On the morning of April 12, 1919, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer led a military column through Amritsar, arresting suspected rioters and demonstrating armed power. The following day, April 13, Dyer issued a public proclamation prohibiting residents from leaving the city without a pass, imposing an 8:00 PM curfew, and banning all public meetings and assemblies of four or more people, warning that force would be used to disperse any gathering.
However, the communication of this order was severely flawed. Dyer marched through selected streets accompanied by a town crier reading the proclamation in English and Urdu, but large sections of the dense city were bypassed completely. Crucially, thousands of villagers from outlying rural districts were arriving in Amritsar for the annual festival of Baisakhi and were entirely unaware of the prohibition. When local organizers announced a public gathering at Jallianwala Bagh for later that afternoon, news of Dyer's warning had failed to reach the vast majority of the population.
Why it matters
The inadequate dissemination of Dyer's proclamation was a direct precursor to catastrophe. While British authorities treated the curfew and assembly ban as legal justification for lethal action, the vast majority of citizens and rural visitors at Jallianwala Bagh remained completely ignorant of the order. This tragic breakdown in communication transformed a peaceful religious and political gathering into an unspeakable trap, setting up Dyer's deliberate decision to strike without prior warning.
Interesting fact
Dyer stopped proclaiming the ban around midday on April 13 due to intense summer heat, leaving the proclamation unannounced in large parts of the city and near the Golden Temple.
People
- Brigadier-General Reginald DyerCommander of the 45th Infantry Brigade
- Miles IrvingDeputy Commissioner of Amritsar
Quotes
"Any procession or gathering of four men will be looked upon and treated as an unlawful assembly and dispersed by force of arms if necessary."
Location
Amritsar City Center · Amritsar · India
Open in Google Maps