Join Kim A Wagner to learn about the experiences of the ordinary British and Indian people affected by the Amritsar Massacre of 1919.
The Amritsar Massacre, during which hundreds of people were killed at Jallianwala Bagh, was a seminal moment in the history of India and the British Empire. Yet, 100 years on, it remains poorly understood and largely shrouded in myth.
In this talk, Kim A Wagner explores the experiences of ordinary people, British and Indian, caught up in a storm of simmering discontent and anxiety in April 1919.
Examining the massacre within the context of colonial mentality and the local dynamics of Indian nationalism, Wagner offers a nuanced perspective to the bloody history of the British Empire.
Kim A Wagner teaches the history of colonial India and the British Empire at Queen Mary University of London.
The birth of India and Pakistan as independent states in 1947 was a key moment in the history of Britain’s empire and its army. But the process of partition was attended by mass migration and ethnic violence that has left a bitter legacy to this day.
In May 1919, conflict broke out between British India and Afghanistan. Although peace was quickly agreed, the violence spread to the North West Frontier, challenging British control of that region.