This distinction was conferred on the 36th Sikhs by the Viceroy of India as a recognition of the gallant conduct of a detachment of that regiment at the defence of Fort Gulistan against a very superior force.
The attack on Fort Gulistan was one of the incidents which led to the expedition against the Afridis, and which is commemorated on the colours of our army under the title "Tirah." This fort, which is situated on the Samana Range, to the west of the frontier station of Kohat, dominates one of the main roads into the Afridi Hills, and is held by a detachment of native troops furnished from the garrison of Kohat. Almost simultaneously with the attack on the garrison of Malakand ([see p. 398]) symptoms of unrest displayed themselves amongst all the tribes along our North-West Frontier. The forts on the Khyber Road were attacked, the Mohmands made their descent into the Peshawar Valley, and the Afridis, not content with the attacks on the Khyber line, endeavoured to turn us out of the position on the Samana Ridge.
The garrison of Fort Gulistan consisted of two companies of the 36th Sikhs, under Major Des Vœux, and hard by was a little detached work, with a garrison of but twenty men, under a native officer. The conduct of this detachment must for ever remain one of the brightest pages in the history of our Indian army, and yet the history of that army abounds with instances of the self-devotion and heroism of our native soldiery.
Cut off from all communication with any senior officer, the Subadar[29] in command of the Saragai post was left entirely to his own devices. Gallantly did he carry out his orders. Surrounded by 10,000 Afridis, he not only repelled all attacks for three days, but when offered terms and a safe conduct to Kohat, his reply was that until he received instructions from his Colonel he could not abandon the post committed to his care; and so the brave old Sikh and his gallant men stayed on and died, true to the last to their trust. When the Fort Gulistan was relieved, on September 14, it was found that Saragai was in the hands of the Afridis, and that every man of the garrison had died at his post. To commemorate the heroism of its garrison the Government of India erected a monument, on which the names of that heroic band are inscribed, within the walls of the great Sikh cathedral, the Golden Temple at Umritsar.
The losses sustained by the two companies of the 36th Sikhs in the defence of the Samana Ridge were 22 killed and 48 wounded out of a total of 166 combatants.
Tirah, 1897-98
This battle honour, sanctioned by Army Order No. 23 of 1900, is borne by the following regiments:
Queen's.
Devons.
Yorkshire.
Royal Scots Fusiliers.
K.O. Scottish Borderers.
Sherwood Foresters.
Northamptons.
Gordon Highlanders.
18th Tiwana Lancers.
1st P.W.O. Sappers and Miners.
15th Sikhs.
30th Punjabis.
36th Sikhs.
53rd Sikhs.
56th Rifles.
128th Pioneers.
1st Gurkhas.
2nd Gurkhas.
3rd Gurkhas.
4th Gurkhas.
It was granted in recognition of one of the most arduous campaigns we have been called upon to wage on the Indian frontier. Our opponents were the great tribe of Afridis, who people the mountains to the west of the cantonment of Peshawar, and who furnish some of the best soldiers in our Punjab regiments. The Afridis are subdivided into a number of clans, all antagonistic to each other. Intertribal wars are of frequent occurrence, and although on many occasions we have been compelled to undertake punitory expeditions against certain of these, it has never been our lot to find such a unanimity of feeling against us as on this occasion.
It was thoroughly realized that we had a foe well worthy of our steel. The Afridis were well armed, and they counted some thousands of men who had been through the mill of discipline in our own regiments. Many of the very best regiments of the Indian army contained a large number of Afridis, and though these men have never hesitated to fight bravely against their own co-religionists in our border wars and in Afghanistan, there was more than a possibility that their loyalty would be too severely tried were we to employ them against their own fellow-tribesmen.