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of Nepalese nationality 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”, 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. The name may be traced to the
medieval Hindu warrior-saint Guru
Gorakhnath who has a historic shrine in
Gorkha. 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
47of Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions
regarding mercenaries, they are exempt
under clauses 47 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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