How was I going to present factual events and real historical figures in a work of fiction? What were the events that I researched and who were the key characters? To answer those questions I have compiled a quick guide for you below:
Udbam Singh (aka Ram Mohammed Singh Azad)
‘I have nothing against the English people at all. I have more English friends living in England than I have in India. I have great sympathy with the workers of England. I am against the Imperialist Government.
Udham Singh (15 July 1940)
Udham Singh became a hero to millions of Indians when he avenged the 1919 Amritsar Massacre by assassinating Michael O’Dwyer in London. His act was seen as a strike against the inhumanity shown by the British, not just in Amritsar but across India during the Raj.
Udham Singh was an orphan and spent part of his life at the Khalsa Orphanage in Amritsar. He went to Iraq when the war started, as a sixteen year old, and served the Raj. But he soon returned to Amritsar and witnessed first hand the massacre at Jallianwalla Bagh. He swore revenge and became a radical, influenced by the growing independence movement, and particularly by the armed struggle led by a rebel called Bhagat Singh.
He spent much of the next decade attempting to procure weapons from the US, and other places, and was captured and imprisoned. Upon his release he left India and went abroad. He travelled widely and was known to have visited the USSR and other countries. By the mid 1930s he was in England, planning his revenge, having renamed himself Ram Mohammed Singh Azad. The name is Hindu, Muslim and Sikh, and signified the united India for which Udham Singh stood.
Very little is known about his time in England. Friends’ testimonials, police documents and studies by experts reveal that he frequented the Shepherds Bush gurdwara (the first in the UK) and also spent some time in Devon, close to Michael O’Dwyer’s home, perhaps working as a bus driver. In 1940 he surfaced at Caxton Hall and carried out his revenge. He was hanged in Pentonville prison the same year.
The East India Company arrived in India during the 1600s and, using its own army, took effective control of the subcontinent by the 1790s. In 1858 British Crown Rule was established and became known as ‘The Raj’. India was Britain’s largest and most-favoured colony and was often called ‘The Jewel in the Crown’. British companies and individuals made huge fortunes trading in India’s natural wealth and resources.
But for the ordinary Indian population, British rule wasn’t welcome. The British gave India many things, including the railways and democratic systems, but in reality they ruled with an iron fist. Over the years there were many uprisings against British rule but all of them failed.
By the time of the Amritsar massacre, opposition to the British was widespread. No longer secure in their colony and hounded by peaceful and violent opposition, the British did all they could to prevent the inevitable Indian independence. But, in trying to hold on to their prized jewel, the British lost the support of the people.
The Jallianwalla Bagh atrocity was one of the pivotal moments in the move towards independence. For most of the Punjab, an area that was a key to British control, the massacre was the last straw. Although it took another three decades for the last of the British to leave, Amritsar certainly helped to make it happen by radicalizing an entire generation of young people against the British.
India gained its independence from Britain in 1947.
Reginald Dyer
‘It is only to an enlightened people that free speech and a free press can be extended. The Indian people want no such enlightenment.’
Reginald Dyer (21 Jan 1921)
Reginald Dyer was the officer in charge at Jallianwalla Bagh and became known as the ‘Butcher of Amritsar’. Cast as both hero and villain, Dyer was much more complex in reality.
He was born in India during 1864 and saw himself as more Indian than English. After being sent to school in the UK, an unhappy Dyer couldn’t wait to return and moved back to India as soon as he was able. Soon after the massacre, he was forced to return to England once more, and this seems to have broken his spirit – he died in 1927. He fought many campaigns alongside Indian troops of all religions throughout his time in India and was a well-respected soldier and officer. Dyer believed that he knew what the Indian people wanted because he was so close to his troops.
His role in the massacre is well documented. Dyer wanted to teach the whole of India a lesson with his actions. And he is rightly remembered as the instigator of an atrocity. But Dyer was also baptised as a sikh after the massacre, something which shows how complex both he and the events of the time were. On his return to England, many people saw him as a hero and ‘The saviour of India’.
Dyer never apologized for his crime, and to this day there is a dispute over how many people were actually killed in Amritsar. But for Indians and their descendants, Dyer will always remain a villain. The Amritsar Massacre remains the largest atrocity ever carried out on civilians by British troops.
Hans Raj has been described as a shady character and very little is known about him. His only link to Amritsar was that he was present in the city during 1919 and was one of the organizers of the Jallianwalla Bagh gathering. But after the massacre he disappeared and nothing more was heard from him.
One of the more controversial theories surrounding Hans Raj’s role is that he was working on behalf of the British to create unrest. This allowed the British to take stricter control of India at a time when there was growing resentment to their presence. Revolutionary actions were spreading across India and in the Punjab the Ghadar party and others were advocating armed struggle. The theory is that Hans Raj acted as a double agent, helping to spread unrest, to give the British an excuse to rein in militants.
It is just a theory but a very fascinating one. The simple fact that Hans Raj disappeared after the massacre is mysterious enough and led me to write my own version of events. Many people will argue that he wasn’t a double agent and that may well be true. But City of Ghosts is only rooted in real events. It isn’t a blow-by-blow account of what actually happened and was never meant to be. For me Hans Raj’s role remains very mysterious and became essential for Jeevan’s story.
The ‘Brotherhood’ of which Hans Raj and Pritam speak in the novel is also entirely fictional.
It’s hard to know why so many Indians fought in the British Army during the colonial period. What is known, is that thousands of them did. From the Western Front and across every theatre of the First World War, many Indians were killed or captured. For many the army represented a good job and a chance to make a decent living. For others, loyalty to the Empire also played a part despite its many excesses.
The Imperial War Museum, the British Library and various websites have records of Indian and other non-white soldiers who fought in the two world wars. You may also wish to read The Butcher of Amritsar by Nigel Collett (2005); an excellent book which was invaluable to my research into Reginald Dyer and the Indian soldiers he commanded.
The following characters in City of Ghosts are real:
Dr Satyapal – A community leader and non-violent activist deported from the Punjab by the British. Dr Satyapal served as a medical officer during the First World War.
Dr Kitchlew – A barrister who advocated non-violent protest against the British Raj. He was deported alongside Dr Satyapal in 1919 – one of the key events that led to rioting in Amritsar before the massacre.
Miles Irving – Deputy Commissioner of the Punjab and district magistrate for Amritsar. According to historians, Irving was incapable of effective command during the period before, during and after the massacre.
Officer Rehill – Superintendent of Police for Amritsar and the man who escorted Satyapal and Kitchlew out of the Punjab.
Officer Plomer – Rehill’s deputy, he was left in charge of the city just before the riots of 10 April 1919.
Lieutenant-Colonel Smith – The Civil Surgeon of Punjab and the man thought to really have been in charge of Amritsar during the days before the massacre. Smith is known to have undermined Miles Irving during this period.
All of the above characters, whilst based on real people, were fictionalized as I wrote the novel. I didn’t find out what any of them looked like, how tall they were or anything like that. Instead I let them take over and do the talking. As a result they may not be entirely historically accurate, but hopefully that won’t spoil your enjoyment of the story.