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Gurkha, A History Lesson
Jaydabomb88
Posts: 46
Most of you will know the renowned name of Gurkha and what that means in relation to cigars. Well I wanted more. Where did the name come from? What sort of history is there? What I found was some interesting facts about an original Asia-based badass.
The term "Gurkha" comes from a British mispronunciation of the town of Gorkha, in western Nepal. Not a true ethnic group, the Gurkhas represent what British officers since the mid-eighteenth century have considered the fighting classes of Nepal. The British first encountered them during the 1814-1816 war between Nepal and the Bengal Presidency of the East India Company. Impressed by their cheerful disposition even when wounded, the British bonded with their erstwhile adversaries.
'I never saw more steadfastness or more bravery exhibited by any set of men in my life', a British officer said, after one battle. 'Run they would not; and of death they seemed to have no fear though their comrades were falling thick around them.' Another who described their officers as treacherous and bloodthirsty, praised the common soldiers for their courage, endurance and obedience. In addition to their 'infamous' muskets, they were armed he noted with a 'fearsome crooked instrument called a kookuree, which they used for cutting branches as well as carving up their enemies.'
The Gurkhas have been Great Britain's most valued mercenaries. They have fought for the British in: The Boxer Rebellion, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and many other smaller conflicts. They have now been reduced to a single regiment of 3,000 men, the Royal Gurkha Rifles, with Prince Charles as their Colonel-in-Chief.
A. E. Housman wrote, Their shoulders held the sky suspended; They stood, and earth's foundations stay; What God abandoned, these defended, And saved the sum of things for pay.
While I guess all you had to do was jaunt on over to Wikipedia, but I wanted to use my college library database for scholarly articles. Trying to get the most out of that 200k tuition
Enjoy
Sources:
Kaplan, Robert D.. Atlantic Monthly (10727825), May2006, Vol. 297 Issue 4, p79-84, 3p
Evans, George. Contemporary Review, Apr2000, Vol. 276 Issue 1611, p197, 4p
The term "Gurkha" comes from a British mispronunciation of the town of Gorkha, in western Nepal. Not a true ethnic group, the Gurkhas represent what British officers since the mid-eighteenth century have considered the fighting classes of Nepal. The British first encountered them during the 1814-1816 war between Nepal and the Bengal Presidency of the East India Company. Impressed by their cheerful disposition even when wounded, the British bonded with their erstwhile adversaries.
'I never saw more steadfastness or more bravery exhibited by any set of men in my life', a British officer said, after one battle. 'Run they would not; and of death they seemed to have no fear though their comrades were falling thick around them.' Another who described their officers as treacherous and bloodthirsty, praised the common soldiers for their courage, endurance and obedience. In addition to their 'infamous' muskets, they were armed he noted with a 'fearsome crooked instrument called a kookuree, which they used for cutting branches as well as carving up their enemies.'
The Gurkhas have been Great Britain's most valued mercenaries. They have fought for the British in: The Boxer Rebellion, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and many other smaller conflicts. They have now been reduced to a single regiment of 3,000 men, the Royal Gurkha Rifles, with Prince Charles as their Colonel-in-Chief.
A. E. Housman wrote, Their shoulders held the sky suspended; They stood, and earth's foundations stay; What God abandoned, these defended, And saved the sum of things for pay.
While I guess all you had to do was jaunt on over to Wikipedia, but I wanted to use my college library database for scholarly articles. Trying to get the most out of that 200k tuition
EnjoySources:
Kaplan, Robert D.. Atlantic Monthly (10727825), May2006, Vol. 297 Issue 4, p79-84, 3p
Evans, George. Contemporary Review, Apr2000, Vol. 276 Issue 1611, p197, 4p
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Comments
Gurkha soldier kills 30 taliban
Just trying to identify my target, sir!
Good thing it was the Jordanians and not the Gorkha's... they probably would have cut our heads off and USED them for soccer balls... :-)