Saragarhi was a small rocky outpost situated between Fort Gulistan (Cavagnari) and Fort Lockhart in the North West Frontier Province, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. The 36th Sikhs were spread thinly along the range, with 168 native Indian soldiers at Fort Lockhart under the command of Haughton while Des Voeux commanded 175 rifles at Fort Gulistan five miles away. Two of the forts were Fort Lockhart (on the Samana Range of the Hindu Kush mountains), and Fort Gulistan (Sulaiman Range), situated a few miles apart. Nearly 120 years after it happened, the story of the battle of Saragarhi is finally going out to the world. Saragarhi was a communication relay post between Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan (also known as Fort Cavagnari) in the Sulaiman Range of the NWFP. The troupe trained in Jalandhar, and then got posted to the Samana hills area [NorthWest Frontier Province – now in Pakistan] This was where Saragarhi was located. Two of them were Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan, located a few miles from each other. Realising Saragarhi was the key, and with reinforcements arriving, the tribesmen descended upon the post on 11 September. Their mission was to ensure the relay of messages, but they were ill prepared for a siege. Saragarhi was a small village in the border district of Kohat, situated on the Samana Range, in present-day Pakistan. Fort Lockhart is located at 33.5562N 70.9188E. This is the region where the British held on to forts originally built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. As Akshay Kumar’s new movie “Kesari” (which is based on historical battle of Saragarhi) is expected to release this month, one reader requested me to explain the historical context of it. Fort Lockhart is located at 33.5562N 70.91877E. 21 soldiers of the 36 Sikh Regiment fought an army of over 10,000 Afghans and killed more than 600 of them before perishing to enemy bullets. It came under siege on Sep 12, 1897. The battle & many accounts. However, unseen by the Sikhs soldiers inside the outpost, the enemy had begun digging beneath the walls to edge forward. Between 28 August and 11 September, Fort Gulistan and the outposts around Fort Lockhart were attacked a number of times without success. The ruins of the Saragarhi outpost. They call the Battle of Saragarhi one of the greatest last stands in military history: 21 Sikh soldiers held fort against more than 10,000 rampaging tribesmen for over six hours. On 12 September 1897, an estimated 12,000 – 24,000 Orakzai and Afridi tribesmen were seen near Gogra, at Samana Suk, and around Saragarhi, cutting off Fort Gulistan from Fort … Due to the forts not being visible to each other, Saragarhi was created midway, as a heliographic communication post. Since Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan were not in a visual line of sight due to geographical attributes a midway heliograph communication post was built at Saragarhi. Saragarhi was manned by 20 Sikhs, led by Havildar Ishar Singh, and a camp follower. Saragarhi, a communication post between Gulistan and Lockhart forts in the North West Frontier Province (Khyber Pakthtunkhwa in modern Pakistan), was under their command. On September 12, the signalling post of Saragarhi, which was in between them, fell as around 10,000 tribesmen attacked and overcame its walls. On the morning of 12 September, a part of the Pashtun rebels invested the vulnerable small fort at Saragarhi. Photo Source. Fort Lockhart is on the skyline. Due to the forts not being visible to each other, Saragarhi was created midway, as a heliographic communication post. Once this was done, they set fire to the surrounding shrubs to create a smokescreen that would hide their approach. The Saragarhi post, situated on a rocky ridge, consisted of a small block house with loop-holed ramparts and a signalling tower. 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