Gurkha (disambiguation)

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Gurkhas are soldiers from Nepal.

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Gurkha, Gorkha or Gorkhali may also refer to:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Nepal</span> 1768–2008 sovereign kingdom in South Asia

The Kingdom of Nepal was a Hindu kingdom in South Asia, formed in 1768 by the expansion of the Gorkha Kingdom, which lasted until 2008 when the kingdom became the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. It was also known as the Gorkha Empire, or sometimes Asal Hindustan. Founded by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha monarch who claimed to be of Khas Thakuri origin, it existed for 240 years until the abolition of the Nepalese monarchy in 2008. During this period, Nepal was formally under the rule of the Shah dynasty, which exercised varying degrees of power during the kingdom's existence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gurkha</span> Indian and Nepalese national soldiers

The Gurkhas or Gorkhas, with the endonym Gorkhali, are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorkha National Liberation Front</span> Political party in India

Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) is a political party in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India. It was formed in 1980 by Subhash Ghisingh with the objective of demanding a Gorkhaland state within India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorkha Kingdom</span> Former kingdom in present-day west Nepal

The Gorkha Kingdom was a member of the Chaubisi rajya, a confederation of 24 states on the Indian subcontinent ruled by the Khas people. In 1743 CE, the kingdom began a campaign of military expansion, annexing several neighbors and becoming present-day Nepal. The Gorkha Kingdom extended to the Marshyangdi River in the west, forming its border with the Kingdom of Lamjung. To the east, the kingdom extended to the Trishuli River, forming its border with the Nepal Mandala. The Gorkha Kingdom was established in 1559 CE by Prince Dravya Shah, the second son of King Yasho Brahma Shah of Lamjung. The prince replaced the Khadka chiefs who previously ruled the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment)</span> Military Unit

1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment), often referred to as the 1st Gorkha Rifles, or 1 GR in abbreviation, is the most senior Gorkha Infantry regiment of the Indian Army comprising Gurkha soldiers of Indian Gorkha or Nepalese nationality, especially Magars and Gurungs hill tribes of Nepal. It was originally formed as part of the East India Company's Bengal Army in 1815, later adopting the title of the 1st King George V's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment), however, in 1947, following the partition of India, it was transferred to the Indian Army and in 1950 when India became a Republic, it was redesignated as 1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment). The regiment has a long history and has participated in many conflicts, including many of the colonial conflicts prior to Indian independence, as well as the First and Second World Wars. Since 1947 the regiment has also participated in a number of campaigns against Pakistan in 1965 and 1971 as well as undertaking peacekeeping duties as part of the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amar Singh Thapa</span> Military general, governor and warlord in Nepal

Amar Singh Thapa distinguished as Badakaji Amar Singh Thapa({{lang-ne|बडाकाजी अमर सिंह थापा), or Amar Singh Thapa The Elder, also known by the honorific name Bada Kaji or Budha Kaji, was a Gorkhali military general, governor and warlord in the Kingdom of Nepal. He was the overall commander of the Nepal Army in the conquest of Western Provinces and authoritative ruler of Kumaon, Garhwal in the Kingdom of Nepal. He was referred by the King of Nepal to have been deployed as Mukhtiyar of Western Provinces of Kumaon, Garhwal He is often hailed as Living Tiger of Nepal and he was posthumously regarded as one of the national heroes of Nepal, who led the Anglo-Nepalese War for the Gorkhali Army. Amarsingh Chowk Pokhara and Shree Amarsingh Model Higher Secondary School are named after the name of Amar Singh Thapa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balbhadra Kunwar</span> National hero of Nepal (1789–1823)

Balbhadra Kunwar Chhetri was a Gorkhali military commander and administrator in the Kingdom of Nepal. He is one of the National heroes of Nepal. He was highly praised for his military skill for the defence of Nalapani fort in the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816). He was Captain in the Nepalese military and was tasked as commander to protect the forts of Dehradun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Gorkha Rifles</span> Infantry regiment of the Indian Army

The 4th Gorkha Rifles or the Fourth Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 4 GR, is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army comprising Gurkha soldiers of Indian Gorkha or Nepalese nationality, especially Magars and Gurungs hill tribes of Nepal. The Fourth Gorkha Rifles has five infantry battalions. The regiment was raised in 1857 as part of the British Indian Army. In 1947, after India's independence, the Fourth Gurkha Rifles became part of the Indian Army as the Fourth Gorkha Rifles.

The Tripartite Agreement between the United Kingdom, India and Nepal is a treaty signed in 1947 concerning the rights of Gurkhas recruited in military services of United Kingdom and India. This agreement does not apply to Gurkhas employed in the Nepalese Army. Under the agreement, six of the ten Gurkha regiments remained as part of the Indian Army, while the remaining four joined the British Army. As of 2020, India has 39 Gorkha battalions serving in 7 Gorkha regiments. Those transferred to the British Army were posted to other remaining British colonies. In Malaya and Singapore, their presence was required in the Malayan Emergency, and they were to replace the Sikh unit in Singapore which reverted to the Indian Army on Indian independence. Those units in Malaya and Singapore, after these British colonies gained independence, are still part of Brunei and Singapore armed forces respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)</span> Indian Army unit

5th Gorkha Rifles, also abbreviated as 5 GR(FF) is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army comprising Gurkha soldiers of Nepalese origin. It was formed in 1858 as part of the British Indian Army. The regiment's battalions served in the First World War (Mesopotamia) and Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirati people</span> Indigenous ethnic groups of the Himalayas

The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant, are Sino-Tibetan ethnolinguistic groups and indigenous peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to Northeast India (predominantly in the Indian States of Sikkim and Darjeeling & Kalimpong hills of northern West Bengal

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military history of Nepal</span>

The Nepalese Army or Gorkha Army is the armed military Land warfare force of Nepal and a major component of the Military of Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorkha regiments (India)</span> Military unit of the Indian Army

Since the independence of India in 1947, as per the terms of the Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement, six Gorkha regiments, formerly part of the British Indian Army, became part of the Indian Army and have served ever since. The troops are mainly from ethnic Gurkha communities of India and Nepal. A seventh Gorkha Rifles regiment was re-raised in the Indian Army after Independence to accommodate Gorkha soldiers of the 7th Gurkha Rifles and the 10th Gurkha Rifles who chose not to transfer to the British Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Gorkha Rifles</span> Military unit

The 9th Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha infantry regiment of the Indian Army and, previously, the British Army. The regiment was initially formed by the British in 1817, and was one of the Gurkha regiments transferred to the Indian Army after independence as part of the tripartite agreement in 1947. This Gorkha regiment mainly recruits soldiers who come from Nepal's Gorkhali Kshatriya community i.e. the Chhetri and Thakuri clans. Domiciled Indian Gorkhas are also recruited, and they form about 20 percent of the regiment's total strength. The 9 Gorkha Rifles is one of the seven Gorkha regiments of the Indian Army. The other regiments are 1 GR, 3 GR, 4 GR, 5 GR (FF), 8 GR and 11 GR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepali Army</span> Land service branch of the Nepalese Armed Forces

The Nepali Army, also referred as the Gorkhali Army, is the land service branch of the Nepali Armed Forces. After the Gorkha Kingdom was founded in 1559, its army was established in 1560, and was accordingly known as the Gorkhali Army. The army later became known as the Royal Nepali Army (RNA) following the Unification of Nepal, when the Gorkha Kingdom expanded its territory to include the whole country, by conquering and annexing the other states in the region, resulting in the establishment of a single united Hindu monarchy over all of Nepal. It was officially renamed simply to the Nepali Army on 28 May 2008, upon the abolition of the 240-year-old Nepalese monarchy, and of the 449-year-old rule of the Shah dynasty, shortly after the Nepalese Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepal in World War II</span>

Following the German invasion of Poland, the Kingdom of Nepal declared war on Germany on September 4, 1939. Once Japan entered the conflict, sixteen battalions of the Royal Nepalese Army fought on the Burmese front. In addition to military support, Nepal contributed guns, equipment as well as hundreds of thousands of pounds of tea, sugar and raw materials such as timber to the Allied war effort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sino-Nepalese War</span> Invasion of Tibet by Nepalese Army and Chinese military intervention

The Sino-Nepalese War, also known as the Sino-Gorkha War and in Chinese as the campaign of Gorkha, was a war fought between the Qing dynasty of China and the Kingdom of Nepal in the late 18th century following an invasion of Tibet by the Nepalese Gorkhas. It was initially fought between Gorkhas and Tibetan armies in 1788 over a trade dispute related to a long-standing problem of low-quality coins manufactured by Nepal for Tibet. The Nepalese Army under Bahadur Shah plundered Tibet which was a Qing protectorate and Tibetans signed the Treaty of Kerung paying annual tribute to Nepal. However, Tibetans requested Chinese intervention and the Chinese imperial military forces under Fuk'anggan were sent to Tibet and repulsed the Gurkhas from the Tibetan plateau in 1792. Sino-Tibetan forces marched into Nepal up to Nuwakot but faced a strong Nepalese counterattack. Thus, both countries signed the Treaty of Betrawati as a stalemate. The war ended with Nepal accepting terms dictated by China. Nepal became a tribute state under Qing. Nepal paid tribute to China in 1792, 1794, 1795, 1823, 1842 and 1865. Both Nepal and Tibet had also agreed to accept the suzerainty of the Qing emperor.

Buddhi Karna Raya was the last Limbu overlord king of Limbuwan. He was killed by the forces of Gorkhali king Prithvi Narayan Shah in AD 1774. The Limbuwan lands where he was king or overlord king were between Saptakoshi River to Kankai River covering present day three districts: Sunsari, Morang and parts of Jhapa. After Buddhi Karna's death the later kings in Limbuwan acknowledged the overlordship of the Gurkha King. It was about the time of Buddhi Karna's death that the Gorkha Kingdom was transformed into Nepal. His death was connected with the Limbuwan–Gorkha war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepal–Sikh War</span>

The Nepal–Sikh War was a large scale military conflict in 1809 between the forces of the Kingdom of Nepal under Amar Singh Thapa and the Sikh Empire under general Dewan Mokham Chand.