Ratan Devi (witness)

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Ratan Devi
Bornc. 1891
Known forWitness testimony of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre aftermath

Ratan Devi, sometimes spelled Rattan Devi (born c. 1891), was an Indian eyewitness to the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, which took place on 13 April 1919 in Amritsar, Punjab, India. [1] [2]

Contents

Amritsar 1919

Upon hearing gunfire on 13 April 1919, Devi went to search for her husband at Jallianwala Bagh. [3] [4] Finding his body among the dead, she defied the imposed curfew and remained by his side throughout the night until help arrived the following morning. [5] [6] [7] She later provided testimony to both the subsequent Indian National Congress inquiry and the later O'Dwyer v. Nair Libel Case . [8] [9]

Devi told the inquiry;

I found a bamboo stick which I kept in my hand to keep off dogs. I saw three men writhing in agony, a buffalo struggling in great pain, and a boy, about 12 years old, in agony, entreated me not to leave the place. I told him that I could not go anywhere, leaving the dead body of my husband. I asked him if he wanted any wrap, and if he was feeling cold I could spread it over him. He asked for water, but water could not be procured at that place. [6]

Devi declined any compensation for her loss. [2] [a] Her account was later recorded by historian Vishwa Nath Datta, and she has been commemorated in a painting at the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial, portrayed in a stage production, and cited in historical accounts of the massacre. [1] [5] [11]

Notes

  1. ↑ In 1921 the Punjab government quietly distributed ₹500 for each death and about ₹300 for permanent injuries at Jallianwala Bagh. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 Kaur, Gagandeep (2022). "Literature on Women during Jallianwala Bagh Massacre" (PDF). Journal of Software Engineering and Simulation. 8 (7). Quest Journals: 67–70. ISSN   2321-3809.
  2. 1 2 Indiagram: Week's News. Information Service, Embassy of India. 1961. p. 10.
  3. ↑ Gill, M. S. (2005). Immortal Heroes Of The World. Sarup & Sons. p. 88. ISBN   978-81-7625-590-5.
  4. ↑ Anand, Anita (2021). "9. No warning, no way out". The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence. Simon and Schuster. pp. 108–109. ISBN   978-1-5011-9571-6.
  5. 1 2 Datta, V. N. (1967). Amritsar Past And Present. p. 76.
  6. 1 2 Wagner, Kim A. (2019). "9. Massacre". Amritsar, 1919 : an empire of fear and the making of a massacre. Yale University Press. pp. 176–177. ISBN   978-0-3002-0035-5.
  7. ↑ Furneaux, Rupert (2022). Massacre at Amritsar. Taylor & Francis. pp. 36–37. ISBN   978-1-000-68932-7.
  8. ↑ "O'Dwyer Nair case: termination of proceedings" . Civil & Military Gazette. Lahore. 16 November 1923. p. 4. Retrieved 4 May 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ Chowdhury, Sharmishtha Roy (2019). The First World War, Anticolonialism and Imperial Authority in British India, 1914-1924. Routledge. p. 290. ISBN   978-0-429-79874-0.
  10. ↑ Dhillon, Hardeep (June 2024). "Imperial Violence, Law, and Compensation in the Age of Empire, 1919–1922". The Historical Journal. 67 (3): 512–537. doi: 10.1017/S0018246X23000560 . ISSN   0018-246X.
  11. ↑ Gupta, Sarmistha Dutta (1 September 2024). "Punjabi women missing from discussions on Jallianwala Bagh—as if they didn't suffer at all". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 29 April 2025. Retrieved 29 April 2025.


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