One of the finest battles of all times — The Battle of Saragarhi
It was a battle fought between Sikh soldiers and Afghan tribesmen in the year 1897. A battalion of 21 soldiers was one of the 36th regiment trained and stationed in the north-western frontier of British India for the purpose of setting up communication networks between ‘Fort Lockhart’ and ‘Fort Gulistan’ as well as keeping a watch on the insurgency of Pashtun warmen in the Hindu kush valley.
Background: The second afghan war was fought in the year 1878 to 1880 when the British declared victory against the ‘Emirate of Afghanistan’. After emerging victorious, the ‘Treaty of Gandamark’ was signed under which:
- British control of afghan’s foreign relations was established.
- Allowing British forces to control the main passes into Afghanistan from the south.
- Accepting an annual subsidy of 60,000 rupees.
- Ceding territories such as Quetta, Pishin, Sibi, Harnal, and Thal chotiali to British forces.
Later in 1893, the Durand line was drawn in between British India and the Afghan emirate to fix the limit of their respective sphere of influence.
But this didn’t go well with the local Pashtun population living there because this particular borderline divided the Pashtun population and because people of the same tribe speaking the same language and following the same religion, customs, and traditions were divided into 2 different countries and this fact didn’t sit well on the Pashtun local population.
Pashtuns living on the British Indian side weren’t happy and were furious with being ruled by the British. Hence, the trade route between Kabul-Peshawar-Lahore was frequently attacked by local tribesmen. Multiple acts of looting of goods, kidnapping for ransom, and killing of the traders took place around the Khyber pass. British initially tried to suppress them but it was found to be costly since the British were involved in multiple battles with Russia fought in Afghanistan and other central Asian countries and feared that Russia would invade India.
British started to provide money to the tribesmen for the purpose of maintaining loyalty and not attacking the trades and traders. But even Russia at that time started doing the same. They started funding these tribesmen to continuously attack the British assets present in that region. The tribesmen used to shift loyalties based on the amount of monetary funds paid to them. i.e if Russia paid more to these tribesmen then they shift loyalties from pro-British to pro-Russia periodically.
Because of these attacks, the forts built by Ranjit Singh during his reign were consolidated and soldiers were deployed in those places to keep a watch on tribesmen.
Because of the 2 forts — Lockhart and Gulistan not being visible to each other. Saragarhi was created to act as a heliographic communication post between the forts. Saragarhi consisted of a small block house with ramparts and signaling towers during that time.
There were several soldiers and regiments deployed in these areas and one such regiment is the ‘36th regiment’.
These soldiers were trained domestically and were posted in these forts in January 1897 under the commander ‘Lt Col John Haughton’.
Battle: Numerous small-range attacks were launched periodically in 1897 but the big onslaught came on ‘12th September 1897’ where 10,000 afghan tribesmen attacked the fort. The 21 Sikh soldiers are informed about the incoming attack, they seek out the British for help but couldn’t offer immediate help because it was too late and the afghan tribes were already in a position ready for the onslaught.
Around 9 AM the afghan soldiers attacked but their first attack was foiled when 60 afghans were killed. The enemy then hid behind rocks and pits to cover themselves and do a stealth attack. They also somehow managed to reach the post and remained close under the walls of the north-western bastion where they can launch attacks on Sikh soldiers. Again, the second attack was foiled where hundreds of afghans were killed and were forced to retreat. There were losses from the Sikh side as well, Baghwan Singh was the first person to be killed and Lal Singh was injured and couldn’t fight.
The Sikh soldiers were offered to surrender but they refuse and were prepared to fight until their last breath. On the 3rd onslaught, They began digging under the wall so as to enter the building from the underground. The enemy then sets bushes and shrubs under fire which would create a smokescreen.
There were multiple signals sent from Gulistan to Saragarhi about the afghan soldiers digging but the signaller — Gurmukh Singh couldn’t pick up the messages due to the smokescreen. They then started firing at the wooden door to break into the compound of the fort.
Then the dreadful battle begins.
Even though they knew that they were outnumbered. Ishar Singh and few other Sikh soldiers then engage in a brutal fight against them. They managed to kill 100s of afghan soldiers in the process.
But with time, the Sikh soldiers were tired of fighting and they retreated to hiding and were in a defensive mode. But Afghan soldiers broke into their defense and charged them to kill them. Ishar Singh and the team once again fought them bravely and kill 100s of Afghan soldiers. But after some time of the battle, Ishar Singh was killed but he managed to save some of the Sikh soldiers and they manage to escape from that position.
The Sikh soldiers are now standing in their last position in the tower fighting the humongous afghan soldiers coming to attack them. But yet, they continued fighting courageously, and as time passes almost 20 Sikh soldiers are by now killed.
Gurmukh Singh was the last man in the fort, he then signaled the fort Lockhart for permission to leave the post. The British then sent more army to help him in the fight, they entered the fort and were looking for him everywhere on the fort. By the time, British finds Gurmukh Singh they witness the battle between him and afghan soldiers and how he was fiercely killing the afghan soldiers. They witness him killing 40 soldiers in a matter of few minutes.
The tribesmen were horrified by this and then retreated. Then they set the entire fort on fire. As he was dying, he is said to have yelled the Sikh battle cry many times:
“Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal”
“Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal”
The battle ended and the Sikhs lost. Yet this battle is known as one of the most heroic and fierce battles in history where 21 Sikh soldiers killed almost 600–800 afghan soldiers which means every Sikh soldier managed to kill 28–30 soldiers. It was one of the greatest battles in history.
Its legacy remains — Almost every year on 12th September the Sikh military celebrates Saragarhi day in remembrance of the battle….. in India as well as in the UK.
Footnotes:
- Saragarhi — the forgotten battle by Jay Singh Sohal
- 21 Kesaris by Kiran Nirvan
