The Government of India have caused this tablet to be erected to the memory of the twenty one non-commissioned officers and men of the 36 Sikh Regiment of the Bengal Infantry whose names are engraved below as a perpetual record of the heroism shown by these gallant soldiers who died at their posts in the defence of the fort of Saragarhi, on the 12 September 1897, fighting against overwhelming numbers, thus proving their loyalty and devotion to their sovereign, the Queen Empress of India, and gloriously maintaining the reputation of the Sikhs for unflinching courage on the field of battle.
Havildar Ishar Singh (regimental number 165)
Naik Lal Singh (332)
Lance Naik Chanda Singh (546)
Sepoy Sundar Singh (1321)
Sepoy Ram Singh (287)
Sepoy Uttar Singh (492)
Sepoy Sahib Singh (182)
Sepoy Hira Singh (359)
Sepoy Daya Singh (687)
Sepoy Jivan Singh (760)
Sepoy Bhola Singh (791)
Sepoy Narayan Singh (834)
Sepoy Gurmukh Singh (814)
Sepoy Jivan Singh (871)
Sepoy Gurmukh Singh (1733)
Sepoy Ram Singh (163)
Sepoy Bhagwan Singh (1257)
Sepoy Bhagwan Singh (1265)
Sepoy Buta Singh (1556)
Sepoy Jivan Singh (1651)
Sepoy Nand Singh (1221)
September 12, 1897, twenty-one soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment, including their commander, Havildar Ishar Singh, faced impossible odds. Over ten thousand Pathans and Afghan tribesmen advanced on their signaling post of Saragarhi, located in the North-West Frontier province of undivided British India. For the next seven hours, the Sikhs fought to the last man, protecting the Indian soil of the British Empire with unflinching courage and determination. Each was posthumously awarded the Indian Order of Merit, the highest gallantry award an Indian soldier could receive from the British crown. Never in the history, or since the battle of Saragarhi, has an entire contingent of troops received the highest gallantry honor for a single action. The Pashtuns later admitted that they had lost about 180 killed and many more wounded during the engagement against the 21 Sikh soldiers, but some 600 bodies are said to have been seen around the ruined post when the relief party arrived. The total casualties in the entire campaign, including the Battle of Saragarhi, numbered at around 4,800.
According to the Indian Express, Saragarhi is "one of the eight collective stories on bravery published by UNESCO for children. The battle has become iconic of eastern military civilization, British empire military history and Sikh history. The modern Sikh Regiment continues to celebrate the day of the Battle of Saragarhi each 12 September as the Regimental Battle Honours Day.
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The name of your race has become almost synonymous in the English language with traditions of desperate courage and unflinching loyalty.
-Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, in Lahore. (The Times, April 07, 1899)
The conduct displayed by the 21 men of the 36th Sikh Regiment whose names were inscribed on the memorial was characteristic of the [Sikh] nation's traditions. It should be kept as an example to others, in order to show how brave men should behave when facing fearful odds.
-General Sir Arthur Power Palmer (The Times, April 17, 1902)
The British, as well as the Indians, are proud of the 36th Sikh Regiments. It is no exaggeration to record that the armies which possess the valiant Sikhs cannot face defeat in war.
—Parliament of the United Kingdom
You are never disappointed when you are with the Sikhs. Those 21 soldiers all fought to the death. That bravery should be within all of us. Those soldiers were lauded in Britain and their pride went throughout the Indian Army.
—Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim
ਸਤਿਗੁਰਬਚਨਕਮਾਵਣੇਸਚਾਏਹੁਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥
