<h1 class="ql-align-center">Battle of Saragarhi</h1> <h2>Context:</h2> <ul><li>September 12 of this year marks the 124th anniversary of the Battle of Saragarhi that has inspired a host of armies, books, and films.</li></ul> <h2>About:</h2> <ul><li>Battle of Saragarhi is considered one of the finest last stands in the military history of the world which took place in 1897.</li></ul> <ul><li>In this battle, Twenty-one soldiers were pitted against over 8,000 Afridi and Orakzai tribals but they managed to hold the fort for seven hours.</li></ul> <ul><li>Though heavily outnumbered, the soldiers of 36th&nbsp;Sikhs,&nbsp;led by Havildar Ishar Singh,&nbsp;fought till their last breath, killing 200 tribals and injuring 600.</li></ul> <ul><li>In 2017, the Punjab government decided to observe Saragarhi Day on 12th&nbsp;September as a holiday.</li></ul> <h2>Saragarhi:</h2> <ul><li>Saragarhi was the communication tower between Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan.</li></ul> <ul><li class="ql-indent-1">The two forts in the rugged North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), now in Pakistan were built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.</li></ul> <ul><li>Though Saragarhi was usually manned by a platoon of 40 soldiers, on that fateful day, it was being held by only 21 soldiers from 36th Sikh and a non-combatant called Daad, a Pashtun who did odd jobs for the troops.</li></ul> <img src="https://sunyaias-resources.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/content/62812962-4b0e-11ec-82a5-9d2af53a8eac.png">