Nankana Sahib Massacre

Who: A jatha of 150 Sikhs led by Bhai Lachhman Singh of Dharovali, and Mahant Narain Das, who held Gurdwara Janam Asthan and had been recruiting a private army and laying in arms. Sixteen Pathan mercenaries were later sentenced with his men.

What: On the morning of 20 February 1921, as the jatha entered the sacred precincts chanting hymns, the mahant's men fell upon it. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says bullets were "mercilessly rained on them from the roof of an adjoining building". Bhai Lachhman Singh was struck down while sitting in attendance of the Guru Granth Sahib, then fastened to a tree and burnt alive. Firewood and kerosene were brought out and the dead and injured were piled on the fire. The number of Sikhs killed has been "variously estimated between 82 and 156".

The aftermath, in order:

• 22 February 1921: the Governor, Sir Edward Maclagan, visited the site.
• 3 March 1921: Mahatma Gandhi came, with the Muslim leaders Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali.
• The shrine was handed to a committee of seven Sikhs headed by Sardar Harbans Singh of Atari, and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee started a relief fund for the martyrs' families.
• The Committee asked Sikhs to wear black turbans in memory of the martyrs until 15 November 1921, and the black turban became the insignia of the Akalis.
• 5 April 1921: the trial of Narain Das and his men began, a day Sikhs observe as Martyrs' Day.
• 12 October 1921: the sessions court sentenced Narain Das and seven others to death, eight to transportation for life, and the sixteen Pathan mercenaries to seven years.
• 3 March 1922: the High Court reduced Narain Das's sentence to life imprisonment; three of his men kept the death sentence and two got life.

Where: Gurdwara Janam Asthan, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, at Nankana Sahib, now in Pakistani Punjab.

Why it mattered: It is remembered as Saka Nankana Sahib. It hardened Sikh opinion behind the fight for the historic gurdwaras, brought Gandhi to Nankana Sahib within two weeks, and was followed by the morchas at Guru ka Bagh and Jaito. The struggle led to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925, which put the historic gurdwaras under an elected committee, the SGPC. The Shahid Sikh Missionary College at Amritsar was opened as a memorial to the martyrs.