Amritsar

Amritsar’s history centres on faith, trade and conflict at the northwest frontier of India.

The city began in 1577, when the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das, founded a new settlement called Ramdaspur around a sacred tank begun under his predecessor, Guru Amar Das. His successor Guru Arjan Dev enlarged the sarovar, named it Amrit Sarovar (“pool of nectar”), and began constructing the Harmandir Sahib at its centre. Over time, Ramdaspur took the name Amritsar from this holy tank.

In the 18th century, as Mughal authority weakened, Afghan invasions and persecution forced Sikhs to fight from the countryside, but Amritsar remained the spiritual heart, repeatedly damaged and rebuilt. Under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the early 19th century, the shrine was restored and richly embellished with marble and gold plating, giving rise to the name “Golden Temple.” Amritsar also prospered as a commercial city linked to Lahore and Central Asia.

Under British rule, Amritsar was a major centre of political and religious life. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919), next to the Golden Temple, shocked the nation and galvanised the freedom struggle. Partition in 1947 turned Amritsar into a crucial border city, witnessing immense violence and migration. In 1984, Operation Blue Star brought further trauma. Today, despite its turbulent past, Amritsar stands as the principal pilgrimage city of Sikhism and a key cultural, trade and border hub of Punjab.