[10] Saragarhi was a small village in the border district of Kohat, situated on the Samana Range, which was located in the North-West Frontier Province of British India (present-day Pakistan).

[12] In August 1897, five companies of the 36th Sikhs under Lieutenant Colonel John Haughton were sent to the northwest frontier of British India (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and were stationed at Samana Hills, Kurag, Sangar, Sahtop Dhar, and Saragarhi.

The Saragarhi post, situated on a rocky ridge, consisted of a small block house with loop-holed ramparts and a signalling tower.

A general uprising by the Afghans began there in 1897 and, between 27 August and 11 September, many vigorous efforts by Pashtuns to capture the forts were thwarted by the 36th Sikhs.

Both the attacks were repulsed, and a relief column from Fort Lockhart, on its return trip, reinforced the signalling detachment positioned at Saragarhi, increasing its strength to three non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and eighteen other ranks (ORs).

Details of the Battle of Saragarhi are considered fairly accurate because Sepoy Gurmukh Singh signalled events to Fort Lockhart by heliograph[14] as they occurred.

Some 600 bodies[20] are said to have been seen around the ruined post when the relief party arrived (however, the fort had been retaken, on 14 September, by the use of intensive artillery fire,[21] which may have caused some casualties).

The inscription of a commemorative tablet reads:[citation needed] The Government of India have caused this tablet to be erected to the memory of the twenty-one non-commissioned officers and men of the 36 Sikh Regiment of the Bengal Infantry whose names are engraved below as a perpetual record of the heroism shown by these gallant soldiers who died at their posts in the defense of the fort of Saragarhi, on the 12 September 1897, fighting against overwhelming numbers, thus proving their loyalty and devotion to their sovereign The Queen Empress of India and gloriously maintaining the reputation of the Sikhs for unflinching courage on the field of battle.The 21 Sikh non-commissioned officers and soldiers who died in the Battle of Saragarhi were from the Majha region of Punjab and were posthumously awarded the Indian Order of Merit, at that time the highest gallantry award which an Indian soldier could receive.

Various senior ministers and armed forces generals have paid tribute to Sikh service by mentioning the story of Saragarhi.

In June 2016 the Chief of the General Staff Sir Nick Carter did the same at a special British Sikh Association dinner.

In November 2020, the Wolverhampton City Council approved plans for the erection of a 10 ft tall bronze statue commemorating the battle outside of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Wednesfield.

[34] In September 2017, Saragarhi: The True Story, a documentary by UK-based journalist-filmmaker Jay Singh-Sohal, was screened at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to mark the 120th anniversary of the epic frontier battle.

[35] A TV series, 21 Sarfarosh - Saragarhi 1897 aired on Discovery Jeet from 12 February 2018 to 11 May 2018, starring Mohit Raina, Mukul Dev, and Balraj Singh Khehra.

Directed by Anurag Singh and starring Akshay Kumar,[39] it grossed over ₹100 crores worldwide in its opening weekend during the Holi festival.