Crawling Order
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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 between the hours of 6am and 8pm.[1][2]
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.[3]
Instruction
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.[5][6][7][8]
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.[9] In practice the expectation was to slither like a reptile on one's abdomen.[10][11]
The instruction was enforced for several days, and those who disobeyed were beaten by soldiers.[5][12] The order was enforced between 6am and 8pm, and about 50 people were forced to crawl.[2]
Upon hearing of the order, Edwin Montagu messaged Lord Chelmsford and called for Dyer to be relieved from his post.[13] The order was lifted on 26 April 1919.[5][8]