I am looking for information on the historical battle of saragarhi
which took place in 1897 as briefly described in the article posted at
web link http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Army/History/1765/Saragarhi.html
(or serach for 'Battle of Saragarhi' in google).
All kinds of sources that provide any information on this battle e.g
books, military anals, museums, news articles, historical records etc.
would be welcome. Are there any professional researchers who could
help me find facts about this battle?

Hi Tuhitu-ga,

Let?s start with the Wikipedia entry on Battle of Saragarhi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saragarhi

A Wikipedia is an entry with clickable links, so if you had any
questions on the Sikhs, the leader of the 21 Sikhs involved, Havildar
Ishar Singh, or the battle it was compared to, Battle of Thermopylae,
in the west, you could click and read about those.

?It has been mentioned as one of the five most significant events of
its kind in the world.?
http://allaboutsikhs.com/warriors/saragarhi_1897.htm

For more information on the Sikhs or their lives:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/S/Si/Sikh.htm
----------------------------------------------------------- 

I found a beautiful poem written by a student in Class 12 about the
Battle, published in the Tribune India.

?Of courage and bravery
A tale be told
Long forgotten, brought forth
From the memories of the old.
 
Of 21 men who
Died at duty's call
Who laid down their lives
And let not the fort fall??

(To read the rest, click the link)
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030920/windows/rhyme.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------

They ?were awarded the Indian Order of Merit (IOM), the then highest
decoration for the Indian soldiers.?

September 12th is celebrated as the Regimental Battle Honours Day (The
battle was fought on Sept. 12, 1897.) It is also celebrated by Sikhs
and called Saragarhi day.
http://www.sikhpoint.com/religion/sikhhistory/MainEvents/Saragarhi.htm

?All the 22 men were given the posthumous award of Indian Order of
Merit, Class 1, (IOM). This was the highest gallantry award given to
Indian ranks in those days and was equivalent to the Victoria Cross.
All dependants were given two squares of land and Rs. 500 (Nenna?s
note***500 Rupees) as financial assistance and memorials were built at
Ferozepore and Amritsar.?
http://www.info-sikh.com/SSPage1.html

Here is a map showing the Forts and where the battle was held:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Battle_of_Saragarhi.png 
-----------------------------------------------------------

There is an out-of-print book on the topic by Kanwaljit Singh called
Saragarhi Battalion, Ashes to Glory.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/8170620228/qid=1121274128/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-9272798-9948046?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

The publisher was Lancer International, and it was a 1st Ed. On June
1st, 1987. Its ISBN # is 8170620228. I did an out-of-print book search
here http://www.bookfinder4u.com/used_book_stores4.htm , and came up
with No copies, but you could keep an eye out for it on EBay.
-----------------------------------------------------------

On March 13th, there was a talk and exhibit at the 24 Hour Museum.
Chequer Road, Doncaster, DN1 2AE, South Yorkshire, England
T: 01302 734293
Open: Mon-Sat 1000-1700 Sun 1400-1700
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/exh_gfx_en/ART19576.html
-----------------------------------------------------------

In Issue 28, from July/Aug 1998 of Armourer Magazine. There is an article called: 
?Medal Collecting: SAMANA 1897 The Defence of Forts Saragarhi and Gulistan.?
Author: Peter Duckers 
Pgs.17 -19
You can order a copy of this back issue for 14 Euros (UK£ 14 = 24.74 US$)
Payment can be by Check /Money order/Credit/Debit Card
Call or fax 01625 575700 with your details.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Google Searches:
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=Saragarhi+museum+&btnG=Search
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=Saragarhi+Battalion%2C+Ashes+to+Glory&btnG=Search
://www.google.com/search?q=Saragarhi%20%2B%20Amazon&svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&sa=N&tab=iw
http://images.google.com/images?q=Battle%20of%20Saragarhi&num=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wi
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Battle%20of%20Saragarhi&btnG=Google+Search

If this answer requires further explanation, please request
clarification before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this
further.

Nenna-GA
Google Answers Researcher

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Request for Answer Clarification by tuhitu-ga on 14 Jul 2005 19:56 PDT

Thanks for replying my questiion. I was hoping if you could suggest
some sources or other ways of digging out information on this
historical battle. e.g if I was a journalst or want to make a
documentary movie how would I research this subject.

Thanks.

---

Clarification of Answer by nenna-ga on 19 Jul 2005 11:35 PDT

Hello,

I think your best contact would be the Indian Army themselves for more
information. I can't find a lot of places that have exhibits or do
more than tell the exact same story, so to go more in-depth, this is
the best solution.

http://indianarmy.nic.in/

Click on the picture of a envelope being mailed in the "center bottom"
of the page to contact them.

Nenna-GA

tuhitu-ga,
I have no doubt that you have found the following and many other sites
that repeat the account you provided.  I could not find an UNESCO
publication with the 8 stories of collective bravery and suspect that
these appeared individually in some periodical.  The fact that the
linked texts are almost identical in content and language suggests a
single source.  The last line below was given as a reference for one
of the texts.

What would be interesting would be contemporary newspaper reports
(after 12.sep 1897) which researchers may be able to access  - or tell
you where you may find them.

Good luck, Myoarin
http://www.maboli.com/seva/sikh_review/1995/march_95/GALLANT.htm

http://www.zafarnama.com/Pages/Saragrahi.html

http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=211833&messageid=1079793383&lp=1079793383

Nishaan 1/2002 from article "The epic battle of Saragarhi" written by
Amandeep Singh Madra