Qila Darhal: Jammu's Own Little Saragarhi

               It wasn’t till recently that many knew about the Battle of Saragarhi that was fought on 12 September 1897 in Kohat (now in Pakistan). Thanks to a couple of movies on the subject during the past year or so, most of us are now aware of the name, if not the exact history of that action. The battle had seen the last stand taken by 21 Sikh soldiers against thousands of Orakzai and Afridi tribesmen. That had been one precarious situation that ended with the sacrifice of all 21 soldiers.

If, however, we were to swap 21 soldiers with hundreds of defenseless ladies, children and men of all ages and if we were to replace soldiers’ Lee Enfield rifles with less than 10 matchlock muskets while keeping the profile of the attackers more or less the same, we can well visualize how perilous and vulnerable the situation could become. A situation of comparation had been building up in and around a small, old and abandoned fort near Naushera when  Pakistan army supported raiders began their nefarious activities around the time of independence in 1947.

Qila Darhal is a small village about 16 km Northwest of Naushera. The village, at that time, was about 17 km from the state’s erstwhile border with Pakistan. The fort, overlooking the surrounding vista, lies due East of Jhangar and West of Chingas. It is believed that the fort was built during the 18th century when Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the ruler of the whole expanse stretching between Sutlej and Himalayas. It was during Maharaja’s time that news of an Afghan invader, Fateh Ali Khan, planning to attack Kashmir reached his court. With an aim to pre-empt the attacker, Maharaja Ranjit Singh decided to march to Kashmir through the shortest route and the route passed through the area.

Fort at Qila Darhal

In order to have a fortified staging area amidst the wilderness and at a place where plains finished and mountains began, a fort was constructed here under the supervision of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s minister, Wazir Mokam Chand. Later on, when Maharaja Gulab Singh was coronated as the Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir by the British, the fort at Qila Darhal also came under Dogra Rulers. It was at and around this fort that brave men and women of the area took a historic stand, first against the raiders and later against the invaders who invaded the area in early October 1947.

By the beginning of 1947, Pakistan's propaganda had stirred religious emotions beyond an acceptable limit. Soon, many armed men from across the borders began to cross over and started inciting the locals against minority communities. A deputation of locals walked down to the HQ of Mirpur Brigade and tried to share the information with Brigadier Chattar Singh of JAK Forces. However, the Brigade Major of the Brigade, Major Nasarullah, drove them away (the same officer, later on, led his troops to slaughter their colleagues at Tharochi Fort). Left with no option, the locals came together irrespective of caste and religion and started preparing the fort for their defence. Spread over close to 80,000 square feet, it was going to be a herculean task for the locals to hold it as a defensive locality after many years of neglect. For the effort, men, women and children of all ages pitched in and a frantic work schedule followed. The fort had five rainwater fed wells and the same were drained and cleaned and then manually filled up again by the locals who ferried water all the way from the sources down below. Likewise, rations were stocked and the whole exercise went on for more than six months. Jathedar Ram Singh and ex Subedar Ranjit Singh organised the defence of the fort with the latter putting his experience of World War II to good use.

Starting in September 1947, cross- border raids became a daily affair. Locals, however, kept the enemy at bay. After large scale desertions happened on and around 18/19 October 1947, a horde of tribesmen, guided by the deserters from the Maharaja’s forces attacked the fort. Locals, mostly Sikhs, faced them bravely and foiled their repeated attempts to breach the fort.

In a classical application of the basic military tactics, instead of staying inside the fort all the while, men and women would move out to lay ambushes and patrol the surrounding areas. On 28 October 1947, the enemy attacked in strength and with a definite plan in mind. As a result, the fort came under unparalleled stress. However, a small band of defenders held on with ladies joining shoulders with menfolk to save their honour and lives, in that definite order. The women were being led by Sardarni Bagh Kaur. A brutal battle ensued during which some heavy causalities were inflicted on the enemy, forcing invaders to flee from the area. During the action, that day, Jathedar Ram Singh, Hukam Singh, Sohan Singh, Suchan Singh and Pritam Singh laid down their lives. They had taken on the enemy in the so-called ‘forward zone’ and had been failed by the antique weapons that they had been carrying. In one instance, when the bullet got stuck in the barrel of the rifle, the gallant defender had used it as a club before attaining martyrdom. In order to conceal their losses, it was decided to cremate the dead in the middle of the night and a place that was defiladed from view. Further, instead of felling trees to obtain wood for the cremation, one gentleman pulled his house down and used the wood rafters to set the pyre.

              How important their role had been, can be assessed by the fact that all other villages on all sides were plundered by the raiders and invaders during the period. Though the locals lost five brave men, everyone else was saved and more importantly, ladies and kids were saved from the trauma that was brought upon everyone else residing or transiting through the belt spread over miles all around the fort. The tactics of dominating the area in the immediate vicinity of the fort also ensured that no close reconnaissance was allowed to the enemy and defenders holding the fort could not be surprised by the enemy.

When the Indian Army reached Naushera on 15 November 1947, some of the veterans in the fort contacted the troops at Naushera. Seeing their vulnerability since the area had been teeming with invaders by then, the army authorities advised them to abandon the fort and reach Naushera. The villagers left the fort and came to Naushera in the last week of Dec 1947. The fort was then used by invaders off and on till it was recaptured by the Indian troops on 16 Mar 1948.

There is a certain relation between the flavor of the soil and the spirit of the souls that belong to that soil. While locals had been fighting with their backs to the wall, 14 braves of the area were crossing the rainbow bridge in the Gilgit-Skardu area. They had been part of 6 JAK Infantry that had been hit by treachery amidst its ranks. Three out of 14 men had been from the same family. The trend continued in 1965 and 1971. Twelve warriors from the area returned, wrapped in the Tricolours in 1999. The saga continues!

 

(Colonel Ajay K Raina, SM is a military veteran and a military historian. He has authored a series of five books on the 1947-48 conflict and has as many more books to his credit. He is the founder member of Military History Research Society of India)