Takkar massacre

On 28 May 1930, an event now known as the Takkar massacre took place in Takkar, British India, roughly a month after the Qissa Khwani massacre in Peshawar. According to Wikipedia's account, sourced to the Pashto-language book *Da Khpal Waakaye Tarun*, approximately 70 people were killed and 150 were wounded when British Indian Army forces attacked local villagers who had gathered to prevent the arrest of leaders associated with the Khudai Khidmatgar movement, a non-violent Pashtun political movement active in the region at the time.

The events leading to the massacre began on 26 May 1930, when British colonial authorities, led by a police officer identified as Mr. Murphy and accompanied by a police force, arrived in Takkar intending to arrest movement leaders named as Malik Masim Khan, Salar Shamroz Khan, Salar Sarbuland Khan, Malik Khan Badshah, Pir Shahzada, and Malik Hameed of Fazalabad. These individuals refused to surrender, and the resulting standoff escalated into a confrontation the following day. During the unrest, Mr. Murphy, who was on horseback, attempted to force his way into a protest procession and was killed.

In response, a large contingent of colonial troops launched an assault on the village. This assault is the event remembered as the Takkar massacre. The Wikipedia article notes that Takkar had become a key stronghold of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement following Peshawar and Utmanzai, and that the movement was gaining significant momentum in the region at the time.

The tragedy is described as having inspired folk songs, including one titled "Pa Takkar jang de golay warege," which the source states remains popular. A monument has reportedly been erected to honour those who died.

The Wikipedia article lists the Takkar massacre alongside other documented incidents of colonial-era violence against civilians in British India, including the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Qissa Khwani massacre, and others, though no further detail on those comparisons is provided in the source text.

Two additional sources — from dawn.com and thefridaytimes.com — are cited by the Wikipedia article as references but their full text was not available for review in this dossier; they are included here as corroborating references only, without additional facts drawn from them.

No individuals are named in the source material as having been charged, convicted, acquitted, or exonerated in connection with the killings, and no law enforcement or judicial outcome is described. The named leaders and Mr. Murphy are identified only in the context of the events described above, not in any of the schema's legal-status roles.