Gorkhas
The Gurkhas or Gorkhas with the endonym Gorkhali, are soldiers of Nepalese nationality and Gorkha Indian ethnicity originating from South Asia. They are recruited for the Nepalese Army, British Army, the Indian Army, the Gurkha Brunei Reserve Unit, the Singapore Gurkha Contingent, UN peacekeeping forces, etc. The terms Gorkhali and Gurkha comes from the mountainous principality of the Gorkha Kingdom, from where the Kingdom of Nepal expanded under Prithivi Narayan Shah.
There are Gurkha military units in the Indian, British and Nepalese armies. The Gurkhas have a reputation for military prowess.
British Gurkha Regiment
The British decided to recruit Gurkha soldiers impressed by their discipline and ferocity in the Anglo-Nepalese War. Since then, the Gurkhas have fought alongside the British Empire in almost all wars, including the two world wars. After independence in the year 1947, the 10 regiments of Gurkha soldiers was regulated by the Tripartite Agreement between India, Great Britain and Nepal. The British Army formed Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) regiment after merging the previous gorkha regiments. The RGR was then used in Britain’s remaining colonies in Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Gurkhas are recruited each year at the British Gurkha Camp in Pokhara, Nepal.
Indian Gorkha Regiment
he Indian army retained six of the original ten Gurkha regiments remained with the Indian army. Another regiment, 11 Gorkha rifles, was also created. The Gorkhas have served in almost all the conflicts that India fought after the year 1947, including the wars with Pakistan in the years 1965, 1947, 1999 and 1971 and also against China in the year 1962. They also served in Sri Lanka to carry out operations against the Tamil Tigers.
Special Frontier Force
The Special Frontier Force (SFF) is an Indian paramilitary organization made up of Tibetan refugees, Nepalese Gurkhas and other mountain ethnic groups. The SFF is mandated to carry out covert actions against China in the event of another war between China and India. Originally, the SFF was intended to be composed exclusively of Tibetan refugees living in India, but the SFF began recruiting Nepalese Gurkhas and hill tribe tribes in the year 1965 to compensate for the decline in the recruitment rate among Tibetans.
Singapore Gurkha Regiment/Contingent
Singapore Police Force’s gurkha contingent was formed in the year 1949. It is an integral part of the country’s police.
Brunei Unit
The Gurkha Reserve Unit is an elite force of Brunei. The Brunei Reserve Unit employs around 500 Gurkhas.
