Gurkha Rifles

Gurkha tribesmen began to be recruited into the Bengal Army after the Gurkha War in 1816. They bore many names before becoming Gurkha Rifles. Articles on the regiments can be found as follows:

• 1st Gurkha Rifles
• 2nd Gurkha Rifles
• 3rd Gurkha Rifles
• 4th Gurkha Rifles
• 5th Gurkha Rifles
• 6th Gurkha Rifles
• 7th Gurkha Rifles
• 8th Gurkha Rifles
• 9th Gurkha Rifles
• 10th Gurkha Rifles

The 11th Gurkha Rifles was raised during the 1st World War then disbanded. The 25th, 26th & 29th Gurkha Rifles were raised during the 2nd World War then disbanded.

On the FIBIS website British Indian Army regiments are listed with titles as at the re-organisation of 1895. So 6th, 7th & 8th Gurkha Rifles are in articles titled 42nd, 43rd & 44th Gurkha Rifles. At the Partition of India in 1947 the regiments were given the choice of attachment to the British Army or the Indian Army. The 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th & 10th Regiments chose Britain. The 3rd, 4th, 5th , 8th & 9th Regiments chose India.

Details of the structure of the Regiments are available below.

The kukri

The kukri ( or ‘khukuri’) , the Nepalese knife used by the Gurkha Regiments is a lethal weapon which could be used to behead opponents.

The kukri has been used from the time the Nepalese joined the East India Company Bengal Army in 1815

There have still only ever been 5 Officially military pattern number kukris in official British Gurkha issue. A small batch of kukris were manufactured at the Rifle Factory, Ishapore in 1927

External Links

• Gurkha Rifles Wikipedia
  
• Gurkha Wikipedia
  
• Kukri Wikipedia
• Nepal including Gurkha Regiments Regiments.org, an archived website.
• "Regimental Histories and Army Handbooks: A Bibliography of the Gurkha Regiments" by Mary Des Chene, Dept of Anthropology, Stanford University SALNAQ - Issue 21 / 22 (Fall 1986 / Spring 1987) (SALNAQ: South Asia Library Notes & Queries | CONSALD) html version, original pdf
• Gurkha kukri knife's historic role in war and peace BBC.
• "The Agony Of The Opt: The Transfer Of Gurkha Regiments From The Indian To The British Army In 1948" by Charles Messenger, BCMH Summer Conference 2012 – Indian Armies (The British Commission for Military History bcmh.org.uk, now an archived webpage).
• Photographs: Salute to the Gurkhas flickr.com (retrieved 18 June 2014)
• John Eric Colenso: British Officer in the Gurkha Rifles by Ann Collins 24th August 2014. html version, pdf. colensostudy.id.au. He was appointed to the 2/7th Gurkha Rifles in 1907 and seconded to the Burma Military Police (BMP) in1909. During WW1 was with the 2/7th Gurkha Rifles in Egypt and then on the Western Front with the 2/39th Garhwal Rifles, and then with the 2nd/2nd Gurkhas. Back in India, he took part in the 3rd Afghan War with the 2/7th Gurkhas and was then with the BMP 1919- c 1922, when he was transferred to the 3rd Gurkha Rifles and took part in the actions in Waziristan 1922-1923. He retired in 1932

Historical books online

• Char-ee-kar and service there with the 4th Goorkha Regiment (Shah Shooja's force) in 1841: an episode of the first Afghan War by Colonel Haughton 1879 Archive.org
• Notes on Goorkhas: 
being a short account of their country, history, characteristic, clans, &c. 
by Captain Eden Vansittart, 5th Goorkhas 1890 Archive.org
• Available to read online on the Digital Library of India website:
  • Handbooks for the Indian Army: Gurkhas. Compiled under the orders of the Government by Lieut- Colonel Eden Vansittart 2nd Bn 10th Gurkha Rifles. revised by Major B U Nicolay 1st Bn, 4th Gurkha Rifles 1915 (Reprint 1918). Catalogued as Gurkhas (1915), barcode 99999990134142
  • Handbooks for the Indian Army: Gurkhas. Compiled under the orders of the Government by Major C J Morris, late 2nd Bn, 3rd QAO Gurkha Rifles Second edition 1936, revised by the author. First published 1933. Catalogued as Gurkhas (1936), barcode 99999990135244
• Under Ten Viceroys: the Reminiscences of a Gurkha by Major-General Nigel Woodyatt 1922 Archive.org. Chapters XII and XIII are specifically about the Gurkhas.