Miniature memorial obelisk commemorating the Battle of Saragarhi, 1950 (c)

Silver obelisk by Page Kerr and Page Limited, hallmarked 1949-1950.

The obelisk is a representation of the Saragarhi memorial erected near Fort Lockhart near the site of the Saragarhi oupost. The plinth is inscribed with a presentation inscription, 'Presented by the Officers 4th Bn. The Sikh Regiment to the Sikh Brigade Dinner Club 1950', with an inscription in Gurmukhi below. Another side is inscribed, 'Presented by the Officers of the 36th Sikhs to the Regiment in Memory of Saragarhi 1908'.

The other inscriptions on the obelisk are representations of plaques on the original memorial: 'The Government of India have dedicated this tablet to the Memory of the twenty-one men of the 36th Sikh Regiment of Bengal Infantry as a perpetual record of the heroism shown by these gallant soldiers who died at their post in defence of the Fort of Saragarhi 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'.

They include a list of the names and regimental numbers of the fallen: '165 Havildar Indar Singh'; '322 Naik Lal Singh'; '546 L Naik Chanda Singh'; '1321 Sepoy Sundar Singh'; '287 Sepoy Ram Singh'; '492 Sepoy Attar Singh'; '182 Sepoy Sahb Singh'; '359 Sepoy Hira Singh'; '687 Sepoy Daya Singh'; '760 Sepoy Jivan Singh'; '791 Sepoy Bhola Singh'; '834 Sepoy Narayan Singh'; '814 Sepoy Gurmukh Singh'; '871 Sepoy Jivan Singh'; '1733 Sepoy Gurmukh Singh'; '163 Sepoy Ram Singh'; '1257 Sepoy Bhagwan Singh'; '1268 Sepoy Bhagwan Singh'; '1256 Sepoy Buta Singh; '1651 Sepoy Jivan Singh; '1221 Sepoy Nand Singh.'.

On 12 September 1897, during the Tirah Force Expedition, 21 soldiers of the 36th (Sikh) Regiment of Bengal Infantry fought a desperate last ditch stand to defend a British outpost at Saragarhi. Rather than surrender to an overwhelming force of hostile Afghan tribesmen, the soldiers fought to the death. The defenders were all posthumously awarded the Indian Order of Merit.