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{{Short description|1919 punitive order in Amritsar, British India}}
The '''Crawling Order''' was a [[punishment|punitive]] directive issued by [[Reginald Dyer]], on 19 April 1919, during the period of [[martial law]] in [[Amritsar]], British India, following the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]. The order required all Indians using Kucha Kaurhianwala, the narrow street where British missionary [[Marcella Sherwood]] had been assaulted on 10 April 1919, to crawl on their hands and knees between the hours of 6am and 8pm.<ref name=Anand2021>{{cite book |last1=Anand |first1=Anita |title=The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence |date=2021 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-5011-9571-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mEoiEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA125|location=New York|language=en |chapter=10. I repent, I repent, I repent|pages=115-126}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Lloyd |first=Nick |title=The Amritsar Massacre: The Untold Story of One Fateful Day |publisher=I.B. Taurus |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-84885-723-0 |location=London |pages=135-137 |language=English}}</ref>

==Background==
Martial law was introduced in Punjab at midnight between 15 and 16 April 1919 and backdated to 30 March on 21 April by the Viceroy, at the request of [[Michael O'Dwyer]].<ref name=Collett2006>{{cite book |last1=Collett |first1=Nigel |title=The Butcher of Amritsar: General Reginald Dyer |date=2006 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-85285-575-8 |page=275 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuQC5pgzCw4C&pg=PA275|language=en|chapter=17. The crawling order}}</ref>

==Instruction==
[[File:Native crawling up street where Miss Sherwood was assaulted 1919.jpg|thumb|An Indian crawling up street where Sherwood was assaulted, 1919. Taken by [[Reginald Mortimer Howgego]].<ref name=Willcock2019>{{cite journal |last1=Willcock |first1=Sean |title=Guilt in the archive: photography and the Amritsar Massacre of 1919. |journal=History of Photography |date=2019 |volume=43 |issue=1 |url=https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/27606/3/27606.pdf |access-date=5 September 2025 |publisher=Birkbeck, University of London |issn=0308- 7298|doi=10.1080/03087298.2019.1613791}}</ref>]]
The order to crawl was a [[punishment]] issued by [[Reginald Dyer]], on 19 April 1919, during the period of [[martial law]] in [[Amritsar]], British India, following the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]] that occurred on 13 April of that year.<ref name=Wagner2016>{{cite journal |last1=A |first1=Wagner, Kim |title=‘Calculated to Strike Terror’: The Amritsar Massacre and the Spectacle of Colonial Violence |journal=Past & Present |date=1 November 2016 |volume=233 |issue=1 |doi=10.1093/pa |url=https://academic.oup.com/past/article/233/1/185/2915150 |language=en |issn=0031-2746|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=Lloyd2011>{{cite book |last=Lloyd|first=Nick|author-link=Nick Lloyd (historian)|editor-last=Roy|editor-first=Kaushik|title=The Indian Army in the Two World Wars |date=2011 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-21145-2|chapter=The Indian Army and Civil Disorder:1919–22|pages=348–363 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cON5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA348|language=en}}</ref><ref name=Report1>{{cite book |title=Report of the Committee Appointed in the Government of India to Investigate the Disturbances in the Punjab, Etc |date=1920 |volume=1|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5cE1AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA114|chapter=Written Statements: At Lahore, Thursday 19 November 1919, Reginald Dyer |pages=114–139 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Report2>{{cite book |title=Report of the Committee Appointed by the Government of India to Investigate the Disturbances in the Punjab |date=1920 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOk2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA76|chapter=12. Administration of Marshal Law: Crawling Order|pages=76–83 |language=en}}</ref>

The order required all Indians using Kucha Kaurhianwala, the narrow street where British missionary [[Marcella Sherwood]] had been assaulted on 10 April 1919, to crawl on their hands and knees.<ref name=Furneaux2022>{{cite book |last1=Furneaux |first1=Rupert|author-link=Rupert Furneaux |title=Massacre at Amritsar |date=2022 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-68932-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2J6EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT109|chapter=7. The Crawling Order|pages=109–117 |language=en}}</ref> In practice the expectation was to slither like a reptile on one's abdomen.<ref name=Malaviya1919>{{cite book |last1=Malaviya |first1=K. D. (Kapil Deva) |title=Open rebellion in the Punjab : with special reference to Amritsar |date=1919 |publisher=Abhyudaya Press |location=Allahabad |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/openrebellioninp00malauoft/page/n45/mode/2up?|chapter=How an Indian lady was assaulted: the story of flogging and crawling|pages=36-38}}</ref><ref name=Horniman1920>{{cite book |last1=Horniman |first1=B. G. |title=Amritsar And Our Duty To India |date=1920 |publisher=T Fisher Unwin |location=London |page=125 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.351510/page/n125/mode/2up }}</ref>

The instruction was enforced for several days, and those who disobeyed were beaten by soldiers.<ref name=Wagner2016/><ref name=Talbott2004>{{cite book |last1=Talbott |first1=Strobe |author-link=Strobe Talbott|title=Engaging India |date=2004 |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |location=Washington DC |isbn=978-0-8157-8300-8 |pages=73, 243 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/engagingindiadip00talb/page/n5/mode/2up|chapter=4. Jaswant's village}}</ref> The order was enforced between 6am and 8pm, and about 50 people were forced to crawl.<ref name=":0" />

Upon hearing of the order, [[Edwin Montagu]] messaged [[Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford|Lord Chelmsford]] and called for Dyer to be relieved from his post.<ref name=Holburn2020>{{cite book |last1=Holburn |first1=Vanessa |title=The Amritsar Massacre: The British Empire's Worst Atrocity |date=2020 |publisher=Pen and Sword History |isbn=978-1-5267-4578-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5PaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT6 |language=en}}</ref> The order was lifted on 26 April 1919.<ref name=Wagner2016/><ref name=Report2/>

==Hunter Commission==
The Hunter Commission of Inquiry later condemned the order, calling it "indefensible".<ref name=Report1/><ref <ref name=Report2/><ref name=Mitchell2012>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Neil James |title=Democracy's Blameless Leaders: From Dresden to Abu Ghraib, how leaders evade accountability for abuse, atrocity, and killing |date=2012 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-6144-1 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O6IUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA50|chapter=4. Amritsar|pages=50-51 |language=en}}</ref>

Dyer defended the order as a necessary measure to punish "wicked" behaviour and deter further attacks on Europeans. Critics denounced it as an act of deliberate humiliation and cruelty.<ref name=Furneaux2022/><ref name=Littlefield1920>{{cite news |last1=Littlefield |first1=Walter |title=Has England a Dreyfus case?; Controversy Over Justice of Convicting Brig. Gen. Dyer for Firing on Indian Mob Grips Britain |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/08/22/archives/has-england-a-dreyfus-case-controversy-over-justice-of-convicting.html |access-date=23 August 2025 |work=New York Times |date=22 August 1920 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250823155513/https://www.nytimes.com/1920/08/22/archives/has-england-a-dreyfus-case-controversy-over-justice-of-convicting.html |archive-date=23 August 2025|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Later responses==
Mahatma Gandhi responded by saying that "the shooting was ‘frightful’, the loss of innocent life deplorable. But the slow torture, degradation and emasculation that followed was much worse, more calculated, malicious and soul-killing, and the actors who performed the deeds deserve greater condemnation than General Dyer for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The latter merely destroyed a few bodies but the others tried to kill the soul of a nation".<ref name="Hansard2019">{{cite web |title=Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - Hansard - UK Parliament |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-04-09/debates/A5FB9CDE-F333-46BB-9336-5F9C9500726B/JallianwalaBaghMassacre#:~:text |website=hansard.parliament.uk |access-date=23 August 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250823154858/https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-04-09/debates/A5FB9CDE-F333-46BB-9336-5F9C9500726B/JallianwalaBaghMassacre|archive-date=23 August 2025 |language=en |date=9 April 2019}}</ref>

The episode became an example of the repressive measures imposed under martial law in Punjab after the disturbances of April 1919.<ref name=Wagner2016/><ref name=Furneaux2022/><ref name=Hansard1920>{{cite web |title=Punjab Disturbances: The Case Of General Dyer - Hansard - UK Parliament |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1920-07-19/debates/a68e5794-4044-4aec-8673-f65850358e66/PunjabDisturbancesTheCaseOfGeneralDyer |website=hansard.parliament.uk |access-date=23 August 2025 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250823133305/https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1920-07-19/debates/a68e5794-4044-4aec-8673-f65850358e66/PunjabDisturbancesTheCaseOfGeneralDyer|archive-date=23 August 2025}}</ref> It was widely cited in parliamentary debates and contributed to public condemnation in Britain and India against Dyer's actions.<ref name=Wagner2016/><ref name=Furneaux2022/><ref name=Hansard1920/>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Martial law]]
[[Category:1919 in British India]]
[[Category:British military scandals]]
[[Category:Whipping]]

Crawling Order - Revision history

Ekyaschool at 10:45, 31 January 2026