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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 synonymous with
“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] The name may be
traced to the medieval Hindu warrior-
saint Guru Gorakhnath[5] who has a
historic shrine in Gorkha.[6] The word
itself derived 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 against the British
invasions. But today, Gorkha soldiers
mostly belong to the Gurung, Magar,
Rai, Limbu and Sunuwar, and a handful
of Chhetri; there is no ethnicity based
restriction to join. There are Gurkha
military units in the Nepalese, British
and the Indian army enlisted in Nepal,
United Kingdom and India. Although they
meet many of the requirements of
Article 47[7] of Protocol I of the
Geneva Conventions regarding
mercenaries, they are exempt under
clauses 47(e)&(f) similar to the French
Foreign Legion.
Gurkhas are closely associated with the
khukuri, a forward-curving Nepalese
knife, and have a well known 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 is not afraid
of dying, he is either lying or he is a
Gurkha
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