Guest blog by heliography expert Richard Fowell, California During the battle of Saragarhi, Sepoy Gurmukh Singh would have signaled Fort Lockhart with his heliograph configured with a single mirror early in the day, and with two mirrors later in the day.  The first attachment shows an 1886 illustration of the two configurations, and below that is […]

This blog post serves to act as a clarification on the issue of whether the 21 Sikhs at Saragarhi were actually awarded the Indian Order of Merit (IOM), at the time in 1897 the highest award of gallantry available to native Indians (the Victoria Cross legibility changed in 1911). The Sikh Regiment archives lend us […]

As part of our efforts to remember the 120th anniversary of the Battle of Saragarhi, we commissioned a renowned artist to create a unique artwork depicting the bravery of the men at Saragarhi (more here). Watch the creation of the “Battle of Saragarhi” below: The very first limited edition framed art was presented by the […]

To commemorate Saraghari 120, one of our projects through the “Saragarhi Society” has been to depict the bravery of the 21 Sikhs in art form. We commissioned ‪”Pentacular” artist Raj Singh Tattal to show the men at the post in a vivid and engaging way, centred around the key leader of Havildar Ishar Singh. Next […]

  On 23rd March 2017, the British Sikh Association hosted its Annual Dinner at the Lancaster Hotel, London to celebrate the festival of Vaisakhi, the occasion when the Order of the Khalsa was created by Sri Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru. The Chief Guest at the grand and glittering event was the Rt. […]

One of the sights I’ve grown so used to seeing in Kapurthala is the above – the Captain Jhaggar Singh War Memorial. Within is a life-seized bronze statue depicting the officer of the state, who led 13 men in a heroic fight at Marima in East Africa in 1916.   The Kapurthala Imperial Service Troops […]

In our last post, I wrote about Kapurthala’s Tirah Memorial and it’s connection to Saragarhi. Having visited the town so many times, its wonderful to see that the people there are taking pride in restoring and preserving their royal heritage. The local Masjid has been renovated, and the old courts/darbar are being restored to be opened to […]

During my wonderful trip to Panjab, I had the pleasure of visiting many historic sites relating to the story of Saragarhi, in Amritsar, Ferozepur and the village of Jhorran. I would not have imagined that there would be a link to the epic in my own maternal town of Kapurthala! Driving into Kapurthala on the day […]

As part of my research and filming trip in India, I’ve been fortunate to visit Jhorran village near Jagroan in Punjab. It’s where Havildar (or Sergeant) Ishar Singh, who lead the men at Saragarhi, was born. Today, there stands in his homestead a memorial erected by the 4 Sikh regiment, descendant of the 36th Sikhs. The monument is […]

*** Watch “Saragarhi Live: Amritsar Memorial – click here *** We continued our trip in India with a visit to Amritsar, the holy city of the Sikhs. It is well known that the city is home to Sri Harimandir Sahib (the “Golden Temple” herein GT) and Sikhs make regular pilgrimage to it to take a […]