Where 21 Sikhs clashed with ten thousand Pathans

Where 21 Sikhs clashed with ten thousand Pathans

On September 12, 1897, at 8 in the morning, the sentry of the Saragarhi fort ran inside and informed that a Lashkar of thousands of Pathans was moving towards the Saragarhi fort with the flags and nazes (spears) towards the north.

Their number was between 8,000 and 14,000. The sentry was immediately called in and the leader of the troops, Havildar Isher Singh, ordered the signal man Gurmukh Singh to immediately inform the British officers stationed at the nearby Fort Lockhart and asked them what was the order for them.

Colonel Hoten ordered, "Hold your position." That is, stay in your place. Within an hour the fort was cordoned off on three sides and a soldier of Orakzai raised a white flag in his hand towards the fort.

He shouted, "We have no quarrel with you. Our fight is with the British. You are very few in number, you will be killed. Put arms in front of us. We will take care of you and give you a way to get out of here safely." "

Later, the British Army Major General James Lunt described the fight, writing, "Isher Singh responded to this offer in Pashto, the language of the Orkzaiyans. Their language was not only strong but also full of abuses. He said That this is the land of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, not of the British, and we will protect it till its last breath. "

The fort of Saragarhi resonated with the cry of 'Bole so Nihal, Sat Sri Akal'.

Why did the battle of Saragarhi happen

The fort of Saragarhi is at an altitude of about 6000 feet in Kohat district of the North West Frontier region of Pakistan.

This is the area where no government has been able to control the people living till date.

In the 1880s, the British built three posts here, which was strongly opposed by the local and Kazai people, due to which the British had to evacuate those posts.

In 1891, the British again campaigned there. He got an agreement with Rabia Khel and he got permission to build three small forts in Gulistan, Lockhart and Saragarhi.

But the local Orkazai people never liked it. They continued to attack these bases so that the British would flee from there.

On 3 September 1897, the great Lashkar of the Pathans tried to surround these three fortresses, but Colonel Hotan somehow managed the situation.

But on 12 September, the Aurkazai besieged the three fortresses of Gulistan, Lockhart and Saragarhi and isolated Lockhart and Gulistan from Saragarhi.

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'Firing range'

The first fire of the others came at exactly 9 o'clock.

Brigadier Kanwaljit Singh, who wrote the famous book 'The Iconic Battle of Saragarhi' on Saragarhi Battle, says, "Havildar Isher Singh ordered his soldiers not to fire and let the Pathans come forward and fire them only when They should fall under their 1000 'firing range'.

"Sikh soldiers had single-shot 'Martini Henry .303' rifles that could fire 10 rounds in 1 minute. Every soldier had 400 bullets, 100 in their pockets and 300 in the reserve. They gave the Pathans a range of their rifles. I came in and then started targeting them selectively. "

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Pathan's first attack failed

In the first one hour, 60 soldiers of the Pathans were killed and the soldier Sikh Bhagwan Singh was killed by the Sikhs and Nayak Lal Singh was badly injured.

The first attack of the Pathans failed. He started running around without any aim but he did not stop firing on the Sikhs.

The Sikhs were also giving a befitting reply to them, but what was the status of the 21 rifles in front of the Pathans while firing thousands? And then for how long?

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Then the strong wind blowing from the north side helped the Pathans a lot. They set fire to the grass and their flames started rising towards the walls of the fort.

Taking the support of the smoke, the Pathans came near the fort wall. But due to the precise firing aimed at the Sikhs, they had to retreat.

Meanwhile, the number of injured was also increasing in the Sikh camp. Soldiers Buta Singh and Sundar Singh Veer had gained momentum.

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Signal man Gurmukh Singh was constantly telling Colonel Hotan in sign language that Pathan was preparing to launch another attack and our bullets were running out.

The colonel replied, do not fire indiscriminately. When you are absolutely certain that the enemy will shoot, then only run them. We are trying to get some help to you in some way.

Amarinder Singh writes in his book 'Saragarhi and the Defense of the Saamna Fort', "13 Royal Irish Rifles jawans from Lockhart Fort wanted to go ahead and help the soldiers at Saragarhi."

"But he immediately realized that his number was so low that if he would fire at them even from a distance of 1000 yards, it would have no effect on the Pathans."

"If they go any closer, the 'Jizzel' and the stolen Metford rifles with long drains of the Pathans will easily target them. They return to their fort."

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All this was happening that the two Pathans succeeded in reaching the wall just below the right side of the main fort.

With his sharp knives, he began to uproot the wall wall and the stone pallor below.

Meanwhile, Isher Singh brought four of his men to the main hall of the fort while he continued firing himself.

But Pathan succeeded in making a big hole seven feet at the bottom of the fort wall.

Brigadier Kanwaljit Singh explains, "The Pathans came up with another trick. They raised the four-footers on their heads and started to move under the cover of it so that the Sikhs could not be targeted by seeing them. They took advantage of a stench in the design of the fort." "

"He reached an angle where no one could see him while piercing the fort from the top. Major de Voe, commander of Fort Gulistan, was seeing all this happening from his hideout."

"He also sent signals about this to the soldiers of Saragarhi, but the signal man Gurmukh Singh was busy reading the signals coming from Lockhart, so he did not get attention towards these signals."

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Three soldiers posted in the main block along with Lance Naik Chand Singh, Sahib Singh, Jeevan Singh and Daya Singh were killed.

When Chand Singh was left alone, Isher Singh and the rest of his companions left their guarded position and came to the main block near them.

Isher ordered that he put bayonet in his rifles. Whatever Pathan entered through that hole, it was either targeted accurately with rifles, or it was bitten.

But due to no Sikhs being deployed on the outside edges, the Pathans climbed up the bamboo stairs.

Amarinder Singh writes, "In spite of thousands of Pathans growing in that area, Lieutenant Mana and Colonel Hoton once again started firing with 78 soldiers to help their comrades surrounded in Saragarhi to distract the Pathans. . "

"When he was just 500 meters away from the fort, he saw that the Pathans had flown the wall of the fort and the main door of the fort was on fire. Hotan realized that Saragarhi had fallen."

British Parliament honored 21 soldiers by standing

This fight was given a place in the world's biggest 'Last Stands'. When the news of the sacrifice of these Sikhs reached London, the session of the British Parliament was going on.

All the members stood up and gave 'standing ovation' to these 21 soldiers.

On February 8, 1898 issue 26937 of the London Gazette, the British Parliament commented on page 863, "All Britain and India are proud of these soldiers of 36 Sikh regiments. There is no exaggeration to say that the army in which the Sikhs are The soldiers are fighting, no one can defeat them. "