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On 12 Sep 1897, a legendary last-stand occurred between 10,000 Afghan tribesmen, and 21 Sikh soldiers. This was the Battle of Saragarhi. Here is a thread based on the book , '21 Kesaris, The Untold Story of the Battle of Saragarhi', by Kiran Nirvan.
Central and South Asia in the 19th century was bombarded with the heightened tensions between the Russian and British Empire, known as the 'Great Game', as they tirelessly were at odds with each other in order to achieve geopolitical supremacy in said regions.
These enhanced hostilities led to British fears that Russia would invade Afghanistan, and attack India via the historical trade route of the Khyber Pass, then in the NWFP (North-West Frontier Province), now in the modern KPK (Khyber-Pakhtunkwa) region in Pakistan.
In the 1830s, Afghanistan was suffering from political strife under the Emir, Dost Muhammad Khan, as his brother was challenging him in the South, the Sikhs conquered the Afghan city of Peshawar in the East, and the ambitious Persians were eyeing to occupy his lands in the West.
In response, the Emir decided to join forces with the mighty British Empire, hoping to be viewed not as a subsidiary or puppet, but a complete and equal ally. The British however, were not so forthcoming.
Reluctantly, the Emir decided to shift his political alliance to the Russian Empire, who repeatedly offered to extend their hands against the British. Enraged, the English waged war against the Emir and his Kingdom in an attempt to replace him with a puppet ruler.
These events led to the Anglo-Afghan war of 1839-42, where Lord Auckland, the Sikhs, and Shah Shuja, the disposed ruler of Kabul in exile in Ludhiana under British pension, invaded Kabul and conquered it in 1839, installing Shah Shuja on the throne under their agreement.
In 1841, Shuja was overthrown in an uprising against his rule, and chaos entered the streets of Kabul. The British re-invaded Kabul in 1842, and this time, due to the death of Shuja by his tribesmen, recognized Dost as the official Emir of Afghanistan.
From 1843 to Dost's death in 1863, a tentative peace existed between the British and the Afghans, but was shattered upon Dost's death, eventually culminating in the illustrious Battle of Saraghari in 1897.
In 1885, the Emir of Afghanistan and the British decided to define their respective spheres of influence, and create a barrier between them, this gradually led to the creation of the Durand Line (1893) - a 2,430 Kilometres-long line that firmly divided Afghanistan and the Raj.
Despite the creation of this Line, the British did not cease from their aggressive 'forward policy', and increasingly occupied Afghan lands in the Frontier with the pretext of establishing military outposts to combat against, apparently, the looming threat from the Russians.
With the complete annexation of the Punjab in 1849, the British formulated a 'closed border' strategy around the Line, decentralising the surrounding areas in order to deter from possible future Russian aggression.
This was easier said than done - 1) they lacked the financial resources and men to defend the Line. 2) they occupied the land against the will of the Afghan tribes, and consequently 3) raids by the Afghans in the Frontier was a daily common occurrence.
As a consequence of hostile behavior from the British in the eyes of the tribes, the Afghans repeatedly attacked the Frontier, hoping to pushback against their 'forward policy' in the region and establish self-rule.
In response, the British launched expeditions into Waziristan, starting in the 1850's in order to control the lands and punish the warring Afghan tribes from ousting their hold over the region.
Increased malevolence between the two actors culminated into the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80), which we shall discuss in further detail later in the thread, after which the British finally installed a permanent political administration in Waziristan in 1894-5.
British victory in the Second Anglo-Afghan War led to the solidifying of the Durand Line, a goal which they had finally accomplished after decades of political negotiations, compromises, and failures.
However, the Pashtuns refused to accept this new boundary as they believed that it infringed upon their sovereign status and separated them from their ethnic brethren in Afghanistan, and continued to oppose it with utmost relish.
This simmering anger erupted into open revolt on 12 Sep 1897, where an estimated 10,000 Pathan warriors, from two major Afghan tribes, attacked the British outpost of Saraghari.
Who were these two major tribes? Where did they come from, and what is/was their history?
1) Orakzai - according to the most popular account of the Orakzais, they are descended from an exiled Persian prince, Sikander Shah, who settled in the Tirah Valley and crowned himself King. His descendants from then on were called the Orakzais.
The Orakzais can be further divided into 18 main clans, with both Shias and Sunnis amongst them. They also were employed in the Mughal Army and established princely states within India. They were considered, like Sikhs, to be a very war-like people known for their ferocity.
2) Afridi - origins of the Afridis is generally attributed to fearsome Buddhists of Aryan origin who converted to Islam in the 10th century, thereby making them one of the oldest Pashtun tribes in existence.
There are 8 major clans of the Afridis, and they are concentrated in an extremely advantageous area right next to the Khyber Pass, prized by both the British and the Mughals before them as a key region to control, with the Afridis as valuable soldiers for their cause(s).
These Pashtun tribes, as inhabitants of these regions, were known to be masters of the terrain, and particularly adept in the practice of guerrilla warfare. Even organised militaries and armies were of no match to these mountain-dwelling Pathans in their own lands.
These Pashtun tribes were particularly afraid that after the fall of Punjab, that they were next. Encroachment of tribal lands by the British in the mid-nineteenth century had sounded alarm bells among the Pashtun tribes who not only feared an invasion, but complete erasure.
In the eyes of the British, Afghanistan has always been strategically important, benefiting from the fact that it is home to a chief road providing access to all parts of Central Asia. This road passed straight through the tribal areas - The Kohat Pass.
The Kohat Pass lies between the cities of Kohat and Peshawar on the Khigana mountain range in the North West Frontier Province of present-day Pakistan, and led straight to a border village on the Salam's mountain range via Hangu, Saragarhi.
The Samana hills themselves were conquered by British in 1891 and were fortified by them by building two forts, Fort Lockhart in the middle and Fort Gulistan towards the west.
Between these two forts, was about five kilometers, and the outpost of Saraghari was between them. The British, due to trade routes, payed more heed to the outskirt outer edges of tribal hilly areas ahead of Kohat Pass, close to the north of Saragarhi under Orakzai rule.
The British policies in the Frontier completely enraged the Pashtun tribesmen, and they were ready to defend their lands against what they saw as invaders. Thus, in this socio-political background and climate, the battle was fought, the Battle of Saragarhi.
To be continued in the next few days as the anniversary of the Battle of Saraghari approaches us 
