Amritsar

Amritsar (Punjabi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as Ambarsar, is a city in north-western India which is the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district -- located in the Majha region of the Indian state of Punjab.

According to the 2011 census, the population of Amritsar was 1,132,761. 

The city is situated 217 km (135 mi) northwest of state capital Chandigarh. 

It is near Pakistan, with the Wagah Border being only 28 km (17.4 mi) away. 

The nearest city is Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan, located 50 km (31.1 mi) to the west.

Hinduism and Sikhism are the main religions of Amritsar city, practised by 49.4% and 48% of the total population, respectively.

Amritsar is home to the Harmandir Sahib (commonly known as the Golden Temple), the spiritual and cultural centre for the Sikh religion. 

This important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal with more than 100,000 visitors on weekdays alone and is the most popular destination for non-resident Indians (NRI) in the whole of India. The city also houses the Akal Takht, the highest seat of earthly authority of the Khalsa, and the committee responsible for the upkeep of Gurdwaras.

The Ramtirth temple situated at Amritsar is believed to be the Ashram site of Maharishi Valmiki, the writer of Ramayana.

According to the Hindu mythology, Goddess Sita gave birth to Lava and Kusha, sons of lord Rama at Ramtirth ashram. Large number of people visit Ramtirth Temple at annual fair. 

Nearby cities to Amritsar, Lahore and Kasoor were said to be founded by Lava and Kusha, respectively. During AshvamedhaYagna by Lord Rama, Lava and Kush captured the ritual horse and tied Lord Hanuman to a tree near to today's Durgiana Temple. 

During Navratra festivities it is considered to be auspicious by Hindu population of the city to visit that temple.

The main commercial activities of Amritsar include tourism, carpets and fabrics, farm produce, handicrafts, service trades, and light engineering. 

The city is known for its rich cuisine, and culture, and for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 under British Rule. 

Amritsar is home to Central Khalsa Orphanage, which was once home to Udham Singh, a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement. 

Gandhi Ground is the main sports complex in the city which is home to the Amritsar Games Association, (AGA).

Amritsar has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India.

Amritsar is one of the largest cities of the Punjab state in India. 

The city origin lies in the village of Tung, and was named after the lake founded by the fourth Sikh Guru Ram Das in 1574 on land bought by him for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. 

Earlier, Guru Ram Das had begun building Santokhsar Sarovar, near the village of Sultanwind in 1564 (according to one source in 1570). 

It could not be completed before 1588. 

In 1574, Guru Ram Das built his residence and moved to this place. 

At that time, it was known as Guru Da Chakk. (Later, it came to be known as Chakk Ram Das.)

Amritsar's central walled city has narrow streets mostly developed in the 17th and 18th century. 

The city is a peculiar example of an introverted planning system with unique areas called Katras. 

The Katras are self-styled residential units that provided unique defence system during attacks on the city.

Jallianwala Bagh massacre

The Jallianwalla Bagh in 1919, months after the massacre

Bullet marks on the walls of the park premises

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, involving the killing of hundreds of Indian civilians on the orders of a senior British military officer, Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, took place on 13 April 1919 in the heart of Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs, on a day sacred to them as the birth anniversary of the Khalsa (Vaisakhi day).

In the Punjab, during World War I (1914–18), there was considerable unrest particularly among the Sikhs, first on account of the demolition of a boundary wall of Gurdwara Rakab Ganj at New Delhi and later because of the activities and trials of the Ghadarites, almost all of whom were Sikhs. 

In India as a whole, too, there had been a spurt in political activity mainly owing to the emergence of two leaders: Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) who after a period of struggle against the British in South Africa, had returned to India in January 1915, and Annie Besant (1847–1933), head of the Theosophical Society of India, who on 11 April 1916 established the Home Rule League with autonomy for India as its goal. 

In December 1916, the Indian National Congress, at its annual session held at Lucknow, passed a resolution asking the king to issue a proclamation announcing that it is the "aim and intention of British policy to confer self-government on India at an early date".

On 10 April 1919, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two popular proponents of the Satyagraha movement led by Gandhi, were called to the deputy commissioner's residence, arrested and sent off by car to Dharamsetla, a hill town, now in Himachal Pradesh. 

This led to a general strike in Amritsar. 

Excited groups of citizens soon merged into a crowd of about 50,000 marching on to protest to the deputy commissioner against the arrest of the two leaders. 

The crowd, however, was stopped and fired upon near the railway foot-bridge. 

According to the official version, the number of those killed was 12 and of those wounded between 20 and 30. 

Evidence before an inquiry of the Indian National Congress put the number of the dead between 20 and 30.

Three days later, on 13 April, the traditional festival of Baisakhi, thousands of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh. 

An hour after the meeting began as scheduled at 16:30, Dyer arrived with a group of sixty-five Gurkha and twenty-five Baluchi soldiers. 

Without warning the crowd to disperse, Dyer blocked the main exits and ordered his troops to begin shooting toward the densest sections of the crowd. 

Firing continued for approximately ten minutes. 

A British inquiry into the massacre placed the death toll at 379. 

The Indian National Congress determined that approximately 1,000 people were killed.

Partition of 1947

Partition of British India into India and Pakistan had a most profound effect on the demographics, economics, culture, political and social structures of Amritsar. 

The state of Punjab was divided between India and Pakistan and Amritsar became a border city, often on the front lines of India-Pakistan wars. 

Prior to partition, the Muslim league wanted to incorporate Amritsar into Pakistan because of the Amritsar's proximity to Lahore (a distance of 30 miles) and a nearly 50% Muslim population, but the city became part of India. 

The Indian National Congress had similar aims of incorporating Lahore into India as Lahore was the cultural, economic, and political capital of undivided Punjab and Hindus and Sikhs constituted nearly 50% of the population, but Lahore became a part of Pakistan. 

Amritsar and Lahore experienced some of the worst communal riots during the partition of India. 

Muslim residents of Amritsar left the city en-masse leaving their homes and property behind because of violent anti-Muslim riots in Amritsar. 

Similar scenes of communal carnage against Hindus and Sikhs were witnessed in Lahore and led to their mass evacuation.

Important Muslim dominated villages in Amritsar district prior to partition include Sultanpur, Kala Afgana, Abdul Kalan, Rasheed Bal, Lahorie, Shahpur, Shahkot, Alipur, Aliwal, Allahbad, Fatehbad, Chak, Guza Chak, Jattan, Cheema.

Operation Blue Star

Operation Blue Star (3– 6 June 1984) was an Indian military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India to curb and remove Sikh militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. 

The operation was carried out by Indian army troops with tanks and armoured vehicles.

Militarily successful, the operation aroused immense controversy, and the government's justification for the timing and style of the attack are hotly debated.

Operation Blue Star was included in the Top 10 Political Disgraces by India Today magazine.

Official reports put the number of deaths among the Indian army at 83, with 493 civilians and Sikh militants killed.

In addition, the CBI is considered responsible for seizing historical artefacts and manuscripts in the Sikh Reference Library before burning it down.

Four months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in what is viewed as an act of vengeance. 

Following her assassination, more than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in anti-Sikh pogroms.

Within the Sikh community itself, Operation Blue Star has taken on considerable historical significance.

Almaty

Almaty (Kazakh: Алматы, Almatı; Russian: Алматы), formerly known as Alma-Ata (Russian: Алма-Ата) and Verny (Russian: Верный/Verný), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of 1,703,481 people, containing 9% of the country's total population. 

Almaty is considered a World City with a "Beta -" classification according to GaWC.

It served as capital of the Kazakh state in its various forms from 1929 to 1997, under the influence of the then Soviet Union and its appointees. 

In 1997, the government relocated the capital to Astana in the north of the country.

Almaty continues as the major commercial and cultural centre of Kazakhstan, as well as its biggest population center. 

The city is in the mountainous area of southern Kazakhstan in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau at an elevation of 2,300–3,000 feet (700–900 m), where the Bolshaya and Malaya Almaatinka rivers run into the plain.

Prehistoric Almaty

During 1000–900 BC in the Bronze Age, the first farmers and cattle-breeders established settlements in the territory of Almaty. 

During the Saka period (from 700 BC to the beginning of the Common Era), these lands were occupied by the Saka and later Wusun tribes, who inhabited the territory north of the Tian Shan mountain range. Evidence of these times can be found in the numerous burial mounds (tumuli) and ancient settlements, especially the giant burial mounds of the Saka tsars. 

The most famous archaeological finds have been the "The Golden man", also known as "The Golden Warrior", from the Issyk Kurgan; the Zhalauly treasure, the Kargaly diadem, and the Zhetysu arts bronzes (boilers, lamps and altars). 

During the period of Saka and Wusun governance, Almaty became an early educational centre.

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages (8–10th centuries), a city culture developed in Almaty. 

There was a transition to a settled way of living, the development of farming and handicrafts, and the emergence of a number of towns and cities in the territory of Zhetysu.

In the 10–14th centuries, settlements in the territory of the so-called "Greater Almaty" became part of the trade routes of the Silk Road, which reached from China to western Asia and Europe. 

At that time, Almaty became one of the trade, craft and agricultural centres on the Silk Road. 

It had an official mint. 

The city was first mentioned as Almatu in books from the 13th century.

15th–18th centuries

In the 15th–18th centuries, the city was in decline as trade activities were decreasing on this part of the Silk Road. 

European nations were conducting more trade by shipping. 

This period was one of crucial ethnic and political transformations. The Kazakh state and nation were founded here, close to Almaty.

The Dzungar invaded, dominating the Kazakh people for a period. The Kazakh fought to protect their land and preserve independence. 

In 1730 the Kazakh defeated the Dzungar in the Anyrakay mountains, 70 kilometres (43 miles) north-west of Almaty. 

During the eighteenth century, the city and region became part of the Khanate of Kokand. 

It was become part of Russian Empire in 1840s.

Foundation of Verniy

Zenkov Cathedral, a 19th-century Russian Orthodox cathedral located in Panfilov Park, is the fourth tallest wooden building in the world.^[8]

To defend its empire, Russia built Fort Verniy near the Zailiysky Alatau mountain range between the Bolshaya and Malenkaya Almatinka rivers. 

Construction began on 4 February 1854 and was nearly completed by the autumn of that year. 

The fort was a wooden palisade, shaped like a pentagon, with one side built along the Malaya Almatinka. 

Later, the wood fence was replaced with a brick wall with embrasures. 

The main facilities were erected around the large square for training and parading.

The former Presidential Palace

In 1855 Kazakhs displaced from their nomadic territory appeared in Verniy. 

Since 1856, Verniy started accepting Russian peasants. 

They founded the Bolshaya Almatinskaya Stanitsa (Cossack village) near the fortification. 

The inflow of migrants was increasing and led to construction of the Malaya Almatinskaya Stanitsa and Tatarskaya (Tashkentskaya) sloboda. 

It was the place of settlement for Tatar merchants and craftsmen.

In 1867 Verniy Fort was developed as a town called Almatinsk; the town soon returned to the name Verniy.

According to the First City Plan, developed by administrators of the Russian Empire, the city perimeters were 2 kilometres (1 mile) on the south along Almatinka river, and 3 kilometres (2 miles) on the west. 

The new city area was divided into residential parts, and the latter into districts. 

Three categories of city buildings were defined. 

Category I and II buildings were of one or two-storied construction with a high semi-basement; they were erected around and in the centre of the city, others on the outskirts.

World War II monument "Feat" in Park of the 28 Panfilov Guardsmen

On 28 May 1887, at 4 a.m., an earthquake almost totally destroyed Verniy in 11–12 minutes.

Brick buildings were damaged the most, as they broke apart because of lack of flexibility. 

As a result, people were afterwards inclined to build one-storied buildings made of wood or adobe.

By 1906, the population of the city had grown to 27,000, two-thirds of whom were Russians and Ukrainians.

Soviet Era

In 1918 following the Russian Revolution and establishment of the Bolshevik government, Soviet power was established in Verniy. 

The city and the region became part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (RSFSR).^[

On 5 February 1921 the government decided to rename Verniy to Alma-Ata, one of the ancient names of the area.

Revolution of 1917 to World War II

The Almaty Opera Building

Corner Pushkin and Shevchenko streets

Suburban region streets of Almaty.

In 1921, a joint consultation of regional government representatives, professional trade associations, and local faith-based groups was summoned in an effort to rename Verniy. 

Alma-Ata was the preferred choice.

In 1926, the Council of Labor and Defence approved the construction of the Turkestan-Siberia Railway that was a crucial element of the future growth of Kazakhstan, especially in the east and southeast of the region. 

The Turkestan-Siberia Railway construction also had a decisive economic impact that strongly influenced the destiny of Alma-Ata as the capital of the Kazakh ASSR. 

In 1930 the construction of the highway and railway to Alma-Ata was completed.

Rahat Towers are among the tallest buildings in Kazakhstan

On 29 April 1927, the government decided to transfer the capital of the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from Kyzyl-Orda to Alma-Ata, within the RFSFR. 

This attracted more trade and people working with the government, stimulating intensive development in the city.

On 31 January 1928, Leon Trotsky, leader of the 1917 October Revolution, accompanied by his wife Natalia Sedova and his son Lev Sedov, was exiled to Alma Ata by Joseph Stalin, then head of the Bolshevik party in Moscow. 

Trotsky was expelled from Alma-Ata to Turkey in February 1929, and went into exile in Mexico City.

The Alma-Ata airport was opened in 1930, opening up a direct connection from Alma-Ata to Moscow, the center of the Soviet government. 

Alma-Ata became the main entry by air to Kazakhstan, a status which it retains today. 

Transformation of this small town into the capital of the Kazakh SSR was accelerated by the large-scale construction of new administrative and government facilities and housing.

The Great Purge of the Stalin era extended to Kazakhstan, where numerous intellectuals, activists, leaders, teachers and others were killed. 

The Soviet government dominated the population. 

During the 1930s Kazakh nomads suffered starvation after disruption of their traditional living patterns.

The Central Mosque of Almaty

In 1936 the Architecture and Planning Bureau developed a plan to enhance Alma-Ata as the new cultural capital of the Kazakh SSR. 

The plan was based on the existing rectangular system of districts. 

They were to be strengthened and reconstructed.

World War II

During World War II the government dramatically affected the city's population and structures. 

To better organize the home front and concentrate industrial and material resources, the government evacuated 26,000 people and numerous industries from the European theatre of war.

Alma-Ata hosted over 30 industrial facilities removed from the European section of the USSR, 8 evacuated hospitals, 15 institutes, universities and technical schools; and around 20 cultural institutions. Motion picture production companies from Leningrad, Kiev, and Moscow were also moved to Alma-Ata at this time.

This brought in so many ethnic Russians that the Kazakhs became a minority in the region.

Over 52,000 Alma-Ata residents received the title "Gratitude for Your Self-Denying Labour". 

Forty-eight residents were granted the title of "Hero of The Soviet Union". 

Three rifle divisions were raised in Alma-Ata, including the well-known 8th Guards Rifle Division 'Panfilov' (originally the 316th rifle division), along with 2 rifle battalions and 3 aviation regiments that were raised on the bases of the air club of Alma-Ata.

Industrialisation in the Soviet period

After 1941, due to the mass evacuation of factories and workers from the European part of the Soviet Union during World War II, Alma-Ata became an administrative and trading centre. 

Although it had an underdeveloped industrial base it become one of the largest industrial centres of the Soviet Union. It was to the rear of the wartime fronts.

During the years 1941–1945 the industrial potential of the city increased significantly. Development increased during the postwar years. 

The population of the city grew from 104,000 in 1919 to 365,000 in 1968. 

By 1967 the city had 145 enterprises, with the bulk of these being light industrial and food industries.

The main industries in Alma-Ata were: food processing (36% of gross industrial output), based largely on locally abundant fruit and vegetable raw materials, light industry (31%), and heavy industry (33%). 

The main products of the region were:

• Food: Meat, flour and cereals (pasta factory), milk, wines, canned fruit, tobacco, confectionery, alcoholic spirits, beer, yeast, and tea (packaging)
• Light industry: textiles, fur, knitting, carpets, footwear, apparel, printing, and the Almaty Cotton combine.
• Heavy industry: electrical engineering, foundry engineering, car repair, bearing repair, building materials, woodworking, concrete structures and structural elements, and house-building.

1945 to 2000 infrastructure

The International conference on Primary Health Care in 1978, known as the Alma-Ata Declaration.

From 1966 to 1971, 1,400,000 square metres of public and cooperative housing were built. 

Annually, around 300,000 square metres of dwellings were under construction. 

Most of the buildings constructed during this time were earthquake-proof multi-storey buildings. 

The Soviet government tried to diversify architectural forms to create a more varied cityscape. 

During this period, many schools, hospitals, cultural, and entertainment facilities were constructed, including Lenin's Palace, the Kazakhstan Hotel, and the "Medeo" sports complex.

The Medeu Dam, designed to protect the city of Almaty and the Medeo skating rink from catastrophic mudflows during flood season, was built in 1966. 

It was reinforced a number of times in the 1960s and 1970s.

The supersonic transport Tupolev Tu-144 went into service on 26 December 1975, carrying mail and freight between Moscow and Alma-Ata in preparation for passenger services; these began in November 1977. 

The Aeroflot flight on 1 June 1978 was the 55th and last scheduled passenger flight of the Tu-144.

On 16 December 1986 the Jeltoqsan riot took place in response to General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's dismissal of Dinmukhamed Kunayev.

September 7, 1988, the subway Almaty Metro project started construction; the subway was opened on 1 December 2011 after 23 years.

In 1993 the government made a decision to rename the city from Alma-Ata to Almaty.

In 1997 the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev approved the Decree to transfer the capital from Almaty to Astana in the north of the country.

On 1 July 1998 a law was passed to establish the special status of Almaty as a scientific, cultural, historical, financial, and industrial centre.

21st century

Panoramic night view of Almaty from Kok-Tobe

Trolleybus in Almaty city

The new General Plan of Almaty for 2030 was developed in 1998. It is intended to create ecologically safe, secure, and socially comfortable living conditions in the city. 

The main objective is to promote Almaty's image as a garden-city.

It proposes continued multi-storied and single-housing development, reorganization of industrial districts or territories, improving transport infrastructure, and expanding Almaty Metro. 

The first line of Almaty metro was launched on 1 December 2011, two weeks ahead of schedule. 

The extension of the line to Kalkaman was opened in 2015.

Al-Farabi Avenue.

The area of the city has been expanded during recent years with the annexation of the suburban settlements of Kalkaman, Kok Tube, Gorniy Gigant (Mountain Giant). 

Numerous apartment blocks, and office skyscrapers have transformed the face of the town, which has been built into the mountains.

However, the plan of developing Almaty has been threatened, after a mass shooting on police officers at the city in July 2016.