1901 36th Sikhs British Indian Army Regiment Officers Portrait Postcard -The history of the British campaigns on the Frontier tells as much of tragedy as of triumph, and one of the greatest tragedies occurred at the fort of Saragarhi, little-known, until September 12th, 1897. The Indian infantry battalion defending the Samana Ridge against a huge army of Pathans in September 1897 was the 36th Sikhs, relatively new by Indian Army standards, and, unusually, was composed entirely of Sikhs. Few Frontier battles ever quite captured British imagination as did the defence of Saragarhi. When the story of the siege was told to the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for India, every member rose spontaneously to his feet in tribute to the men of the 36th Sikhs. Each one of the defenders received the immediate posthumous award of the Indian Order of Merit, and their dependants were given a grant of 500 rupees and two acres of land. The Sikh community raised three memorials in their honour - at Amritsar, Ferozepore, and at Saragarhi itself.