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Saragarhi
Unknown · Wikimedia
Battlefield

Saragarhi

ਸਾਰਾਗੜ੍ਹੀسرگڑھی دی لڑائی

Signalling post on the Samana ridge where 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs fought to the last man in 1897.

Saragarhi was a signalling post on the Samana ridge in the Kohat district, between Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan, overlooking the Tirah.

On 12 September 1897 twenty-one soldiers of the 36th Sikhs under Havildar Ishar Singh held it against some ten thousand tribesmen for seven hours, and all were killed.

The British built a memorial on the site and two Saragarhi gurdwaras, at Amritsar and at Ferozepur, where the Sikh Regiment remembers them.

Saragarhi, Kohat, Pakistan (approx.)

People

Havildar Ishar Singh
Havildar Ishar Singh1858 – 1897

Commanded the 21 men of the 36th Sikhs who held the Saragarhi post against thousands of Afghan tribesmen until every one was killed.

Battles

1897SaragarhiBattle of Saragarhi21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs under Havildar Ishar SinghvsSeveral thousand Orakzai and Afridi tribesmenAll 21 killed; the post fell, but the attack was delayed long enough for relief to reach nearby forts

On the timeline

12 September 1897 · Saragarhi

The battle of Saragarhi

12 September 1897
Neither fort could see the other; Saragarhi, on the ridge between, passed on their messagesFort GulistanFort Lockhartheliograph: messages flashed with mirrorsSaragarhisignal post, 21 menOrakzai and Afridi tribesmen, perhaps 10,000 or more, surround the post from about 9 a.m.How it fell, 12 September 1897Two rushes at the gate are beaten off.A wall is breached; Ishar Singh holds the gapwhile his men fall back to the inner room.Gurmukh Singh signals to the end, then fights.Schematic, not to scale. Samana Range, near Kohat.

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In the world's museums

2 objects
Opening of a memorial [now known as 'Saragarhi Memorial Gurdwara'] to the 36th Sikhs…Opening of a memorial [now known as 'Saragarhi Memorial Gurdwara'] to the 36th Sikhs…British Library, London · photo Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons) ↗Photograph of the Saragarhi Memorial Gurdwara in AmritsarPhotograph of the Saragarhi Memorial Gurdwara in AmritsarNational Army Museum, London · photo Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons) ↗

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