A few kilometres away from the Golden Temple in Amritsar stands the Saragarhi Memorial Gurudwara, honouring the bravery of 21 Sikh soldiers.

These soldiers fought against 10,000 Pashtun tribesmen in what became known as the Battle of Saragarhi.

Our story begins on 12 September, 1897, when a small British outpost called Saragarhi, 64 kilometres away from the garrison town of Kohat (in present-day Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan), was attacked by 10,000 Orazkai-Afridi tribesmen.

The outpost was of vital importance, as heliographic signal communications (Morse code using flashes of sunlight) could be maintained between the two forts through it.

Well aware of its importance, the enemy tribesmen surrounded Saragarhi with the intention of cutting communications and thus, affecting the troop movements of the British Indian Army.

The 21 men inside were led by an experienced sergeant – Havildar Ishar Singh, who rallied his men to defend their positions.

Defending Saragarhi, 21 gutsy soldiers of the 36th (Sikh) Regiment of Bengal Infantry stood their ground against the mammoth onslaught.

However, unseen by the Sikh soldiers inside the outpost, the tribesmen had begun digging beneath the walls to edge forward. Once this was done, they set fire to the surrounding shrubs to create a smokescreen that would hide their approach.

Soon, a section of wall caved into the underground tunnel and enemy soldiers took advantage of the breach to overrun the outpost.

Havildar Singh, grievously wounded by this time, asked his remaining soldiers to retreat to the inner parts of the outpost’s building.

Meanwhile, he stayed outside, with two other injured sepoys to face the tribesmen in one-on-one combat. Soon after, all three breathed their last. By the time the tribesmen managed to enter the building, only five Sikhs were left alive.

The ammunition resources had run dry and so a fierce hand-to-hand combat followed. The Sikhs fought bravely but were completely outnumbered.

The inscription on the Saragarhi Memorial Gurudwara mentions the names of those 21 Sikhs who laid down their lives.

Details of their bravery were heliographed (and then telegraphed) back to Britain, sending ripples across the world. The then commander-in-chief of the British Indian Army recorded his “admiration of the heroism shown by those gallant soldiers”. Queen Victoria too praised the men.

In an unprecedented gesture at a time when gallantry awards were not given posthumously, the 21 martyrs were awarded the Indian Order of Merit class III, on a par with the Victoria Cross.

Remembering the heroism of these brave soldiers, the Indian Army’s Sikh regiment (which is also the most decorated regiment of the Indian army) commemorates 12 September as the Saragarhi Day, every year.