Havildar Havildar or havaldar ( Hindustani: or (Devanagari), (Perso-Arabic)) is a rank in the Indian and Pakistani armies, equivalent to sergeant. It is not used in cavalry and armoured units, where the equivalent is daffadar. Like a British sergea ...

Ishar Singh (1858 – 12 September 1897), was an Indian-Sikh

and war hero of the

36th Sikhs The 36th Sikhs was an infantry regiment in the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1887, when they were the 36th (Sikh) Bengal Infantry. Composed of Jat Sikhs, it was created by Colonel Jim Cooke and Captain H. R. Holmes. They h ...

. He was known leading the regiment on a

last stand A last stand, or final stand, is a military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming and virtually insurmountable odds. Troops may make a last stand due to a sense of duty; because they are d ...

against the 3 strong Pashtun tribesmen with 20 other men at the

Battle of Saragarhi The Battle of Saragarhi was a Last stand, last-stand battle fought before the Tirah Campaign between the British Raj, British Indian Empire and Afghans, Afghan tribesmen. On 12 September 1897, an estimated 12,000–24,000 Orakzai and Afridi trib ...

. After sustaining enough resistance, he was killed by the tribal men.

Battle of Saragarhi

Despite initial British success within the Samana Range, the Pashtuns continued to harass the British forces. Near the area stood Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan but both weren't visible due to the mountainous terrain. As a result, the Saragarhi outpost was established to give easier communications between the two forts but after the Pashtuns allied with the Afridis, the outpost became endangered from local uprisings which combined to a force of 10,000 to 12,000. By this point, Singh was in his early 40s, given full command of Saragarhi and was married but had no children. With the small garrison consisting of 2 other NCOs and 18 soldiers, all 20 men led by Singh fought to the death. With no water or food, the Sikhs fought for 8 hours, managing to kill 400-500 men with each Sikh killing at least 20 Pashtuns before they all were killed in the battle (nevertheless, the casualty rate between the Indian soldiers and the Pasthun tribals remained 20:1, as compared to the strength on both sides).

Legacy

In recognition of their supreme sacrifice, the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

rose to pay them respect, and each one of them was posthumously awarded the

Indian Order of Merit The Indian Order of Merit (IOM) was a military and civilian decoration of British India. It was established in 1837, (General Order of the Governor-General of India, No. 94 of 1 May 1837) although following the Partition of India The pa ...

and the Indian Distinguished Service Medal. The service of the 36th Sikhs has been memorialized by the Sikhs as the day of the battle, September 12th. It is celebrated as "Saragarhi Day". Singh was portrayed by

Akshay Kumar Akshay Hari Om Bhatia (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia; 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian actor and film producer working in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as "Khiladi Kumar", through his career span ...

in the 2019 film '' Kesari''. He was also portrayed by

Randeep Hooda Randeep Hooda (; born 20 August 1976) is an Indian actor, who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. Hooda is known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles. He made his Hindi film debut with '' Monsoon Wedding'' (2001). He ...

for the book cover of ''The 36th Sikhs in the Tirah Campaign 1897-98 – Saragarhi and the defence of the Samana forts'' by Amarinder Singh. On September 12, 2021, a statue of Singh was erected at

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, West Midlands to commemorate the 124th anniversary of the battle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Ishar 1850s births 1897 deaths Sikh warriors British Indian Army personnel killed in action Military personnel from Punjab, India 19th-century Indian people