Da Tiwana
Inspector Sa'ab ;)
The Battle of Saragarhi was fought during the Tirah Campaign on 12 September 1897 between twenty one Sikhs of the 4th Battalion (then 36th Sikhs) of the Sikh Regiment of British India, defending an army post, and 10,000 Afghan and Orakzais tribesmen to the last stand. The battle occurred in the North-West Frontier Province, now a part of <?xmlPakistan, which then formed part of <ST1British India</ST1. The battle has been ranked as one of very few events of such bravery and has been compared to <ST1Thermopylae, where a small Greek force faced a large Persian army of Xerxes (480 BC). UNESCO has described the Battle of Saragarhi as one of eight stories of collective bravery.
Backdrop
In order to consolidate their position and to control the insurgent and inimical activities of some of the local tribal groups inhabiting the north-western frontiers of undivided India, the British rulers of India had constructed a number of forts in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), then a part of India but now in <ST1Pakistan. Fort Lockhart and <ST1Fort Gulistan, a few kilometres apart, were two such forts. They were located on the Samana ridge of the Hindukush and Sulaiman ranges. As the two forts were not visible from one another, a suitably camouflaged signalling post named Saragarhi was created to provide heliographic communications between the two forts.<O</O
In 1897, insurgent and inimical activities had increased, and on 3rd and 9 September Afridi tribes, with allegiance to Afghans, attacked <ST1Fort Gulistan</ST1. Both the attacks were repulsed, and a relief column from <ST1Fort Lockhart</ST1, on its return trip, reinforced the signalling detachment positioned at Saragarhi, making its strength to one Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) and twenty troops of Other Ranks (ORs).
Backdrop
In order to consolidate their position and to control the insurgent and inimical activities of some of the local tribal groups inhabiting the north-western frontiers of undivided India, the British rulers of India had constructed a number of forts in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), then a part of India but now in <ST1Pakistan. Fort Lockhart and <ST1Fort Gulistan, a few kilometres apart, were two such forts. They were located on the Samana ridge of the Hindukush and Sulaiman ranges. As the two forts were not visible from one another, a suitably camouflaged signalling post named Saragarhi was created to provide heliographic communications between the two forts.<O</O
In 1897, insurgent and inimical activities had increased, and on 3rd and 9 September Afridi tribes, with allegiance to Afghans, attacked <ST1Fort Gulistan</ST1. Both the attacks were repulsed, and a relief column from <ST1Fort Lockhart</ST1, on its return trip, reinforced the signalling detachment positioned at Saragarhi, making its strength to one Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) and twenty troops of Other Ranks (ORs).