He is brave, hardy, sharp-witted and well-versed in weapons. Add to this high fighting spirit, unwavering loyalty to duty, impeccable bearing and unpretentiousness, and you will get a portrait of a Gurkha, the ideal infantry soldier, a Spartan warrior of the new time. Gurkhas helped the British conquer India, fought bravely on the fronts of world wars, and today they take part in combat operations in Afghanistan as part of the British contingent.

Gurkhas are recruited from the Magar, Gurung, Sunwar and Kirat tribes of central Nepal. Once there was a strong principality of Gorkha, which subdued the entire highland country. The soldiers of this principality were distinguished by unparalleled fortitude and courage. Gurkhas have the characteristic features of Mongoloids-wide cheekbones, narrow eyes and a yellow skin tone. They are Hindu. When recruiting Gurkha battalions, preference is given to young men of strong build, not less than 157.5 cm tall. The emblem of the Gurkhas is crossed knives-Khukri. Their battle cry, "Eyo Gurkhali!" (Gurkhas, go!) was heard in many parts of the world.

AT THE BEGINNING OF MILITARY AFFAIRS

The first Gurkha battalion was formed in 1815 at the height of the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814-1816. It was used by the British for escorting and guarding the border areas of India. The initiator of the creation of the Gurkha units is considered to be General D. Okterloni. The British officer D. Master also highly appreciated the fighting qualities of the Nepalese. "The Gurkhas proved to be the most serious enemy the British had ever had to deal with," he wrote. ¹

In this war, most Gurkhas fought on the side of Nepal and showed special heroism. The Gurkhas defeated several detachments of the British East India Company and bravely defended Fort Kalunga for a month. Under its walls, the British lost 31 officers and 718 soldiers. When the fort was completely destroyed by artillery fire, the remaining 90 Gurkhas fought their way out of encirclement ².

However, the superiority of the British in armament and numbers still triumphed. Against the 12-thousandth Nepalese army, they put up a 30-thousandth army and 60 guns. Octerlawny stormed the strong fort of Malaon. Betrayed by their warlords, the Gurkhas were defeated.

In 1816, the Nepalese side was forced to sign an unequal treaty in the town of Sugauli. According to the treaty, Nepal remained independent, but its foreign policy was under the control of an English resident. As one of the main tasks, he considered the recruitment of Gurkhas to the troops of the East India Company.

Special attention was paid to this issue by Resident B. Hodgson. "The Magars, Khas, Gurungs are the most warlike tribes of Nepal, for whom war is a common craft and the most important source of wealth. The defeat of Nepal in the war is causing growing discontent among them , he reported to the Governor-General from Kathmandu in 1833. We need to create an outlet for them. Such an outlet should be the service in our army. " ³

ON GUARD OF IMPERIAL INTERESTS

In the middle of the XIX century. The Sirmoor, Kumaon and Nasiri Gurkha battalions were reorganized into regiments. They participated in the conquest of Sindh and Punjab and the suppression of the Sepoy rebellion of 1857-1859. For the head of each Gurkha killed, as well as the Englishman, the rebels paid a reward of 10 rupees.

In 1885, the colonial administration organized the recruitment of Gurkhas in 4 more battalions. For this purpose, a recruitment center was opened in British India near Gorakhpur. At its head was an officer. He had a staff of agents who knew the local languages and customs. Recruitment parties visited the mountainous regions of Nepal, usually in winter, when field work was finished. Preference was given to recruits from backward areas. They didn't know what cars, roads, or telephones were, and they never wore shoes.

In 1902, a second recruitment center was opened in Darjeeling. Since that time, the recruitment of Gurkhas has undergone significant changes. Now every Gurkha regiment has been granted the right to send recruiters to Nepal. Recruits were taken to Gorakhpur and Darjeeling, where they underwent a medical examination and received military service skills for 3 to 5 months, and then sent to the regiments.

In 1908, there were 20 Gurkha battalions in British India, which were consolidated into 10 infantry regiments of 25,000 soldiers. Every year they recruited 1,500 new recruits. Nepalese contingents of Indian units ranked second in number after Punjabi ones. The Gurkha units were led by British officers. According to their unanimous opinion, the Gurkhas were excellent soldiers - brave, disciplined, loyal. During one of the operations in the North-West of-

Captain F. Hugues of the border province fell into the river. A rifleman from his battalion, Lalbahadur Mal, immediately jumped into the water and saved the officer, but drowned himself. He was posthumously awarded ^the silver Medal4.

The British authorities used the Nepalese to suppress anti-colonial protests in India and other parts of the vast empire. At the hands of the Gurkhas, they stifled the Pathan liberation struggle in the Northwestern Frontier Province. From 1891 to 1895, Gurkha units maintained a permanent police service here. In 1871, the Gurkhas were sent to pacify the Lushai in Assam. Gurkha soldiers participated in all the Anglo-Afghan wars. They visited Ceylon and Java, Macau and Sudan. The Gurkhas were part of the British expeditionary force that suppressed the Boxer Rebellion in China. In 1903-1904. they took part in the British intervention in Tibet.

In order to get reliable soldiers from Nepal, the British aimed at isolating the country from the outside world and, above all, from India, where the liberation struggle was growing. This was largely due to the geographical location of the mountain kingdom, its hard-to-reach borders and an underdeveloped communication system.

IN THE BATTLES OF WORLD WARS

Nepal's human resources were widely used by the British in the world wars of the last century. So, during the First World War, 200 thousand Gurkhas served in the British army, which made up 20% of the male population of the country between the ages of 18 and 50. 20 thousand rubles. of these, or every tenth, ⁵ were killed. Gurkhas fought in France, Flanders, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Syria, Greece, and defended Suez.

During the operations, the Nepalese showed high combat qualities. The British were particularly impressed by the frequent hand-to-hand combat, in which they masterfully used their khukri. "I came to the conclusion that the Gurkhas were the best soldiers in my forces on the French sector of the front," General D. Willcox noted.⁶ In the autumn of 1915, Private Kulbir Thapa carried several wounded comrades out of the battlefield under continuous enemy fire. He was the first Gurkha to be awarded Britain's highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross.

Five Gurkha regiments participated in the Mesopotamia campaign. Initially, the British were successful. Basra, Nasiriyah and Kut al-Amarah were captured. The 2nd battalion of the 7th Gurkha Regiment distinguished itself in the battle for Nasiriya. But the desire of the British command to capture Baghdad without sufficient preparation turned out to be disastrous. As a result of the Turkish counterattack, 2,600 British and 10486 Indians and Gurkhas were captured. More than 4,200 prisoners were killed, mostly during the grueling multi-kilometer march to Aleppo, where the POW camp was located.

During the war, 16.5 thousand soldiers of the Nepalese army were stationed in India, mainly in the United Provinces, and performed police functions. This allowed the British to free up the troops that had been sent to the front.

During the Second World War, Nepal once again proved that it is a loyal ally of Great Britain. His subjects fought on various fronts against German, Italian, and Japanese forces. From 1939 to 1945, 250,000 Nepalese soldiers in 42 infantry battalions fought on the side of Great Britain and its allies. Of these, 7,544 were killed, 1,441 were missing, and 23,655 were injured.⁷

In April 1941, the Gurkhas were transferred to Iraq, and later to Iran and North Africa, where

They participated in heavy fighting against Rommel's corps. During the offensive operations in Tunisia, the Gurkhas from three battalions of the 4th Indian Division were highly appreciated by the command. They were often used for surprise night attacks. For one of these attacks in April 1943, Captain Lalbahadur Thapa was awarded the Victoria Cross. Gurkhas also fought in Italy. As a rule, they attacked the enemy from ambushes and boldly went into hand-to-hand combat.

22 battalions of Gurkhas and 3 battalions of the Nepalese army were deployed on the fronts in Asia.

The Gurkhas participated in the battles in Malaya and in the defense of Singapore. Here three of their battalions were captured. For several years, the Gurkhas defended the eastern borders of India. They were airlifted to the Japanese rear, where their inherent initiative and endurance proved extremely useful for conducting guerrilla operations. Notably, of the 10 Gurkhas awarded the Victoria Cross during World War II, seven fought in Burma.

At the end of October 1945, the Nepalese battalions returned to their homeland. On October 28, a Victory day celebration and parade were held in Kathmandu.

IRREPLACEABLE SOLDIERS

On November 9, 1947, a trilateral agreement was signed between Nepal, Great Britain and India on the further use of 10 Gurkha battalions. According to the treaty, four regiments (the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th) went to England and received the name of the Gurkha Brigade, the remaining regiments - to India. Both countries have received permission from Nepal to recruit recruits for their respective armies. British recruiting stations remained in India.

However, in 1952, the Indian Government decided to close all foreign recruitment centers. Expressing growing concern about Delhi's actions, Major General D. Hatwell wrote: "The current situation in Nepal and India's decision to recruit Gurkhas to the British army present a bleak prospect for us... Without denying the qualities of the British troops, I will say that an equivalent number of English soldiers will never be able to replace the Gurkha brigade. The loss of the Gurkhas will be irreparable for us."⁹. Taking advantage of Nepal's economic difficulties, Britain entered into an agreement with Nepal in 1954 to establish two Gurkha recruitment centers, Pukhlive (Western Nepal) and Dharan Bazare (Eastern Nepal).

Every year, a large number of Nepalese people aged 15 to 20 years old applied to these centers to serve in the Gurkha brigade. For example, in 1998, 300 candidates applied for every ²³⁰ vacant seats, and in 2007, due to the complicated political situation in Nepal and the actual state of civil war, 76,103 applied. For many Nepalese families, serving in the foreign army has become the most important source of livelihood. Upon retirement, an ordinary Gurkha received a salary 5 times higher than the income of an ordinary peasant family. The earnings of a Gurkha during military service exceeded it by 25 times. Annual remittances from Gurkha military personnel and retired Gurkhas to their home countries exceeded 40 million pounds and were the third source of foreign exchange earnings in Nepal after tourism and foreign trade.¹¹

The British also recruited Gurkhas to the Engineer and transport battalions, the signal battalion, and the security forces in Singapore. The service life in these units is 15 years. There are currently 3,400 Gurkhas in the British Army.

As part of the British contingents, Gurkhas visited many hot spots on the planet. They defended the interests of Great Britain and its NATO allies in Malaya, Brunei, Borneo, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and today take part in combat operations in Afghanistan. In November 1965, Corporal Rambahadur Limbu distinguished himself in the border conflict between Malaysia and Indonesia in Borneo. Under the crossfire of Indonesian commandos, he carried several wounded comrades from the battlefield and was the first to break into the enemy trenches. For his bravery, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the thirteenth in the history of the Gurkha divisions.

In addition to Great Britain, 40 thousand Gurkhas serve in the Indian army. They are part of 7 units and 4 training centers ¹². Gurkhas took part in the battles against Pakistan in 1947, 1965 and 1971 and against China in 1962, as well as in operations in Sri Lanka in 1987. For bravery in battles with Pakistani troops near the city of Kargil in 1998. The Republic of India "Param Vir Chakra" (Valiant Hero's Badge) was awarded to Captain Vikram Batra (posthumously).

THE LAST VICTORY OF THE GURKHAS

On May 28, 2008, dramatic political changes took place in the life of the highland country. On this day, the Constituent Assembly made a historic decision to declare Nepal a Federal Democratic Republic. King Gyanendra was asked to leave the palace within 15 days. P. K. Dahal, or Prachandra, leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) - CPN (m), became Prime Minister.One of the first initiatives of the Maoists was to close all Gurkha recruitment centers and prohibit the recruitment of Nepalese into the armies of other countries. "It is wrong to sacrifice Nepalese people in the name of protecting the sovereignty of foreign states," said prominent CPN (m) leader D. Sharma.¹³

The suspension of Gurkha recruitment was negatively received by both the British and Indian Governments. Delhi's interests were particularly affected, as the Gurkha contingent in the Indian army is 40% formed at the expense of Nepalese citizens. The remaining 60% are Gurkhas living in Indian territory.

The problem of retired Gurkhas was no less acute. Today there are 250 thousand of them. Only in the vicinity of London, 2 thousand Gurkhas live permanently. More recently, the size of their pension was significantly inferior to the pension of British fellow soldiers. Thus, a Gurkha private received a pension of £ 23, a Gurkha sergeant-40, a senior Gurkha officer-85, while the pension of a British sergeant is £ 600. ¹⁴

In March 2008, over 50 veterans of the Gurkha Brigade picketed the British Parliament building to protest pension discrimination. They returned their battle honours to the leader of the Liberal Party, Nick Clegg, who promised to hand them over to the Prime Minister. The Gurkhas also claimed the right of permanent residence in the UK.

Four veterans of the brigade and the widow of one of the Gurkhas tried to defend their interests in a British court. They won their last battle. On 30 September 2008, the Court allowed retired Gurkhas to remain in the UK and equalized the pensions of Gurkhas with those of British military personnel. "We witnessed a remarkable victory for brave Nepalese veterans," their lawyer, M. Howe, told the press. "This victory restores the honor and dignity of the soldiers who served in Her Majesty's army. It represents a celebration of public reason, justice, and the British understanding of what is right. " ¹⁵

The future of the braves now depends entirely on the decision of the new Nepalese government. Its final verdict is eagerly awaited not only by Gurkhas, but also by those in whose armies they intend to serve.

^{Masters G.} 1 Bugles and a Tiger. L., 1956, p. 90.

^{Redko I. B.} 2 Nepal after the Second World War. Moscow, 1960, p. 57.

³ Ibid., p. 80.

^{Farwell B.} 4 The Gurkhas. Bungay, 1985, p. 62.

^{Redko I. B.} 5 Decree. soch., p. 84.

⁶ Farwell B. Op. cit., p. 94.

^{Parker J.} 7 The Gurkhas. Chatham, 1999, p. 163.

⁸ Ibid., p. 267 - 268.

⁹ Eastern World, 1952, N 11.

¹⁰ The Times of India, 25 April, 2008.

^{Mehta A.K.} 11 The Royal Nepal Army. New Delhi, 2008, p. 6.

^{Parker J.} 12 Op. cit., p. 176.

¹³ The Hindustan Times, 15 July, 2008.

^{Parker J.} 14 Op. cit., p. 246.

¹⁵ The Hindu, 1 October, 2008.

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