Thread by @nick_kapur

The craziest battle you never heard of took place in 1897 near the Khyber Pass between India and Afghanistan.

21 Sikh soldiers, fighting for the British, held a small fortress for six hours against 10,000 Afghans, in what is now remembered as the Battle of Saragarhi. 1/

A string of forts on the Afghan border, which had been built in the early 1800s by Sikh maharaja Ranjit Singh, had fallen into British hands when the British defeated the Sikh Empire in 1849. 2/

In 1897, these forts were manned by Jat Sikh soldiers of the 36th Sikhs, an infantry regiment in the British Indian Army (today, the 4th battalion of the Sikh Regiment in the Indian Army). 3/

Two of these border forts, Fort Gulistan and Fort Lockhart, were situated a few miles apart but were not visible to each other, so a tiny signaling fortress was constructed on a hilltop between them near the village of Saragarhi. 4/

The Saragarhi fortress consisted only of a tiny block house with a loopholed rampart and a single signaling tower. Since it was not considered a high-value target, at the time of the battle it was manned by just 21 men. 5/

In August of 1897, Pashtun tribesmen of the Afridi and Orakzai tribes suddenly rose in rebellion against British domination. For two weeks they repeatedly assaulted the Lockhart and Gulistan forts, to little avail. 6/

(pictured: Gulistan Fort)

Then, around 9 a.m. on September 12, a massive contingent of Pashtuns surrounded the Saragarhi signaling fort. Presumably they had gotten sick of the fort constantly keeping Gulistan and Lockhart apprised of their movements. 7/

(pictured: Afridi tribesmen)

Presumably they also thought the tiny fort would quickly surrender without a fight.

They thought wrong. 8/

(pictured: Orakzai tribesmen)

The Saragarhi fort signaled to Fort Lockart:

“ENEMY APPROACHING THE MAIN GATE...NEED REINFORCEMENT”

9/

But Lt. Col. John Haughton, commander of the 36th Sikhs, estimated from his vantage point at Fort Lockhart that between 10,000 to 14,000 enemies surrounded the fort. There was no way his troops could get through. He signaled back:

“UNABLE TO BREAK THROUGH...HOLD POSITION”

10/

More
At this point, Saragarhi's commander, Havildar ("Sergeant") Ishar Singh discussed the situation with his men. They unanimously agreed to fight to the death. They signaled back one word:

"UNDERSTOOD"

11/

The Battle of Saragarhi commenced shortly thereafter. The Pashtuns repeatedly rushed the fortress, but were driven back again and again by furious gunfire from the Sikh defenders. 12/

Finally the Pashtuns lit the surrounding foliage on fire, and the resulting smoke screen reduced visibility, allowing them to rush forward and hack at the gate and walls with pickaxes. 13/

Finally, a portion of the wall was breached, and at the same time the Sikhs began to run out of ammunition. Thereafter, the battle devolved into fierce hand to hand combat. 14/

Finally, just 6 Sikh soldiers remained alive. Haldivar Ishar Singh sent his remaining men back to an inner sanctum and stood in the breach himself, killing as many enemies as he could by himself before he fell. 15/

Thereafter, the remaining few defenders fought to the last man. 16/

By fighting to the death, the defenders at Saragarhi had bought crucial time for reinforcements to reach the Gulistan and Lockhart forts, which later withstood renewed assaults. 17/

(pictured: 36th Sikhs troops from Gulistan Fort pose with captured Afridi tribesmen)

When Sikh troops recaptured the remains of Saragarhi fort two days later, they found more than 600 Pashtun bodies scattered around it. 18/

(pictured: Sikh troops stand atop the remains of the recaptured Saragarhi fort)

Now you may be wondering, how do we know so much about what happened inside Saragarhi fort, if none of the 21 defenders survived the battle? 19/

(pictured: British tourists visiting the remains of Saragarhi fort in later years)

Well, it turns out that one of the defenders, 19-year-old soldier Gurmukh Singh, was essentially live tweeting the battle from the signaling tower using his signaling mirror (technically called a "heliograph"). 20/

As the signaler in the tower, Gurmukh Singh was the last defender alive in the fortress. Once he finished signaling about the deaths of his comrades he signaled one final time:

"REQUEST PERMISSION TO DISMOUNT AND JOIN THE FIGHT”

The reply:

"PERMISSION GRANTED”

21/

Not surprisingly, the Battle of Saragarhi has become an important keystone in worldwide Sikh ethno-religious pride. In recent years, it has also become a touchstone of broader Indian national pride, and there's been a push to commemorate and teach it more broadly in schools. 22/

One result of this push has been a big-budget Bollywood film, "Kesari" ("Saffron"), named after the supposed color of Havildar Ishar Singh's turban. Here is a trailer... 23/

Meanwhile, while you are waiting for a chance to see the film, you can watch this surprisingly accurate Lego stop motion version... 24/