by Kiran Nirvan
The valiant acts of the day had only begun, further motivated by the previous day’s legendary events. The men at Fort Gulistan bravely stood their guard and fearlessly defended the fort walls; even the wounded never left their posts. Of course, the raid had produced beneficial results. Where the tribesmen had yet not recovered from the previous day’s losses, this raid by the Sikh soldiers cowed them before they could attempt an all-out assault. The incessant fire, however, continued from their side. In the meantime, General Yeatman Biggs had received intelligence that Fort Gulistan was under attack. He at once flagged off a signalling party towards Doaba to inform Major De Voeux that they would have to hold the fort until 14 September after which reinforcements would arrive. On the 13th, field guns began their bombardment in the Miranzai Valley from the direction of Doaba. This sudden fire support added to the morale of the defenders, but their circumstances did not change throughout the night. Even as fatigue, hunger and thirst crept in, nobody budged or lost heart. On this very night, General Yeatman Biggs, with almost 1,800 infantrymen and four artillery guns, left from Hangu and reached Samana Hills on the morning of 14 September.
In the meantime, the Afridis and Orakzais had begun to make an attempt to lay siege on Fort Gulistan just as they had done at Fort Saragarhi. Ten to twelve thousand of the tribesmen had gathered on top of Saragarhi and Piquet Hill to surround the fort. However, the fire of field guns that began around nine in the morning had forced the tribesmen to retreat to the Khanki valley. When the reinforcements under General Biggs arrived, they first secured Fort Lockhart, following which a party from the fort sallied forth and opened fire on the retreating enemy. Lieutenant Colonel John Haughton and his men joined the relief force and began to advance towards Fort Gulistan, unaware at this juncture whether or not Gulistan was still safe and held by their own troops. It was only after the Pathans were driven off from the top of Saragarhi that the relieving party observed that Fort Gulistan was still safe.
The relieving party under Lieutenant Colonel Haughton then charged at the thousands of Pathans who still swarmed around Fort Gulistan. On seeing the reinforcements closing in from the direction of Fort Lockhart, the Pathans drew-off towards Samana Suk in the west. As they retreated, Major De Voeux saw an opportunity and the Pathans soon came under the effective range of the defenders’ weapons. In fact, this volley of bullets from the fort killed many Pathans before they retreated to the valley. The attack on the Samana forts had failed and Orakzais and Afridis combined had lost about 400 men with another 600 wounded. Of course, no battle is won without casualties. The 36th Sikhs had also suffered heavy losses, with the 21 Sikhs at Saragarhi and two men, including Havildar Kala Singh who had led the raid on the morning of the 13th, giving up their lives to defend their posts. An officer and 39 men suffered injuries. It is to be noted that Major Des Voeux’s family, who was in the fort during the attack, remained safe and left the fort unhurt.
Fort Gulistan was gallantly defended by the 36th Sikhs for 52 hours before reinforcements arrived. It was a battle that tested the might of Sikh soldiers who were motivated enough to avenge the death of their 21 brothers who had set high standards for others to follow. With images of the Battle of Saragarhi still fresh in their minds, the Sikh soldiers at Fort Gulistan provided tough resistance and made each bullet count. Major Des Voeux, who had two things to worry about – his family and the fort – showed the highest level of leadership qualities in this battle as he cheerfully and steadfastly faced all his troubles and led his men until help arrived.
Of these turbulent hours, Lieutenant Colonel John Haughton wrote6:
[A]fter the fall of Saragarhi, its captors went off to help the Pathans at Gulistan, leaving some thousands at Saragarhi, to prevent succour going to Gulistan. They attacked all that day and night. The next morning things were very critical, and Major Des Voeux gave leave to a Havildar and sixteen men, who had volunteered, to make a sortie. These gallant fellows went out of the hornwork gate, ran along outside the hornwork and attacked a party of the enemy who had planted their standards under a crest of the hill, only about twenty yards beyond the end of the hornwork. They were having a bad time of it, when another Havildar and eleven men got over the end of the hornwork and went to their aid. This turned the scale, and the gallant little party drove the enemy back at this point and took three of their standards. Out of the seventeen who first went out, eleven were wounded, as well as several of the second party. When they got back they found that a wounded man was left behind, and they again went out and brought him in. Nothing could have been more gallant. I regret to say that of the two Havildars one is already dead, and the other, I fear, cannot live. That sortie had a wonderfully depressing effect on the enemy, and a splendid effect on all our men. No assistance could come to Gulistan for another twenty-four hours, and of course it was a fearfully anxious time for us at Fort Lockhart. It is impossible to describe what an anxious time it must have been for Major Des Voeux… The General sent a field-battery on the evening of the 13th to the foot of the hill. Of course it could not get up, but it sent some shells pretty near the enemy, which, though they may not have done much harm, had a good moral effect. During all that night I listened anxiously, and was very thankful whenever I heard a shot from Gulistan. We, that night and the night before, had a few shots fired into us, but it was only what is commonly called ‘sniping’. However, at about seven o’clock Mr Munn, with thirty of our men and about a dozen of the Royal Irish, went out and got down to a bit of a hill below Sangar, where we were able to get some good though long-range volleys into the enemy as they retired before the General… I cannot say what damage our volleys did to them, as they were so scattered about over the hillside, but we could see our bullets going all in among them and knocking up the dust... As soon as the enemy had fled from their position beyond Sangar, the General said he must push on hard to Gulistan. So we with our few men raced back to Fort Lockhart, got all the men we had left there out, and, without asking permission, stuck ourselves at the head of the General’s force. The enemy were pretty strong at Sangar, and we thought they would fight; so, unfortunately as it turned out, the General determined to shell the place before the infantry advanced. Consequently the enemy disappeared behind the ridge. We thought they would wait there till the advance of our own infantry prevented the guns firing, and would then jump up and give us a busy time. However, when the 36th and 2nd Panjab Infantry advanced over the hill there was not a man left. Poor Saragarhi was absolutely a heap of stones, but amongst the ruins we could distinguish the remains of our poor fellows, hacked to pieces by these fiends. Then, when we got beyond the Saragarhi heights and could see Gulistan, we saw the enemy as thick as peas round it; but they bolted like French partridges as soon as we showed our noses a mile and a half off, and, unfortunately, it was a long time before the guns could get up. When they did get up there were very few of the enemy left within range; and though the guns opened a pretty accurate fire, I don’t fancy the enemy could have suffered much. We found our people at Gulistan very cheery. The General is awfully pleased with all our men; I think they have just done splendidly.
As is evident from the conduct of the men who fought from Fort Gulistan on 13 and 14 September, the last stand of the 21 soldiers of Saragarhi had an electrifying effect on the self-esteem of the remaining soldiers of the 36th Sikhs, filling them with a desire for revenge that must have stimulated these brave men to stand their ground against overwhelming odds for so long. The defence of the Samana forts was, therefore, more or less a tribute by the regiment to their fallen brethren.
Honours and memorials
What bigger honour can there be for martyrdom than remembrance? Such was the case with the Battle of Saragarhi, after which the country came together to honour the martyrs. The British Indian government were quick to confer the heroes of the battles with deserved honours, as described in the following extract of an article published in the London Gazette in 18987:
The Governor-General in Council
desires especially to express his admiration of the brilliant defence of Fort Gulistan by the 36th Sikhs, and of the post of Saragarhi by a party of twenty men of the same regiment under the command of Havildar Ishar Singh, who died fighting to the last, displaying a heroic devotion which has never been surpassed in the annals of the Indian Army.
[…] His Excellency is of [the] opinion that the operations in question were well planned and skillfully carried out. The march to the relief of Gulistan was performed under very trying circumstances, owing to the heat and to a great scarcity of water en route, but the force successfully accomplished its object with the same gallantry and cheerfulness as have been evinced on every occasion by our troops during the various operations which have recently taken place on the North-West Frontier.
The Commander-in-Chief wishes to draw attention to the admirable conduct and steadiness of the 36th Sikhs, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Haughton, during the attack on the various posts held by that regiment on the Samana Range. At Sangar, the small garrison made a sortie and gallantly captured a standard from the enemy, while the brilliant defence of Fort Gulistan by the detachment, under the command of Major Des Voeux, reflects the greatest credit on that officer and the garrison of the post. The Government of India will, His Excellency is assured, appreciate fully the intrepid manner in which the late Havildar Kala Sing[h] led the sortie from the Gulistan Fort, and also the conduct of Havildar Sundar Singh, who assisted his comrades at a critical moment.
The Commander-in-Chief deeply regrets the loss of the garrison of Saragarhi, a post held by 21 men of the 36th Sikhs, and he wishes to record his admiration of the heroism shown by those gallant soldiers. Fighting against over-whelming numbers they died at their post, thus proving their loyalty and devotion to their Sovereign while upholding to the last the traditional bravery of the Sikh nation.
[…] I fully endorse the Major-General’s commendation on the defence of Fort Gulistan and the behaviour of all ranks. Major Des Voeux proved himself a gallant and skilful leader, and the Major-General’s remarks on this officer’s conduct appear to be fully deserved.
I have much pleasure in recommending for the Order of Merit all the non-commissioned officers and men the Major-General has brought to notice.
Meanwhile, in India, in an article published by The Pioneer on 2 December 1897, it was stated that the office of the newspaper had raised Rs 10,000 in lieu of donations for a Saragarhi memorial. The article reads:
Dear Sir,
As the subscriptions received by The Pioneer on behalf of the proposed memorial to the Sikhs who fell at Saragheri now amount to close on ten thousand rupees, I think it opportune to acquaint the members of the committee of the Fund with the wishes of the subscribers so far as there can be ascertained from letters received by me.
The Fund was originally opened by The Pioneer in response to a suggestion that some memorial should be raised to the 21 Sikhs who fell at Saragheri, nothing being said as to the shape which the memorial might properly take. In the interval, however, several suggestions have been made, and these may here be conveniently classified as follows:-
(1) A memorial to be erected at Amritsar and also one at Saragheri.
(2) A memorial to be erected at Amritsar only.
(3) Half the money to be collected to go to a memorial at Amritsar and half to be distributed among the widow and children of those who fell at Saragheri.
(4) The amount to be distributed not to be given in a lump sum, but paid in the form of annuities.
(5) The Sikhs who took part in the sortie from Fort Gulistan also to be included among beneficiaries of the Fund.
(6) A grant of land to be secured somewhere in the Punjab, preferably in the new Chenab settlement.
As to the memorial at Amritsar the question may be regarded as settled, in as much as the Government of India have now consented to defray the expense. As to the proposal for a separate monument at Saragheri, I may direct the attention of the Committee to the opinion expressed by General Westmacott, Commanding the 4th Brigade, T.E.F, ‘that any memorial erected on the Samana range would certainly be desecrated at some future time.’ If the Committee concur in this opinion, then the whole fund becomes available for distribution, and the only question to be decided is as to the number of beneficiaries to be included and the method of distribution. As to the former point, Colonel Haughton himself, Commanding the 36th Sikhs, suggested the inclusion of the men who fell in the sortie from Fort Gulistan, and this opinion will probably commend itself to the other members of the Committee. As to the method of distribution, one correspondent has pointed out that if the money were distributed in a lump sum it might not improbably be dissipated, and he proposes annuities to the immediate heirs. The advantage of an annuity is obvious, but as the purchase price would depend on the ages of the recipients, it would be necessary to have details on this point before the total cost could be estimated. If we suppose 30 heirs, a monthly pension of 3 rupees each would involve an outlay of 1080 rupees per annum. An insurance company might take the risk of such a payment for a lump sum of 13,000 or 14,000 rupees; the precise sum depending on the average age of the recipients. The Fund at present amounts to 10,000 rupees but subscriptions continue to come in and it is not improbable that a total of 12,000 rupees or 13,000 rupees will be attained.
There is finally the suggestion that the Punjab Government should be asked to give a grant of land where the beneficiaries of the Fund might be settled. If the Committee favour this suggestion, it would be desirable to open communications with the Punjab Government as early as possible.
Finally, I desire to invite the opinion of the Committee as to whether a date should be fixed when the Fund will be closed, or whether for the time being this should be left indefinite. The Committee may also think it advisable to appoint a regular Secretary to the Fund.
I am, Yours faithfully,
Maitland H. Park,
Officiating Editor, The Pioneer
To commemorate the bravery of the 21 martyrs of the Battle of Saragarhi, three memorials were erected – one at Saragarhi, the venue of the battle; the second at Firozepur; and the third at Amritsar. The memorial at Amritsar, situated opposite the Government Higher Secondary School, Town Hall, was unveiled on 14 February 1902.
The memorial gurudwara in Amritsar
The memorial gurdwara at Ferozepur was built at a cost of Rs 27,118 by the British to honour these brave soldiers. It was inaugurated in 1904 by Sir Charles Rivaz, the then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab. According to an old article published on 18 January 1904, this inauguration was no ordinary event:
[It took place] in [the] presence of an imposing assemblage of spectators, numbering fully 5000…with full ceremonial honours. To the dozens of cameras large and small, brought by professional and amateur photographs, a scene of real picturesqueness presented itself. In the centre, dominating all else by the size and brilliance, stood Saragarhi monument – a glistering snow-white Sikh temple in that elaborately ornate style of architecture which eastern custom has appropriated to memorials of the dead. Photography, insensible to the charms of colour, responsive only to beauty of the form, had here and ideal subject. From the base to the topmost pinnacle, a height of 60 or 70 feet, the marble like purity of surface shone with but a single tone in the golden rays of the afternoon sun. It seems but fitting that the Sikh temple should be designed by a Sikh artist, Bhai Ram Singh, the gifted Vice Principal of the Mayo School of Art, Lahore, has unconsciously handed down to posterity his own name as well as the names of the Saragarhi heroes, by creating a piece of poetic architecture that will henceforth rank as one of the lights of the Punjab. When the future visitor to Ferozepur stands in wondering admiration before this gleaming edifice, with its eight milk-white walls in the true octagonal symmetry, surmounted by a flated dome pinnacled in gold; when he marks the gracefulness of the four staircases leading up on four sides, north, south, east and west, to for entrance porches, each canopied by a flated, gold pinnacled
dome in sympathy with the main design; when beneath the shade of the four porches, he notes the carved splendour of the four Shisham doors, each garnished by thirty-two floriated panels; and when having passed through the doors he steps up on richly tessellated Italian marble floor, into an octagonal house of worship, and beholds the lofty dome heavily honeycombed with pendeative ornament – he will surely feel that he is surveying the work of a master artist. And whatever his race and tongue he will know that the memorial is the outcome of a spontaneous glow of admiration, which first found expression in the columns of the Pioneer newspaper; for this essential fact is proclaimed to the world in sculptured letters from the four walls of the temple in four different languages – in English, in Urdu, in Gurmukhi and in Hindi. Thus:
This monument is erected to the memory of the men of the 36th (Sikh) Regiment of the Punjab Infantry who fell in the heroic defence of Fort Saragarhi on the 12th September 1897, and in the gallant sortie from Fort Gulistan on the 13th September 1897: A spontaneous testimony – the result of voluntary subscriptions collected through the Pioneer newspaper, Allahabad – from the Anglo-Indian and Indian public to the undying glory which these ever memorable feats of arms brought to the soldiers of the Khalsa and the arms of the British Empire.
[…] It remains to mention that the design of the memorial was finally approved after consultation with the Sikh authorities of the Golden Temple at Amritsar, and with then [sic] Commander-in-Chief the late Sir William Lockhart; that his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor kindly allowed the memorial to be constructed by the public works department as ‘contribution work’, the cost of establishment, tools and plant being remitted; and the work of construction was superintended by Bakshi Ram Singh, Executive Engineer, directed by Mr Cockburn, Assistant Engineer, and managed by Ram Lal and Devi Sahi; and that the total sum collected by the Pioneer exceeded Rs 30,000, of which Rs 26,000 was expended on the memorial building, and the balance distributed among the widows and orphans of Saragarhi heroes…