Nearly 120 years after it happened, the story of the battle of Saragarhi is finally going out to the world. 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. This is the region where the British held on to forts originally built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. However, unseen by the Sikhs soldiers inside the outpost, the enemy had begun digging beneath the walls to edge forward. Fort Lockhart is located at 33.5562N 70.91877E. 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. Saragarhi, a communication post between Gulistan and Lockhart forts in the North West Frontier Province (Khyber Pakthtunkhwa in modern Pakistan), was under their command. Due to the forts not being visible to each other, Saragarhi was created midway, as a heliographic communication post. Fort Lockhart is on the skyline. On the morning of 12 September, a part of the Pashtun rebels invested the vulnerable small fort at Saragarhi. Once this was done, they set fire to the surrounding shrubs to create a smokescreen that would hide their approach. Due to the forts not being visible to each other, Saragarhi was created midway, as a heliographic communication post. 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. 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 … Their mission was to ensure the relay of messages, but they were ill prepared for a siege. 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. It came under siege on Sep 12, 1897. The Saragarhi post, situated on a rocky ridge, consisted of a small block house with loop-holed ramparts and a signalling tower. Saragarhi was a small village in the border district of Kohat, situated on the Samana Range, in present-day Pakistan. The Battle of Saragarhi is considered to be one of the greatest last stands in history. The battle & many accounts. The soldiers stood their ground and fought to death in the six-to-seven-hour battle. 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. On September 12, the signalling post of Saragarhi, which was in between them, fell as around 10,000 tribesmen attacked and overcame its walls. 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. Between 28 August and 11 September, Fort Gulistan and the outposts around Fort Lockhart were attacked a number of times without success. Saragarhi was manned by 20 Sikhs, led by Havildar Ishar Singh, and a camp follower. 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. Photo Source. Fort Lockhart is located at 33.5562N 70.9188E. 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. 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