The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, occurred on 13 April 1919 in the city of Amritsar in Punjab, British India. The massacre occurred when Colonel Reginald Dyer ordered his British Indian Army troops to fire upon Sikh pilgrims and nonviolent protesters in the Jallianwalla Bagh public garden in Amritsar, and around 1,000 people were killed and 1,500 wounded. The British Indian troops lined up with repeater rifles and were ordered to fire on the masses of people listening to one Sikh man speak out against British rule. The riflemen repeatedly fired on the masses of people, firing until they ran out of ammunition. Colonel Dyer knew that there were women and children in the crowd, and he later said that he wanted to make a statement with his harsh actions. Dyer's actions were carried out during a period of martial law, during which public meetings were banned; the victims were unaware of this, as many of them were taking part in the pilgrimage to the Golden Temple at the Amritsar for the Vaisakhi festival. In July 1920, Dyer was forced to retire by the House of Commons, and the British Army was trained to use lesser force in the future. However, the massacre marked the decline of British rule in India, as popular opinion across the world was turned against the British Raj.
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