"When those in front fell down wounded by the shots, those behind came forward with their chests bared and exposed themselves to the fire, so much so that some people got as many as twenty-one bullet wounds in their bodies..." (1/7) 
The above is excerpt from American political scientist Gene Sharpe's description of the brutalities that had unfolded at Peshawar's Qissa Khwani Bazaar, #OTD in 1930 (2/7)
Thousands of followers of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan were out on the streets peacefully protesting the arrest of their leaders. Khan, popularly known as Frontier Gandhi, had been arrested after a speech urging resistance to colonial rule (3/7)
In a display of utmost brutality, two armored cars simply ran over the protesters, mauling several to death. The protesters by and large stuck to Khan's appeal of non-violence. The same however was not true of the other side (4/7)
The British opened on unarmed crowds. Firing started at 11 in the morning & continued till 4 pm in the afternoon. Official estimates put the death toll at 20, while unofficial figures were in the region of 400 (5/7)
Two platoons of Garhwal Rifles, one of the most decorated units in the British Indian Army, refused to board buses set to take them to the location of the protest. The NCOs of the two platoons were imprisoned for eight years (6/7)
In the aftermath of the massacre, protests took place all over the sub-continent. Such was the outrage that King George V had to order an official enquiry into the whole incident. The report was strongly critical of actions by the Army (7/7)
Pictures: Wikimedia Commons, rarenewspapers.com
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