More than a century has handed, however a bagpiper’s tune has stored alive a long-forgotten saga of bravery and endurance – from Scotland (part of Great Britain that when dominated India) to Himachal Pradesh’s Solan to Dagshai, a quiet cantonment hill city within the district. ,
The bagpipe, a musical instrument, is an inseparable half and image of Scottish id, tradition and custom, and is performed in instances of conflict and peace, celebration and mourning.
More not too long ago, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II was marked by the lone bagpiper enjoying the instrument in a number of locations in Scotland.
One hundred and twenty 5 years after the bagpipers of the Scottish Regiment “The Gordon Highlanders” primarily based in Dagshai throughout British rule performed their regiment’s tune “Dagshai Hills” throughout the Afghan War at Dargai Hill, and continued to play so. Even after their lead piper was mortally wounded, the Dagshai Prison Museum has now devoted a separate part as a tribute to the bravehearts on the a hundred and twenty fifth anniversary of the Battle of Dargai.
The bagpipe, a musical instrument, is an inseparable half and image of Scottish id, tradition and custom, and is performed in instances of conflict and peace, celebration and mourning.
More importantly, a set of regimental memorabilia has arrived from Scotland, and is displayed within the Dagshai Prison Museum for guests to get pleasure from. “Now generally known as ‘The Highlanders’, the Gordon Highlanders Regimental Association Museum in Aberdeen, Scotland have despatched us memorabilia to the Dagshai Prison Museum, remembering their affiliation with Dagshai throughout British rule. Dagshai Anand Kumar Sethi (77), curator of the jail museum, stated, memorabilia has been displayed within the museum.
One hundred and twenty-five years in the past, on October 20, 1897, a unprecedented battle occurred throughout the Afghan War at Dargai Hill in Tirah, not removed from the Khyber Pass (close to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border).
The Gordon Highlanders Regiment (from Dagshai) together with 1/2 Gurkha Rifles and the fifteenth Sikhs had been ordered to seize the heights held by Afridi and Orkazis from both aspect, thus dominating the realm.
Despite repeated makes an attempt, the Gordon Highlanders together with the 1/2 Gorkha Rifles and the fifteenth Sikhs couldn’t attain the peak of Dargai. Commanding Officer Colonel HH Mathias ordered his bagpipers to be referred to as ahead. He would proceed to play one in every of his two regimental tunes, Dagshai Hills (composer – John Wallace) till Dargai was captured. In the following motion the lead piper, Sergeant Gordon Findlater, was severely shot throughout his physique, leaving him crippled. Their second piper, Lance Corporal Patrick Milne, was additionally severely injured, but the pipers continued to play ‘Dugshai Hills’ till the peak was truly taken.
Sergeant Findlater, for his extraordinary bravery, was adorned with the Victoria Cross, the one non-combatant to obtain this honour. L/Cpl Milne obtained the Distinguished Service Order.
“The Dagshai Prison Museum has established a special section dedicated to the Gordon Highlanders, whose regimental association (based in Aberdeen, Scotland) presented the museum with a ‘Battle Kilt’, a “Battle Pith Helmet’, together with their conventional ‘Sporon’ bag introduced. , {a photograph} of Sergeant Findlater (when at Dagshai), {a photograph} of Colonel Mathias, a set of his regimental buttons and a duplicate of the principle portray depicting the battle from his headquarters in Aberdeen. These exhibitions had been inaugurated on October 15 on the Dagshai Jail Museum by Lt Gen P Ananthnarayanan, Chairman of the Gorkha Brigade and Colonel of the eighth Gorkha Rifles Regiment. At the ceremony, the pipe and drum band of the resident battalion at Dagshai additionally performed the pipers tune ‘Dagshai Hills’,” stated Sethi.
“The museum has also received some heartwarming messages from the descendants of the Pipers in Scotland, thanking the Dagshai Prison Museum for remembering the Bagpipers, the Gordon Highlanders warriors and celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Great Battle,” Sethi stated.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
