Tuesday 4 June 2013

What to call my Saragarhi book

During my research into "Saragarhi" I thought long and hard about what to call the book.

Is it a lost battle?  Is it a true narrative of events?  Is it about the politics of the Raj or the Sikhs?

The original concept for my work was about the "21 Sikhs" and the last stand at Saragarhi - but with its proven hard to tell the stories of the individuals involved at the battle because so little primary material exists.

I went for "The Forgotten Battle" because the events of Saragarhi have been largely lost to mass public consciousness.

It fits my theory also, that the myth of the battle and the falsities that have cropped up are now more well known than the actual fact of what happened at Saragarhi.  This involved the wrongful claims that the battle was ranked by UNESCO, that news of the event raised a round of applause in the Commons.  There are more also.

Saragarhi is a forgotten battle for another reason, for access is no longer possible to the area where it took place.  To discover more about the battle and why it took place, we need an appreciation of the geography of the land and the significance of the communications post.

This is detailed in my book which will be released in September 2013.

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