Battle of Saragarhi


The Battle of Saragarhi was fought before the Tirah Campaign on 12 September, 1897 between the British Raj and Afghan tribesmen. On 12 September 1897, estimated 12,000 - 24,000 Orakzai and Afridi tribesmen were seen near Gogra, at Samana Suk and round Saragarhi, cutting off Fort Gulistan from Fort Lockhart. The Afghans attacked the outpost of Saragarhi where thousands of Afghans swarmed and surrounded the fort, preparing to assault it. The soldiers in the fort, who were all Sikhs and led by Havildar Ishar Singh, chose to fight to the death, in what is considered by some military historians as one of history's greatest last stands. The post was recaptured two days later by another British Indian contingent.
The 4th battalion of the Sikh Regiment of Indian Army commemorates the battle every year on 12 September, as Saragarhi Day.

Situation

Saragarhi was a small village in the border district of Kohat, situated on the Samana Range, in present-day Pakistan. On 20 April 1894, the 36th Sikhs of the British Indian Army was created, under the command of Colonel J. Cook. It was entirely composed of Jat Sikhs. In August 1897, five companies of the 36th Sikhs under Lieutenant Colonel John Haughton were sent to the northwest frontier of British India and were stationed at Samana Hills, Kurag, Sangar, Sahtop Dhar and Saragarhi.
The British had partially succeeded in getting control of this volatile area, but tribal Pashtuns continued to attack British personnel from time to time. Thus a series of forts, originally built by Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the Sikh Empire, were consolidated. Two of the forts were Fort Lockhart, and Fort Gulistan, situated a few miles apart. Fort Lockhart is located at 33.5562N 70.9188E. Due to the forts not being visible to each other, Saragarhi was created midway, as a heliographic communication post. The Saragarhi post, situated on a rocky ridge, consisted of a small block house with loop-holed ramparts and a signalling tower.
A general uprising by the Afghans began there in 1897, and between 27 August and 11 September many vigorous efforts by Pashtuns to capture the forts were thwarted by the 36th Sikhs. In 1897, insurgent and inimical activities had increased, and on 3 and 9 September Afridi tribesmen, allied with the Afghans, attacked Fort Gulistan. Both the attacks were repulsed, and a relief column from Fort Lockhart, on its return trip, reinforced the signalling detachment positioned at Saragarhi, increasing its strength to three non-commissioned officers and eighteen other ranks.

The battle

Details of the Battle of Saragarhi are considered fairly accurate, because Gurmukh Singh signalled events to Fort Lockhart by heliograph as they occurred.
Having destroyed Saragarhi, the Afghans turned their attention to Fort Gulistan, but they had been delayed too long, and reinforcements arrived there in the night of 13–14 September, before the fort could be captured. The Pashtuns later admitted that they had lost about 600 killed and many more wounded during the engagement against the 21 Sikh soldiers, but some 1400 bodies are said to have been seen around the ruined post when the relief party arrived. The total casualties in the entire campaign, including the Battle of Saragarhi, numbered around 4,800.

Weapons Used

The weapons given and used by the Indian troops were of an older generation compared to the small arms issued to British troops. This was intentionally done after the Indian Mutiny of 1857 to prevent any further mutinies and uprisings from getting out of hand. The Afghans used the original and copy of Martini-Henry rifles. The Martini–Henry was copied on a large scale by North-West Frontier Province gunsmiths. The chief manufacturers were the Adam Khel Afridi, who lived around the Khyber Pass. The Khyber Pass gunsmiths first acquired examples of the various British service arms during nineteenth-century British military expeditions in the North-West Frontier, which they used to make copies..

Commemorative tablet

The inscription of a commemorative tablet reads:

Order of Merit

The 21 Sikh non-commissioned officers and soldiers who died in the Battle of Saragarhi were from the Majha region of Punjab and were posthumously awarded the Indian Order of Merit, at that time the highest gallantry award which an Indian soldier could receive. The corresponding gallantry award was the Victoria Cross. The award is equivalent to today's Param Vir Chakra awarded by the President of India.
The names of the 21 recipients of the gallantry award are:
  1. Havildar Ishar Singh
  2. Naik Lal Singh
  3. Lance Naik Chanda Singh
  4. Sepoy Sundar Singh
  5. Sepoy Ram Singh
  6. Sepoy Uttar Singh
  7. Sepoy Sahib Singh
  8. Sepoy Hira Singh
  9. Sepoy Daya Singh
  10. Sepoy Jivan Singh
  11. Sepoy Bhola Singh
  12. Sepoy Narayan Singh
  13. Sepoy Gurmukh Singh
  14. Sepoy Jivan Singh
  15. Sepoy Gurmukh Singh
  16. Sepoy Ram Singh
  17. Sepoy Bhagwan Singh
  18. Sepoy Bhagwan Singh
  19. Sepoy Buta Singh
  20. Sepoy Jivan Singh
  21. Sepoy Nand Singh

    Remembrance and legacy

The epic poem "Khalsa Bahadur" is in memory of the Sikhs who died at Saragarhi.
The battle has become iconic of eastern military civilisation, the British Empire's military history and Sikh history. The modern Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army continues to commemorate the Battle of Saragarhi on 12 September each year as the Regimental Battle Honours Day. To commemorate the men the British built two Saragarhi Gurudwaras: one in Amritsar, very close to the main entrance of the Golden Temple, and another in Firozpur Cantonment, in the district that most of the men hailed from.

In Indian schools

The Indian Armed Forces, in particular the Indian Army, has been pushing for the battle to be taught in India's schools. They want it taught due to the heroism shown by the Indian soldiers to act as inspiration for young children. There were articles like these, printed in the Punjab's longest-established newspaper, The Tribune, in 1999: "the military action at Saragarhi is taught to students the world over and particularly to students in France." Although there seems to be no evidence for this claim the news was enough to provoke political debate, and the battle has been taught in schools in Punjab since 2000:

Saragarhi Day

Saragarhi Day is a Sikh military commemoration day celebrated on 12 September every year to commemorate the Battle of Saragarhi. Sikh military personnel and civilians commemorate the battle around the world every year on 12 September. All units of the Sikh Regiment celebrate Saragarhi Day every year as the Regimental Battle Honours Day.

Saragarhi Day in the UK

The first recorded public discourse on Saragarhi was delivered by Viscount Lord Slim in 2001 when he delivered the annual Portraits of Courage lecture at the Imperial War Museum. This was hosted by the Maharaja Duleep Singh Centenary Trust. In May 2002 the Prince of Wales inaugurated the Jawans to Generals exhibition which featured a section on Saragarhi. The exhibition successfully toured the UK and was seen by over 100,000 visitors.
Saragarhi was introduced back into the UK by writer and filmmaker Jay Singh-Sohal and the British Army with the launch of the book Saragarhi: The Forgotten Battle in 2013 at Old College Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It has since been commemorated each year on its battle honour day by the British Armed Forces. In 2014 the commemoration also took place at Sandhurst at the Indian Army Memorial Room. In 2015 it took place at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, where it is also due to take place in 2016.
Various senior ministers and armed forces generals have paid tribute to Sikh service by mentioning the story of Saragarhi. In April 2016 the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon MP made mention as a special Vaisakhi event at the Ministry of Defence. In June 2016 the Chief of the General Staff Sir Nick Carter did the same at a special British Sikh Association dinner.

Comparisons with Thermopylae

The battle has frequently been compared to the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small Greek force faced a large Persian army under Xerxes I in 480 BC. In both cases, a small defending force faced overwhelming odds, fighting to the last man and inflicting an extremely disproportionate number of fatalities on the attacking force.

In popular culture

In September 2017, Saragarhi: The True Story, a documentary by UK-based journalist-filmmaker Jay Singh-Sohal, was screened at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to mark the 120th anniversary of the epic frontier battle.
A TV series, 21 Sarfarosh - Saragarhi 1897 aired on Discovery Jeet from 12 February 2018 to 11 May 2018 starring Mohit Raina, Mukul Dev, and Balraj Singh Khehra.
Three Bollywood were announced based on the battle :
With regards to speculation about multiple films being made about the battle, Hooda stated: "It is good because there were 21 Sikh heroes in that battle and each one of them deserved to have a movie made on them. So actually there should be 21 films made on them."