Between the Mutiny and Amritsar: The 'Kooka' Massacre of 1872

This talk explores the little-known history of the ‘Kooka’ Massacre.

Kim Wagner

Kim Wagner is a Danish-British historian of colonial India and the British Empire at Queen Mary, University of London. He has written a number of books on colonial India, including ‘Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear and the Making of a Massacre’ (2019).

In January 1872, Deputy Commissioner J. L. Cowan responded to a minor outbreak among Namdhari Sikhs by executing 68 prisoners by blowing them from cannons in the small principality of Malerkotla in Punjab. This talk explores the little-known history of the ‘Kooka’ Massacre, that echoed the Uprising of 1857 and foreshadowed the Amritsar Massacre of 1919, thus revealing something crucial about the forms and functions of fear and violence in British India.

Buy ‘The Skull of Alum Bheg: The Life and Death of a Rebel of 1857’ here >>

Marina Wheeler

In this gripping memoir, Marina Wheeler tells the story of her mother’s early years shaped by the Partition and her subsequent search for personal and political freedom.

Kevin Bacon and Jody East

Why did George IV's seaside pleasure palace become a hospital for Indian soldiers? A talk and Q&A with Kevin Bacon and Jody East from Brighton's Royal Pavilion, exploring the myths and realities surrounding one of the most unusual hospitals of the First World War.

George Morton-Jack

Historian George Morton-Jack, author of 'The Indian Empire at War' - drawing on long-lost Indian veteran interviews and oral memories in India and Pakistan to explore neglected personal stories of 1914-1918

Prof Nikki Guninder Kaur Singh

Prof Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh drawing upon her work on the Guru Granth Sahib will discuss how the female was exalted by the Gurus to ensure equality.

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