Writes Naba Raj Chetri “Better to die than to be a coward” is the motto of the world famous Gorkha army, whose might and valour has transcended boundaries, but what do we really know about the gorkhas, lets try to find out. Origins Historically the term ‘Gorkha and Gorkhali” is derived from the hill town and […]

Ganju Lama was born in Sangmo, southern Sikkim, India, on 22 July 1924. He enlisted in British Gurkha Army in 1942 at the age of seventeen. His parents were both of Sikkimese Bhutia descent and lived in Sikkim, which made him unusual, as he was neither an ethnic Gurkha nor a Nepalese subject. At that […]

THE TERM GORKHA AND ORIGIN: There is occasional controversy regarding the term ‘Gorkha’ or ‘Gurkha’ or ‘Goorkha’. We are mostly dependent on the definition assigned by British authors. The Britishers being the holder of colonial power, always interpreted or wrote the history in their favour. An example of mis-representation is Second Anglo-Maratha war of 1720-1740, […]

Britain’s last military outpost in the Far East may be at risk amid reports India has offered to send its Gurkhas to protect the Sultanate of Brunei, a role currently performed by the British Army. The tiny oil-rich sultanate of Brunei was a British protectorate for almost a century, and has continued to pay to […]

1) Gurkha is spelled as Gorkha in Nepali, the correct way to pronounce it (Gor-kha). 2) Gorkha is a Sanskrit word which means Protector of Cows, Gau(Cow)+Rakha(Protector)=Gorkha. 3) Gorkha is one of the 75 districts of modern Nepal. It is a misconception that the Gurkhas took their name from the Gorkha region of Nepal. The […]

A FIRST AMONG THE GURKHAS Writes Pratap Chhetri In October 1915, when a young Gurkha officer with royal blood, was recuperating at a London hospital, from wounds sustained in action at the famous Battle of Loss in the course of the First World War, a reporter chanced to interview him. Having heard about khukris of the […]