Crawling Order

The Crawling Order was a 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.

Instruction

 

An Indian crawling up street where Sherwood was assaulted, 1919

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.^[1][2][3][4]

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.^[5] In practice the expectation was to slither like a reptile on one's abdomen.^[6][7]

The instruction was enforced for several days, and those who disobeyed were beaten by soldiers.^[1][8]

Upon hearing of the order, Edwin Montagu messaged Lord Chelmsford and called for Dyer to be relieved from his post.^[9] The order was lifted on 26 April 1919.^[1][4]

Hunter Commission

The Hunter Commission of Inquiry later condemned the order, calling it "indefensible".^[3][4][10]

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.^[5][11]

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".^[12]

The episode became an example of the repressive measures imposed under martial law in Punjab after the disturbances of April 1919.^[1][5][13] It was widely cited in parliamentary debates and contributed to public condemnation in Britain and India against Dyer's actions.^[1][5][13]

References

1. A, Wagner, Kim (1 November 2016). "'Calculated to Strike Terror': The Amritsar Massacre and the Spectacle of Colonial Violence". Past & Present. 233 (1). doi:10.1093/pa. ISSN 0031-2746.
2. Lloyd, Nick (2011). "The Indian Army and Civil Disorder:1919–22". In Roy, Kaushik (ed.). The Indian Army in the Two World Wars. BRILL. pp. 348–363. ISBN 978-90-04-21145-2.
3. "Written Statements: At Lahore, Thursday 19 November 1919, Reginald Dyer". Report of the Committee Appointed in the Government of India to Investigate the Disturbances in the Punjab, Etc. Vol. 1. H.M. Stationery Office. 1920. pp. 114–139.
4. "12. Administration of Marshal Law: Crawling Order". Report of the Committee Appointed by the Government of India to Investigate the Disturbances in the Punjab. H.M. Stationery Office. 1920. pp. 76–83.
5. Furneaux, Rupert (2022). "7. The Crawling Order". Massacre at Amritsar. Taylor & Francis. pp. 109–117. ISBN 978-1-000-68932-7.
6. Malaviya, K. D. (Kapil Deva) (1919). "How an Indian lady was assaulted: the story of flogging and crawling". Open rebellion in the Punjab : with special reference to Amritsar. Allahabad: Abhyudaya Press. pp. 36–38.
7. Horniman, B. G. (1920). Amritsar And Our Duty To India. London: T Fisher Unwin. p. 125.
8. Talbott, Strobe (2004). "4. Jaswant's village". Engaging India. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press. pp. 73, 243. ISBN 978-0-8157-8300-8.
9. Holburn, Vanessa (2020). The Amritsar Massacre: The British Empire's Worst Atrocity. Pen and Sword History. ISBN 978-1-5267-4578-1.
10. Mitchell, Neil James (2012). "4. Amritsar". Democracy's Blameless Leaders: From Dresden to Abu Ghraib, how leaders evade accountability for abuse, atrocity, and killing. New York University Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-0-8147-6144-1.
11. Littlefield, Walter (22 August 1920). "Has England a Dreyfus case?; Controversy Over Justice of Convicting Brig. Gen. Dyer for Firing on Indian Mob Grips Britain". New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
12. "Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk. 9 April 2019. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
13. "Punjab Disturbances: The Case Of General Dyer - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.