Standing barely over one and a half meters tall, with a typical Mongoloid appearance, armed with strange curved knives, going into battle under the banner of Great Britain, but with the cry "Glory to the great Kali!" … It's damn hard to confuse such guys with someone. Of course, these are the Gurkhas, hereditary soldiers of Nepal, according to an old contract, entering the service of the British crown.
It all started in Nepal … no, even earlier - in North India. When about five centuries ago, some of the Rajputs moved to Nepal, named after the 13th century Hindu saint Guru Gorakhnath (aka Gorakshanath). Having founded the kingdom of Gorkha, they lived apart from other peoples for a long time. Until, finally, tired of the eternal civil strife of Nepal, the Gurkha king Narayan Shah conquered the whole country at once in 1768. Such actions could not pass by the British intelligence, because "the empire over which the sun does not set", or rather its East India Company, was just increasing its influence on the subcontinent. At first, treaties were concluded with Nepal, but due to a further clash of territorial interests, a full-scale war broke out in 1814, which ended only two years later. It would seem that the British troops were superbly equipped,they outnumbered the Nepalese in number and preparation, but … on the side of the mountain kingdom, the Gurkhas fought. It would be unfair to the military power of Great Britain to say that it was defeated - after all, as a result of the peace treaty, Nepal lost about half of its lands, and was forced to trade only with its former enemy. And, nevertheless, he managed to maintain independence, in fact, only thanks to the desperate courage and iron tenacity of a short warlike tribe, armed mainly with the trademark kukri knives. The British were so impressed by the enemy that one of the conditions of the peace treaty was the opportunity to recruit Gurkha to serve Her Majesty. Obviously, the Gurkhas also considered the offer an honor, and their word turned out to be as indestructible as the Himalayan mountains.
EXCEPT Jokes
In the stories of the Gurkha military service, reality is closely intertwined with anecdotes. British soldiers outnumbered the Nepalese highlanders in growth by one and a half times, which created significant problems in joint hostilities. For example, in the trenches for the Gurkhas, the British could sit, perhaps huddled three times, and vice versa - when they dug the trenches themselves, the Gurkhas could not even reach the edge to fire. Joint exercises also did not lead to good - at the sight of a Gurkha putting on a gas mask, the British could not help laughing. Fortunately for Her Majesty's subjects, the Nepalese miraculously balanced exceptional ferocity in battle with an equally exceptional peace-loving attitude toward their allies. If clashes happened, it was very rare. As an anecdote, they usually tell a story about the training of the Gurkhas in the airborne troops during the Second World War. They say that you can fit twice as many on a plane, the main thing is to teach you how to jump from two kilometers. The Gurkhas frowned and asked if it could be lower. The British agreed to five hundred meters. The Gurkhas asked to lower it further. They lowered it to two hundred, below the parachute will not have time to open. The Gurkhas smiled with relief - well, if they will be given parachutes, then it is possible from two kilometers!
All jokes, but the Gurkhas really know how to fight like no one else. More than two hundred thousand Nepalese mountaineers fought on the side of Britain in World War I, two hundred and fifty thousand in World War II. They fought against the Turks, against the Germans and against the Japanese, showing unwavering valor and tenacity. In jungles, deserts, swamps or mountains, even losing and suffering huge losses, the Gurkhas never retreated. Their discipline and rage have become legendary - often during the lifetime of those Nepalese who displayed these very qualities. At the same time, modern Gurkhas do their best not to shame the memory of great ancestors. Not so long ago, in 2011, Gurkha corporal Dipprasad Poon was personally awarded by the Queen of Great Britain's highest military award - the Victoria Cross. He single-handedly repelled an attack by three dozen Taliban at a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan,shooting alternately with a rifle, machine gun and grenade launcher. In less than fifteen minutes, the Gurkha rained down on the enemies a shower of bullets and grenades, not to mention the blows of his formidable knife. But the short Elizabeth II even had to bend over a little to attach the award to his chest …
DIVINE KNIVES
Promotional video:
The national weapon of the Gurkhas - the kukri knife - deserves a separate mention. This is one of the oldest types of edged weapons that have survived to this day without major changes. According to one version, its characteristic curved shape comes from the Greek short sword of the copis, which came to Nepal in the 4th century BC. together with the army of Alexander the Great. Another theory suggests that the crooked sword-knife came to Greece from Africa two centuries earlier, then spread to the Balkans and the Middle East. Nowadays, the kukri is so closely associated with the Gurkhas that it is impossible to imagine one without the other.
In addition to its practical benefits, kukri has a deep symbolic meaning. In cross-section, the blade has a triangular shape in honor of the trinity of Hindu gods - Brahma, Vishna and Shiva. The shape of the notch at the handle, called the "cow footprint" refers to the goddess Kali. Real kukri are forged by Nepalese kami blacksmiths, who pass on metal processing techniques from generation to generation. Although each sample of kukri, to one degree or another, pays respect to the gods, they are divided into four groups - ceremonial, military, household and ritual. In no case should they be confused, because a real military weapon must be removed from its scabbard only to drink the enemy's blood. To understand how seriously the Gurkhas take their knives, one has only to look at the coat of arms of the Nepalese mercenaries - the crossed kukris with the British crown crowning them.
FRIENDSHIP FOR AGE
Today, the Gurkha, as well as two hundred years ago, are also recruited for the service through the center located in Nepal. They go there not just as volunteers, but as if performing a sacred duty or trying to enter an elite university. Currently, the number of Gurkhas in the service of Great Britain is only two and a half thousand soldiers and officers, and the annual admission competition is twenty-eight thousand people for two hundred places! At the end of their service, the Gurkhas can obtain British citizenship on lighter terms and receive almost as impressive a pension as the native British military. Considering how poor modern Nepal is, one can understand the zeal of young Gurkhas in fulfilling the ancient treaty. According to modern law, the Gurkhas fighting on the side of Great Britain are not mercenaries,as they are fully integrated into the British military system. Which, however, does not prevent them from becoming real mercenaries after returning to their homeland. The Sultan of Brunei, for example, maintains a personal guard of two thousand Gurkha on a permanent basis, similar units are in the Singapore police and the Indian army.
"A person who is not afraid of death or lies, or is a Gurkha." - the phrase, once thrown by the British field marshal in India Sam Manekshav, quickly became popular. Situations when foreign troops served in the standing army were not uncommon at all times, but the Gurkhas were able to prove their uniqueness. The three-meter monument dedicated to the Gurkhas, standing in front of the British Department of Defense in London, bears the following words: "The bravest of the brave, the most generous of the generous, my country has never had more loyal friends than you." And although in this case the "friendship" of the Gurkhas is tightly connected with money, traditions and honor for them always remain in the first place. At least as long as Great Britain, Nepal and the Himalayas are still alive.
Sergey Evtushenko