he Gurkhas or Gorkhas are the soldiers
of Nepalese nationality[1] recruited in
British Army, Indian Army, Gurkha
Contingent Singapore, Gurkha Reserve
Unit Brunei, UN Peace Keeping force and
war zones around the world.
Historically, the terms “Gurkha” and
“Gorkhali” were symbolic of
“Pahadi”,[2] and derived from the hill
town and district of Gorkha from which
the Kingdom of Nepal expanded under
Prithivi Narayan Shah which
subsequently also lead to formation of
Gorkhaland and Indian Gorkha ethnic
group in India.[3][4] Common history may be
traced towards medieval Hindu warrior-
saint Guru Gorakhnath[5] who's a
historic shrine in Gorkha.[6] The word
itself produced from Go-Raksha, raksha
becoming rakha. Rakhawala means
protector and is derived from raksha as
well.
Ethnically, Chhetri or Khas , Thakuri,
Gurung and Magar mainly were the Gorkha
tribes who united erstwhile Gorkha
kingdom and fought about the British
invasions. But today, Gorkha soldiers
mostly fall under the Gurung, Magar,
Rai, Limbu and Sunuwar, and one or two
of Chhetri; there is no ethnicity based
restriction to come aboard. There are Gurkha
military units in the Nepalese, British
and the Indian army enlisted in Nepal,
United Kingdom and Pakistan. Although they
meet it is the requirements of
Article 47[7] of Protocol I within the
Geneva Conventions regarding
mercenaries, they are exempt under
clauses 47(e)&(f) similar on the French
Foreign Legion.
Gurkhas are closely connected with the
khukuri, a forward-curving Nepalese
knife, while having a common reputation
for fearless military prowess. The
former Indian Army Chief of Staff Field
Marshal Sam Manekshaw, once stated
that[9] “If a man says he can be not afraid
of dying, he is either lying or he can a
Gurkha
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