It might be granted that the British Indian Army might have been a little more organized than the tribals. Maybe slight better rifles.
But seeing the crowd of 10,000 people screaming to over-power 21 men would have been terrifying. I understand even the tribals had guns.
So flighting till the last man was very brave of these fine men. I only see a few cases like Germany and Japan during world war2, gurkhas... probably a few I might not know.
What these people found for was "principle" - they signed up for something. the gave a word not to surrender and they did not surrender.
"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."
Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)
Sidenote:
Many today seem to be getting medals, sitting behind monitors and pressing buttons and joysticks