Origins Impressed by the fighting qualities displayed by the Gorkhas during the
Gurkha War,
Sir David Ochterlony was quick to realise the potential of the Gorkhas in the
British Indian Army. Until then, Gorkha defectors were generally used as irregular forces. On 24 April 1815, the first battalion of the Gorkha Regiment, was raised as the Nasiri regiment. This regiment later became the
1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles, and saw action at the Maulun fort under Lieutenant Lawtie. They were instrumental in the expansion of the
British East India Company throughout the
subcontinent. The Gorkhas took part in the
Gurkha-Sikh War, the
First and
Second Anglo-Sikh Wars,
Afghan wars, and in suppressing the
Indian Rebellion of 1857. Throughout these years, the British continued to recruit the Gorkhas and kept increasing the number of Gorkha regiments. By the time First World War started, there were 10 Gorkha (spelt Gurkha at the time) regiments in the
British Indian Army. The Gorkha regiments played a major role as part of the Commonwealth armies during both World Wars seeing action from
Monte Cassino in the west to
Rangoon in the east, and earning extensive
battle honours. During the North African campaign, the German
Afrikakorps accorded respect to the Nepalese knife
khukri-wielding Gorkhas.
Post independence of India ,
Darjeeling. Following India's independence, India, Nepal and Great Britain signed a
Britain-India-Nepal Tripartite Agreement in 1947. Provision was made for six of the 10 Gorkha regiments in the
British Indian Army to transfer to the new
Indian Army. The four Gurkha regiments transferred to the British Army were posted to the 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 (Malaysia and Brunei) and Singapore, after these British colonies gained independence, are still part of Brunei and Singapore's armed forces respectively. The six regiments incorporated in the new army of independent India were: •
1st King George V's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment) •
3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles •
4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles •
5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) •
8th Gurkha Rifles •
9th Gurkha Rifles In 1949, the spelling of 'Gurkha' in the Indian Army was changed to the traditional 'Gorkha'. Upon India becoming a republic in 1950, all royal titles associated with the Indian Gorkha regiments were dropped. Following the divisions of the Gorkha regiments, it was decided that transferring to the British Army would be a voluntary decision for the individual Gorkha soldiers affected. As a result, large numbers of men from the
7th Gurkha Rifles and the
10th Gurkha Rifles, which recruited predominantly from eastern Nepal, decided not to remain with their regiments when these became part of the British Army. In order to retain a contingent from this area of Nepal, the Indian Army made the decision to raise the
11 Gorkha Rifles. Although there was an ad hoc regiment with this number, raised during World War 1 with troops drawn from the various existing Gurkha units, the troops mostly retained the uniform and insignias of their respective regiments (with a few exceptions who wore 11 GR badges which was unofficial as no sanction was given for such). This regiment was disbanded in 1922 and has no relation to the present-day 11 Gurkha Rifles, despite claims to the contrary. Since independence, the Gorkhas have fought in every major campaign involving the Indian Army, and have been awarded numerous battle and theatre honours. Gorkha regiments have won many gallantry awards, such as the
Param Vir Chakra and the
Maha Vir Chakra. The 5th Battalion of the 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force), 5/5 GR (FF), fought gallantly in the
Hyderabad police action in 1948, during which Nk. Nar Bahadur Thapa of 5/5 GR (FF) earned the first
Ashok Chakra Class I of independent India on 15 September 1948. The 1st Battalion, 1/5 GR (FF), captured the
Sehjra bulge fighting against a whole Pakistani battalion during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The 4th Battalion, 4/5 GR (FF), fought in the
Battle of Sylhet, earning the distinction of being the first regiment of the Indian Army to be involved in a heliborne attack. Under the Indian Army, Gorkhas have served in
Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka,
Siachen, and in UN peacekeeping missions in
Lebanon,
Sudan, and
Sierra Leone. Major
Dhan Singh Thapa of the 1st Battalion, 8 Gorkha Rifles, 1/8 GR, won the
Param Vir Chakra for his heroic actions during the
1962 Sino-Indian conflict. The 1st Battalion of the 11th Gorkha Rifles, 1/11 GR, was involved in the
Kargil War of 1999, where Lt.
Manoj Kumar Pandey was posthumously awarded the
Param Vir Chakra for gallantry. Lt. Hari Singh Bist of the 3rd Battalion of the 11th Gorkha Rifles was awarded a
Shaurya Chakra posthumously for his bravery in a close combat encounter with JeM terrorists in Mendhar in Kashmir. Lt. Bist and his patrol party had acquired information that a group of terrorists were hiding in a village hut. On receiving the intelligence, Lt. Bist volunteered to conduct further surveillance. During the actual encounter, Lt. Bist killed five militants, but was shot five times in the process. ==Structure==