Amritsar

Amritsar is the principal holy city of the Sikhs and the headquarters of Amritsar district in Punjab. It is where Sri Harmandir Sahib and Sri Akal Takht Sahib stand, and the offices of the SGPC and the Shiromani Akali Dal are in the Darbar Sahib complex.

Key moments

• 1577: Guru Ram Das began digging the tank, Amrit-sar, the Pool of Nectar. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives two accounts of the land: bought from the residents of the village of Tung, or a gift from Emperor Akbar to Bibi Bhani. The settlement was first called Ramdaspur, Chakk Ram Das or Chakk Guru.
• 16 August 1604: the Adi Granth was installed in the Harimandar. Guru Hargobind later raised the Akal Takht opposite it.
• 1699: after the founding of the Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh sent Bhai Mani Singh to take the shrines back from the Minas.
• 1765 to 1805: the misls ruled the city with a joint council over the shrines; Ranjit Singh extended his control to Amritsar in 1805 and made it a second capital.
• 1 October 1873: the first Singh Sabha was formed here. Khalsa College followed in 1892.
• 13 April 1919: at Jallianwala Bagh Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire without warning on a Baisakhi crowd estimated at 15,000 to 20,000. About 1,650 rounds were fired in roughly 20 minutes. The official toll was 379 killed and 1,200 wounded; Madan Mohan Malaviya put the dead at over 1,000. The priests of Sri Darbar Sahib honoured Dyer, which sharpened the demand for reform of the shrines.
• October and November 1920: the Akali movement began and the SGPC was formed.
• 1947: after Partition most of the city's Muslims left for Pakistan. Muslims had been 49.98 percent of the population in 1931 and Sikhs 12.09 percent; in 1971 Hindus were 64.21 percent and Sikhs 34.18 percent.
• June 1984: Operation Blue Star at Sri Harmandir Sahib.

What it means today. Amritsar remains the centre of Sikh religious and political life. In June 2024 the SGPC marked the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Ghallughara at Sri Akal Takht Sahib, and the SGPC and the Akali Dal still keep their offices in the Darbar Sahib complex.