Even today, 12th September is celebrated as the Saragarhi Day in honour of the sacrifices made by those 21 brave soldiers and it’s observed as the Sikh military commemoration day.
Three gurdwaras – Saragarhi, Ferozpur and Amritsar have been made to commemorate their sacrifice.
The frontier between colonial India and Afghanistan in the 19th century was a place of danger and unrest. In 1897, at a small outpost called Saragarhi, 40 miles away from the British garrison town of Kohat (in what is now Pakistan), 21 Sikh soldiers stood their ground against an onslaught of 10,000 enemy tribesmen.
In a show of unprecedented courage and unparalleled valour, all the 21 soldiers of 36 Sikh Regiment fought till their last breath against the Afghan hordes and went down as superheroes who are celebrated not only by the Indian Army but even the British Army.
Post the battle, Col. Haughton narrated the heart-wrenching story of the battle to the top brass of British Indian Army. As a result, all 21 soldiers were awarded the prestigious Indian Order of Merit Class III award. It was also for the first time in history, that each and every member of the unit won the gallantry awards for a single battle.
The youngest of all the soldiers, aged 19, knocked down 20 tribesmen before falling to sleep forever. The commander Havildar Ishvar Singh also laid down some 20 men hand to hand before expiring. Other 20 also depicted the same tale of boldness and manliness.
The sacrifice of those 21 men didn’t go in vain, they not only killed hundreds of enemies but also managed to delay their advance to Fort Gulistan, which gave time for reinforcements to arrive and defeat the enemy.
British halted their parliament midway to give a standing ovation to the courage of those 21 brave Sikh men. Queen Victoria also said, “It is no exaggeration to record that the armies which possess the valiant Sikhs cannot face defeat in war. 21 vs 10,000.”
This death-or-glory tale is recorded in the collection of list of “8 stories of collective bravery in the history of mankind” assembled by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
