User:PrinceTheRoyalSikh

 BATTLE OF SARAGARHI 

''Battle of Saragarhi was fought between 21 Sikh and 10,000 - 12,000 Afghan. This battle ended in victory for 21 sikh as nearly 5000 - 6000 Afghan lost their lives and they also failed to conquered the all the forts in a day time. In this battle 21 sikh were martyr.''

In the late 19th century, tensions were heightened between Britain and Russia as the nations battled over territories in central Asia. British forces held vulnerable posts on the colonial border between British India and Afghanistan, threatened by both Russian forces and Afghan tribes. Here, Captain Jay Singh-Sohal explores the events of 12 September 1897 at the battle of Saragarhi – which saw a British outpost surrounded by 10,000 Afghan tribesmen – and shares the remarkable story of a valiant last stand that would reverberate around the British empire. 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. Their gallantry in fighting to the bitter end cemented their reputation as brave and devoted to their duty, and the soldiers were recognised by the British with memorials, a battle honour and a regimental holiday. The timing of the battle is crucial: it occurred during the period of the 19th century known as the ‘Great Game’, the name given to the heightened tensions between Britain and Russia as they battled over Afghanistan and other territories in central Asia. From 1881 to 1885, as the Russians penetrated eastwards in Turkestan, efforts were made to avoid all-out war. A compromise was reached between the two in 1885: a boundary commission was set up in British India with agreement from the emir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan, in order to finally define spheres of British and Afghan influence. This later became the Durrand Line, which is still in dispute today. Following the agreement, Britain developed a ‘forward policy’ of occupying frontier lands and keeping a presence in places inhabited by Pathans, the tribes of people residing in the region.