The Battle of Saragarhi 12 September 1897: A Glorious Page from Indian Army History
When I was undergoing the 41st Staff College course at Wellington, part of the curriculum was the wars fought by the British Indian army in the North West Frontier ( Now part of Pakistan). One of the most famous battles worth study is the Battle of Saragarhi fought in the mountain ranges of the frontier close to Kohat.What makes this battle unique is the fact that only a platoon of 21 Sikhs of the 36 Sikh Regiment faced a Muslim force of over 10,000. The battle on 12 September 1897, resulted in all 21 Sikhs being killed, but not after a bitter fight in which the Muslim force lost almost 1000 dead.
The entire North West Frontier is populated by Pashtuns or Pathans who are legendary fighters. They were subdued by the Sikh General Hari singh Nalwa during the Sikh-Afghan wars from 1820-30.As a part of defensive strategy the Sikhs had built a string of forts in this mountainous region. Two of the forts were at a Lockhart and Gullistan. These forts were on 2 mountain peaks, but out of line of sight from each other. The forts were manned by the British Indian army and in 1897 the commander was Lt Colonel J Houghton.As the forts were out of sight, a heliographic unit in a small fort was set up at Saragarhi. This fort was manned by 21 Sikh soldiers under havildar Karam Singh. The Sikh unit passed messages from one fort to another and kept the communication lines alive.
In 1896, Gul Badshah the tribal Pashtun leader declared Jihad against the British occupation and the entire region was aflame as the Pashtuns attacked the British manned forts.Historically this is known as the Tirah campaign. the Pashtun tribes under Gul Badshah attacked the forts at Gulistan and Lockhart and bottled up the soldiers inside. Both forts were under siege. At the same time a force of 10,000 Afghans attacked the fort at saragarhi. As a shrewd soldier Gul Badshah realized that the capture of Saragarhi was essential to break the communication network. The attacks commenced at dawn on 12 september 1897, but 3 waves of attackers could not capture the fort and the entrenched Sikhs inflicted heavy casualties.
Gul Badshah offered a truce and safe passage to the Sikhs if they surrendered, but this offer was spurned and the battle again commenced at about 9 am. However the Pashtuns continued to suffer heavy casualties. The CO of the regiment Col Houghton could only watch from the fort as he himself was under siege. The Sikhs fought with great courage against a vast horde of Muslim tribesmen, but one by one their numbers were getting depleted. They were only 21, but they did the Indian army proud.
The Sikhs fought to the last man and the last signaller sent a message to Col Houghton and charged the Afghans with his bayonet, before he was killed. Thus all 21 soldiers laid down their lives. The Afghans entered the small fort and burnt it to ashes, but Gul Badshah acknowledged the bravery of the Sikh soldiers.
By evening the siege of the forts was broken and troops of colonel Hoghton were able to drive the Pashtuns away, but as they reached the fort they were confronted by the dead bodies of the 21 Sikhs who had fought bravely to the end.
The British suitably rewarded the next of kin of all the 21 Sikhs with land grants in Ferozepur. All the 21 were also awarded the Star of India , the highest military award for Indians at that time. The matter was referred to Queen Victoria, who desired that a gurudwara be built in memory of the Sikh soldiers. As most of the Sikhs were from Ferozepur, the British built the Saragarhi gurudwara which is still there. It carries the names of the 21 Sikhs who laid down their lives on that fateful day.
A bigger honor was when both houses of the British parliament rose up in one session to honor the memory of the Sikhs in 1898. 12 September remains a hallowed day for the Indian army and is celebrated as "Raising Day" of the Sikh Regiments till today. This battle is recognized as one of the great battles fought by the Indian army.It is true the soldiers fought for the Raj, but the implicit bravery of the Sikh sepoys is to be cherished for all time to come.
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