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A sangar (or sanger) ( fa, سنگر) is a temporary fortified position with a breastwork originally constructed of stones, and now built of
More recently, the use of the term has been extended to cover a wider range of small, semi-permanent fortified positions. The Independent Monitoring Commission stated immediately after Second Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission
p. 44. Presented under Article 5(2) of the International Agreement establishing the Independent Monitoring Commission, Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 20th July 2004
A sangar (or sanger) ( fa, سنگر) is a temporary fortified position with a breastwork originally constructed of stones, and now built of sandbag
A sandbag or dirtbag is a bag or sack made of hessian (burlap), polypropylene or other sturdy materials that is filled with sand or soil and used for such purposes as flood control, military fortification in trenches and bunkers, shielding gl ...
s, gabion
A gabion (from Italian ''gabbione'' meaning "big cage"; from Italian ''gabbia'' and Latin ''cavea'' meaning "cage") is a cage, cylinder or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road buildin ...
s or similar materials. Sangars are normally constructed in terrain where the digging of trenches
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from erosi ...
would not be practicable. The term is still frequently used by the British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, but has now been extended to cover a wider range of small fortified positions.
Etymology
The word was adopted fromHindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
and Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
and derives originally from the Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
word ''sang'', "stone". Its first appearance in English (as recorded by the ''Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'') is in the form ''sunga'', and dates from 1841. The word has also occasionally been used as a verb, meaning "to fortify with a sangar": however, this usage appears to have been limited to the first decade of the 20th century.
Traditional usage
The term was originally used by the British Indian Army to describe small temporary fortified positions on the North West Frontier and inAfghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. It was widely used by the British during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. The term is also used by the British Royal Air Force to describe fortified guard positions on airfields.
Modern usage
More recently, the use of the term has been extended to cover a wider range of small, semi-permanent fortified positions. The Independent Monitoring Commission stated immediately after The Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
in Northern Ireland:p. 44. Presented under Article 5(2) of the International Agreement establishing the Independent Monitoring Commission, Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 20th July 2004
See also
* List of established military termsReferences
External links
* Article on the dismantling of the Borucki Sangar at Crossmaglen in south Armagh. * *. A description and photographs of British Army Sangars. Fortification (architectural elements) Fortifications by type {{Fort-stub