagata Maru
Komagata Maru Komagata Maru was a Japanese trampsteamer, renamed Guru Nanak Jahaz, launched from Hong Kong by Baba Gurdit Singh (1860-1954), an adventurous Sikh businessman, to take a batch of Indian emigrants to Canada. In the year 1900 the census reported that there where 2050 people from India on the North American continent. The majority of these people were Punjabis who had settled in Canada who had come with the hope of finding work so that they could improve their economic situation from... read more »
