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Sikhs served in the British Indian Army throughout the British Raj. Sikh units fought at the Battle of Saragarhi; in the First World War, as the "Black Lions", as well as during the Second World War in Malaya, Burma and Italy.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh who was good friends with the 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad (Nizam Ali Khan) had sent 1200 Sikh soldiers who became a part of the Nizams army. [1] [2]
After the fall of the Sikh Empire and death of its king Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Britishs this large territory with much difficulty as it was the last kingdom in India to be taken over by the British, and began recruiting Sikhs into their army in large numbers. [3] [4]
The Battle of Saragarhi is considered one of the great battles in Sikh military history. [5] On 12 September 1897 a contingent of twenty-one soldiers from the 36th Sikhs regiment (now the 4th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment of Indian Army), led by Havildar Ishar Singh held off an Afghan attack of 10,000 men for several hours. All 21 Sikh soldiers chose to fight to the death instead of surrendering. In recognition of their sacrifice, the British Parliament paid them respect, and each one of them was awarded the Indian Order of Merit (equivalent to the Victoria Cross).
The strength of the army in Malaya was 104,625 troops. Sikhs represented more than 60 percent of the total Indian force that fought against the Japanese invasion of Malaysia and Singapore.
Sikhs served with distinction in repelling the attempted invasion of India by the Japanese, and subsequently in dislodging them from Burma (now Myanmar).
Sikhs served with distinction during the Allied invasion of Italy.
Ranjit Singh was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. He ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. He fought his first battle alongside his father at age 10.
The first Anglo-Sikh war was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 around the Ferozepur district of Punjab. It resulted in defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession of Jammu & Kashmir as a separate princely state under British suzerainty.
The Sikh Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It is the most highly decorated regiment of the Indian Army and in 1979, the 1st battalion was the Commonwealth's most decorated battalion, with 245 pre-independence and 82 post-independence gallantry awards, when it was transformed into the 4th battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment. The first battalion of the regiment was officially raised just before the partial annexation of the Sikh Empire on 1 August 1846, by the British East India Company. Currently, the Sikh Regimental Centre is located in Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand. The Centre was earlier located in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
The Punjab Regiment is the second oldest regiment still in service in the Indian Army, and is the most senior regional infantry regiment. It was formed from the 2nd Punjab Regiment of the British Indian Army in 1947 and has taken part in various battles and wars since, winning numerous honours for the same.
The Indian Order of Merit (IOM) was a military and civilian decoration of British India. It was established in 1837, although following the Partition of India in 1947 it was decided to discontinue the award and in 1954 a separate Indian honours system was developed, to act retrospectively to 1947. For a long period of time the IOM was the highest decoration that a native member of the British Indian Army could receive and initially it had three divisions. This was changed in 1911 when Indian servicemen became eligible for the Victoria Cross. A civilian division of the IOM also existed between 1902 and 1939, however, it was only conferred very rarely.
Hari Singh Nalwa was the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Fauj, the army of the Sikh Empire. He is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Attock, Multan, Kashmir, Peshawar and Jamrud. Hari Singh Nalwa was responsible for expanding the frontier of Sikh Empire to beyond the Indus River right up to the mouth of the Khyber Pass. At the time of his death, Jamrud constituted the western boundary of the Empire.
Maharaja Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the founder of Dogra dynasty and the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which was a part of Panjab and Sikh Empire became the largest princely state under the British Raj, which was created after the defeat of the Sikh Empire in the First Anglo-Sikh War. During the war, Gulab Singh would later side with the British and end up becoming the Prime Minister of Sikh Empire. The Treaty of Amritsar (1846) formalised the transfer of all the lands in Kashmir that were ceded to them by the Sikhs by the Treaty of Lahore.
The Battle of Saragarhi was a last-stand battle fought before the Tirah Campaign between the British Indian Empire and Afghan tribesmen. On 12 September 1897, an estimated 12,000 – 24,000 Orakzai and Afridi tribesmen were seen near Gogra, at Samana Suk, and around Saragarhi, cutting off Fort Gulistan from Fort Lockhart. The Afghans attacked the outpost of Saragarhi where thousands of them swarmed and surrounded the fort, preparing to assault it. Led by Havildar Ishar Singh, the 21 soldiers in the fort—all of whom were Sikhs—refused to surrender and were wiped out in a last stand. The post was recaptured two days later by another British Indian contingent.
The Sikh Khalsa Army, also known as Khalsaji or simply Sikh Army, was the military force of the Sikh Empire. With its roots in the Khalsa founded by Guru Gobind Singh, the army was later modernised on Franco-British principles by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It was divided in three wings: the Fauj-i-Khas (elites), Fauj-i-Ain and Fauj-i-Be Qawaid (irregulars). Due to the lifelong efforts of the Maharaja and his European officers, it gradually became a prominent fighting force of Asia. Ranjit Singh changed and improved the training and organisation of his army. He reorganized responsibility and set performance standards in logistical efficiency in troop deployment, manoeuvre, and marksmanship. He reformed the staffing to emphasize steady fire over cavalry and guerrilla warfare, improved the equipment and methods of war. The military system of Ranjit Singh combined the best of both old and new ideas. He strengthened the infantry and the artillery. He paid the members of the standing army from treasury, instead of the Mughal method of paying an army with local feudal levies.
Maharani Datar Kaur (born Bibi Raj Kaur Nakai; was the queen consort of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire and the mother of his successor, Maharaja Kharak Singh. She was the daughter of Sardar Ran Singh Nakai, third ruler of the Nakai Misl and Sardarni Karmo Kaur.
French Sikhs are a growing but minority group in France. It is estimated there are about 30,000 Sikhs, most of whom are based in Paris, Bobigny and Île-de-France.
Italian Sikhs are a growing religious minority in Italy, which has the second biggest Sikh population in Europe after the United Kingdom (525,000) and sixth largest number of Sikhs in the world. It is estimated that there are 220,000 Sikhs in Italy, constituting 0.3% of the total Italian population.
The 8th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to Pakistan Army on Partition of India in 1947 and merged with the Baluch Regiment in 1956.
The Nakai Misl, founded by Sandhu Jats, was one of the twelve Sikh Misls that later became part of the Sikh Empire. It held territory between the Ravi and Sutlej rivers southwest of Lahore in what became Pakistan. The misl fought against the Sials, the Pathans and the Kharals before it was incorporated into the Sikh Empire of the Sukerchakia Misl by Ranjit Singh.
The Sikh Rule in Lahore initiated from the conquest and rule of the Sikh Misls and extended till the Sikh Empire of Ranjit Singh which ended in 1849. The Sikhs began gaining power following the decline of the Mughal Empire in Punjab and consisted of a collection of autonomous Punjabi Misls, which were governed by Misldars, mainly in the Punjab region.
Akali Phula Singh Nihang was an Akali Nihang Sikh leader. He was a saint soldier of the Khalsa Shaheedan Misl and head of the Budha Dal in the early 19th century. He was also a senior general in the Sikh Khalsa Army and commander of the irregular Nihang of the army. He played a role in uniting Sikh misls in Amritsar. He was not afraid of the British who at many times ordered for his arrest but were not successful. During his later years he served for the Sikh Empire as a direct adviser to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He remained an army general in many famous Sikh battles up until his martyrdom in the battle of Nowshera. He was admired by the local people and had a great influence over the land and his settlement was always open to help the poor and helpless. He was well known and was a humble unique leader and prestigious warrior with high character. He was also known for his effort to maintain the values of Gurmat and the Khalsa panth.
Kesari (transl. Saffron) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language war film written and directed by Anurag Singh. It was jointly produced by Aruna Bhatia, Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar, Apoorva Mehta, and Sunir Khetarpal under the banners of Dharma Productions, Cape of Good Films, Azure Entertainment, and Zee Studios. The film stars Akshay Kumar with Parineeti Chopra, Vikram Singh Chauhan, Sarwar, Vansh Bhardwaj, Jaspreet Singh, Vivek Saini, Vikram Kochhar, and Rakesh Sharma in supporting roles. It follows the events leading to the Battle of Saragarhi, a battle between 21 Sikh soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army and 10,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897.
Ishar Singh (1895-1963) was a soldier in the British Indian Army and a recipient of the Victoria Cross.
21 Sarfarosh – Saragarhi 1897 is an Indian historical drama television series starring Mohit Raina, Prakhar Shukla and Mukul Dev. The show is based on the Battle of Saragarhi, fought between Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army and Pashtun Orakzai tribesmen. Produced by Contiloe Entertainment, it ran from 12 February to 11 May 2018, on Discovery Jeet.
Havildar Ishar Singh Gill, was an Indian-Sikh Havildar and war hero of the 36th Sikhs. He was known leading the regiment on a last stand against the 10,000-12,000 strong Pashtun tribesmen with only 20 other men at the Battle of Saragarhi. After sustaining enough resistance, Singh was fighting alone but refused to surrender and fought to the death along with the rest.
