Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district. It is situated 217 km (135 mi) north-west of Chandigarh, and 455 km (283 mi) north-west of New Delhi. It is 28 km (17.4 mi) from the India-Pakistan border, and 47 km (29 mi) north-east of Lahore, Pakistan.
According to the 2011 census, the city had a population of 1,132,383. It is one of the ten municipal corporations in the state; Karamjit Singh Rintu is serving as the mayor of the city. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Amritsar is the second-most populous city in Punjab and the most populous metropolitan region in the state, with a population of roughly 2 million. Amritsar is the centre of the Amritsar Metropolitan Region.
Amritsar is the economic capital of Punjab. It is a major tourist centre with nearly a hundred thousand daily visitors. The city has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) program of the Government of India. It is home to the Golden Temple, the holiest site and most-visited gurudwara in Sikhism. The city is also known for its food, and for the manufacture of wooden chessboards and chess pieces.
Etymology
The city takes its name from Amṛta Sarovara (Sanskrit for Pool of Nectar) which is the pool that surrounds Golden Temple at Gurdwara Shri Harmindir Sahib .
The term Amritsar was previously sometimes known as Rāmdāspur after Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh guru who is credited with founding the city. The name Amritsar was often mispronounced as Ambarsar in rural dialects; the latter name has since become a colloquial term for the city.
Mythology
The Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal situated at Amritsar is believed to be the ashram site of Maharishi Valmiki, the writer of the Ramayana. As per the Ramayana, Sita gave birth to Lava and Kusha, sons of Rama at Ramtirath ashram. Numerous people visit Ramtirath Temple, Located 12 Km west of Amritsar on Chogawan road, dates back to the period of Ramayana, Rishi Valmiki's hermitage. at the annual fair. The nearby cities Lahore and Kasur were believed to be founded by Lava and Kusha, respectively. It is believed that during the ashvamedha yajna by Rama, Lava and Kusha caught the ritual horse and tied Hanuman to a tree near to today's Durgiana Temple.
History
Foundation
In the Sikh tradition, Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh guru, is credited with founding the holy city of Amritsar in 1574. Two versions of stories exist regarding the land where Guru Ram Das settled. In one, based on a Gazetteer record, the land was purchased, with Sikh donations, for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung.
According to historical Sikh records, the site was chosen by Guru Amar Das and called Guru Da Chakk. The latter guru had asked Ram Das to find land to start a new town, and to create a man-made pool as its central point. After his coronation, Guru Ram Das in 1574, who faced hostile opposition from the sons of Guru Amar Das, founded the town; it was named after him as "Ramdaspur". He first completed the pool, and built his new official Guru centre and home next to it. He invited merchants and artisans from other parts of India to settle into the new town with him. The town expanded during the time of Guru Arjan Dev, financed by donations and constructed by volunteers. The town grew to become the city of Amritsar. After the son of Guru Ram Das built the gurdwara Harmandir Sahib, the pool area developed further as a temple complex. In 1604 Guru Ram Das's son installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new temple.
The period and achievements of construction between 1574 and 1604 are described in Mahima Prakash Vartak, a semi-historical Sikh hagiographic text likely composed in 1741. It is the earliest known document dealing with the lives of all the ten Gurus.
18th century
In 1762 and 1766–1767, Ahmad Shah of the Durrani Empire invaded the Sikh Confederacy. He besieged Amritsar, massacred the populace, and destroyed the city.
Sikh Empire
During the time of the Sikh Empire, in 1822 Maharaja Ranjit Singh fortified the city, starting from a wall at Katra Maha Singh area.
Among the Katras (fortified residential societies) constructed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh within the city were the following:
- Katra Moti Ram
- Katra Kanwar Kharak Singh (also known as 'Katra Nikkai')
- Katra Fateh Singh Kallianwala
- Katra Ahluwalia
Later, Sher Singh continued with construction of the city wall, adding twelve gates. He also had built a fort named Dhoor Kot; its fortification were yards broad and 7 yards high. The circumference of the walled city was around five miles. The twelve gates constructed during this era were known as (including later renamings):
- Lahori Darwaza (Lahori Gate)
- Khazana Darwaja (Khazana Gate)
- Deori Hakiman (Gate Hakeema/Darwaza Hakeema Wala)
- Gilwali Darwaza – no longer extant
- Darwaza Rangar Nanglian (Gate Bhagatawala) – no longer extant
- Darwaza Ramgarhian (Chattiwind Gate) – later restored
- Darwaza Ahluwalia (Darwaza Gheo Mandi) – was no longer extant but has since been restored
- Doburji Darwaza (Sultanwind Gate or Delhi Darwaza)
- Deorhi Kalan
- Darwaza Rambagh
- Deorhi Shazada (Hathi Darwaza/Darwaza Sehzada)
- Darwaza Lohgarh – no longer extant
British rule
When the British annexed Punjab in 1849, Amritsar was a walled city. The British built a thirteenth gate in 1866 known as Hall Gate, Neighborhood in Amritsar, Punjab.
The British rulers would later demolish some of the walls and gates or reconstruct some. An entire new wall of the city was completed in 1885. Many surviving gates have since been renamed and no longer bear their mid-19th century names, while others have since been demolished.
The British supported the development of a textile manufacturing industry in the city, becoming one of the key cities of British Punjab alongside Lahore. The Khalsa College was established in Amritsar, establishing the city as a place of colonial education.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, involving the killings of hundreds of Indian civilians on the orders of British Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, 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 (Vaisakhi day).
In Punjab, during World War I (1914–18), there was considerable social unrest, particularly among the Sikhs. First, they opposed the demolition of a boundary wall of Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, a historic gurdwara near the old Parliament House in New Delhi. Later, they were disturbed about the activities and trials of the Ghadarites, almost all of whom were Sikhs. In India as a whole, political activity had arisen during the strains of war. Two leaders had emerged: Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948), who after a period of struggle as a young man against the British in South Africa had returned to India in January 1915 to work there for change and Annie Besant (1847–1933), head of the Theosophical Society of India. On 11 April 1916 she established the Home Rule League with the goal of autonomy for India. In December 1916, the Indian National Congress, at its annual session held at Lucknow, passed a resolution asking the king George V to issue a proclamation announcing that it is the "aim and intention of British policy to confer self-government on India at an early date".
On 10 April 1919, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two popular proponents of the Satyagraha movement led by Gandhi, were called to the deputy commissioner's residence. There they were arrested and transported by car to Dharamshala, a hill town, now in Himachal Pradesh. A general strike arose in response in Amritsar. Excited groups of citizens soon merged into a crowd of about 50,000 marching to protest these arrests to the deputy commissioner. The crowd, however, was stopped by British colonial forces and fired upon near the railway foot-bridge. The official version reported that the number of casualties were 12 dead and between 20 and 30 wounded. Based on evidence presented to an inquiry of the Indian National Congress, fatalities were reported as between 20 and 30.
Three days later, on 13 April, the traditional festival of Baisakhi, thousands of unarmed Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh. An hour after the meeting began as scheduled at 16:30, Dyer arrived with a group of sixty-five Gurkha soldiers (from the 9th Gorkha Rifles) and twenty-five Baluchi soldiers (from the 59th Scinde Rifles). Without warning the crowd to disperse, Dyer blocked the main exits from the Bagh and ordered his troops to begin shooting toward the densest sections of the crowd; the firing continued for approximately ten minutes. A British government inquiry into the massacre placed the death toll at 379. The Indian National Congress, on the other hand, estimated that approximately 1,000 people were killed.
Post-independence
During the partition of India, many Hindu and Sikh refugees originally hailing from Sialkot and Lahore districts (such as the former, urban residents of Lahore city and the rural folk of Lahore tehsil and the greater Lahore district) settled in Amritsar or used it as transit hub for further migration to new homes in other parts of India.
Operation Blue Star
Amritsar was a center of unrest in the late 20th century. In the 1980s, Sikh militants occupied the Golden Temple there. Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, ordered Operation Blue Star (1 – 6 June 1984), an Indian military operation to remove the militants from the temple. The operation was carried out by Indian army troops equipped with tanks and armoured vehicles. While militarily successful, the operation aroused immense controversy. The government's justification for the timing and style of the attack are hotly debated. India Today magazine has ranked Operation Blue Star as among the Top 10 Political Disgraces in India.
Official reports put the number of deaths among the Indian army at 83, with 493 civilians killed, including Sikh militants, while independent estimates place the numbers upwards of 5,000 people, a majority of them pilgrims, including women and children. In addition, the CBI is considered responsible for seizing historical artefacts and manuscripts in the Sikh Reference Library before burning it down. Four months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in what is viewed as an act of vengeance. Following her assassination, more than 17,000 Sikhs were killed in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Geography
Amritsar is located at 31°38′N 74°52′E / 31.63°N 74.87°E with an average elevation of 234 metres (768 ft) in the Majha region of the state of Punjab in North India and lies about 15 miles (24 km) east of the border with Pakistan. Administrative towns includes Ajnala, Attari, Beas, Budha Theh, Chheharta Sahib, Jandiala Guru, Majitha, Rajasansi, Ramdass, Rayya, Verka Town and Baba Bakala.
Climate
Typically for Northwestern India, Amritsar has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) bordering on a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Cwa). Temperatures in Amritsar usually range from −1 to 45 °C (30 to 113 °F). It experiences four primary seasons: winter (December to March), when temperatures can drop to −1 °C (30 °F); summer (April to June), when temperatures can reach 45 °C (113 °F); monsoon (July to September); and post-monsoon (October to November). Annual rainfall is about 726.0 millimetres (28.6 in). The lowest recorded temperature is −3.6 °C (25.5 °F), was recorded on 9 December 1996 and the highest temperature, 48.0 °C (118.4 °F), was recorded on 23 May 2013. The official weather station for the city is the civil aerodrome at Rajasansi. Weather records here date back to 15 November 1947.
Amritsar has been ranked 39th best "National Clean Air City" (under Category 1 >10L Population cities) in India according to 'Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 Results'
Demographics
In 1871–72, Amritsar was the 11th most populous city in British India with a population of 136,000 and had a larger population than Lahore (99,000). As of the 2011 census, Amritsar municipality had a population of 1,159,227. The municipality had a sex ratio of 884 females per 1,000 males and 119,592 (10.32%) of the population were under six years old, with the child sex ratio being 826 females per 1000 males. Literacy was 83.81%; male literacy was 86.52% and female literacy was 80.76%. The scheduled caste population is 21.76%.
Harjap Singh Aujla claims around 30% of the city's population descend from partition-era refugees from western Punjab (specifically Lahore), with most originally hailing from Lahore district.
Religion
According to 2011 Census of India, Hinduism and Sikhism are the main religions of the Amritsar city followed by 49.36% and 48.00% of the population, respectively. Christianity is followed by 1.23% and Islam 0.51%. Around 0.9% of the population of the city stated 'No Particular Religion' or other religion.
Amritsar is the holiest city in Sikhism and about 30 million people visit it each year for pilgrimage.
At the time of the 2011 census, 91.12% of the population spoke Punjabi and 7.90% Hindi as their first language.