History UsefulNotes / NepaliWithNastyKnives

Singapore also uses Gurkhas as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurkha_Contingent police.]] Go on, Tell [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singapore_Gurkha_officer.jpg him]] you won’t pay your parking ticket, I dare you.

Gurkhas are famous for their curious boomerang shaped Kukri knives, which serves as a sort of machete. Much of their prowess comes from the poverty and hardship of their homes, which is so tough that it provides its own [[TheSpartanWay Spartan Way]]. Military service for a richer country not only brings [[GlorySeeker reputation]] but is also very attractive for material reasons, what with pay, as well as the inoculation and technical training that necessarily comes with the service. As a result, employers can afford to be extremely selective about whom they pick. Gurkhas serve mostly as infantry and though experiments have been made using them in other specialties, that is where their chief fame has been won. Like many a local ethnic group, their loyalty has been reinforced by the British regimental system in which each regiment is effectively a [[{{Nakama}} warrior-fraternity]] and the parochial eccentricities of each allow local traditions to be made an asset to the service of TheGovernment. The Gurkhas have had many a CrowningMomentOfAwesome and are among the worlds most highly regarded military forces. And ever since the Victoria Cross became open to non-British they have had a disproportionate representation.

The Gurkhas are from Nepal, a country in the [[ShangriLa Himalayas]] with one of the toughest climates in the world. They are unique in that their chief fame comes from their service as HiredGuns rather than for their own country. The wages to be found in foreign armies are far greater and among the perks are immunization and education in technology. They came to English attention in a war between the [[MegaCorp East India Company]] and the King of Nepal. As part of the peace treaty the Company demanded permission to recruit from Nepali for, in a fashion reminiscent of JohnWayne, the Company had liked the Gurkhas so much as [[WorthyOpponent enemies]] that they couldn't wait to have them as allies. The Gurkhas were recruited mostly from the Mager, Gurang, Limbu, and Rai tribes. Other tribes have occasionally joined, especially when manpower is desperately needed like in WorldWarII. Curiously, the Sherpas, which are the most famous tribe in the area, have not been well represented: perhaps it's enough work getting rich [[GloryHound glory hounds]] up Mount Everest. Another interesting curiousity is that only one regiment (9th Gurkha rifles) of Gurkhas is made up of the Kshatriya (warrior) caste. Most are Vaisha's (peasants), though such things were apparently not taken as seriously in the mountains as they have sometimes been in the valley.

Gurkhas are famous for their curious boomerang shaped Kukri knives, which serves as a sort of machete. Much of their prowess comes from the poverty and hardship of their homes, which is so tough that it provides its own [[TheSpartanWay Spartan Way]]. Military service for a richer country not only brings [[GlorySeeker reputation]] but is also very attractive for material reasons, what with pay, as well as the inoculation and technical training that necessarily comes with the service. As a result, employers can afford to be extremely selective about whom they pick. Gurkhas serve mostly as infantry and though experiments have been made using them in other specialties, that is where their chief fame has been won. Like many a local ethnic group, their loyalty has been reinforced by the British regimental system in which each regiment is effectively a [[{{Nakama}} warrior-fraternity]] and the pariochial eccentricities of each allow local traditions to be made an asset to the service of TheGovernment. The Gurkhas have had many a CrowningMomentOfAwesome and are among the worlds most highly regarded military forces. And ever since the Victoria Cross became open to non-British they have had a disproportionate representation.

*** Given that ONE of them fought off THIRTY taliban fighters recently, it can be said that they do even less than nothing to dissuade said myths...

* TheWomenAreSafeWithUs : One British officer led the storming of a stronghold held by dacoits(roughly, India's ThievesGuild) and was proud to note that not one woman had been harmed.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: A tactic of the Gurkhas during WorldWarII was to sneak into German encampments, kill all the men about except one in their sleep-and leave him alive to tell about it(One writer credited that to the Goum's, a similar group in French service).

The Gurkhas are from Nepal, a country in the [[ShangriLa Himalayas]] with one of the toughest climates in the world. They are unique in that their chief fame comes from their service as HiredGuns rather than for their own country. The wages to be found in foreign armies are far greater and among the perks are immunization and education in technology. They came to English attention in a war between the [[MegaCorp East India Company]] and the King of Nepal. As part of the peace treaty the Company demanded permission to recruit from Nepali for, in a fashion reminiscent of JohnWayne, the Company had liked the Gurkhas so much as [[WorthyOpponent enemies]] that they couldn't wait to have them as allies. The Gurkhas were recruited mostly from the Mager, Gurang, Limbu, and Rai, tribes. Other tribes have occasionally joined especially when manpower is desperatly needed like in WorldWarII. Curiously the Sherpas which are the most famous tribe in the area have not been well represented: perhaps it's enough work getting rich [[GloryHound glory hounds]] up Mount Everest. Another interesting curiousity is that only one regiment(9th Gurkha rifles) of Gurkhas is made up of the Kshatriya(warrior) caste. Most are Vaisha's(peasants)though in fact such things were apparently not taken as seriously in the mountains as they have sometimes been in the valley.

Gurkhas are famous for their curious boomerang shaped Kukri knives which serves as a sort of machete. Much of their prowess comes from the poverty and hardship of their homes which is so tough that it provides its own [[TheSpartanWay Spartan Way]]. Also military service for a richer country not only brings [[GlorySeeker reputation]] but is very attractive for material reasons what with pay, as well as the inoculation and technical training that necessarily comes with the service. As a result employers can afford to be extremely selective about whom they pick. Gurkhas serve mostly as infantry and though experiments have been made using them in other specialties that is where their chief fame has been won. Like many a local ethnic group their loyalty has been reinforced by the British regimental system in which each regiment is effectively a [[{{Nakama}} warrior-fraternity]] and the pariochial eccentricities of each allow local traditions to be made an asset to the service of TheGovernment. The Gurkhas have had many a CrowningMomentOfAwesome and are among the worlds most highly regarded military forces. And ever since the Victoria Cross became open to non-British they have had a disproportionate representation.

After independence the Gurkha regiments were [[DontSplitUsUp divided]] between the British and the new Indian army(really the army of TheRaj changing employers), by election of the soldiers as agreed in the treaty. Some continued in British service and others served the Indian government. They proved valueble in the little wars of [[VestigialEmpire colonial devolution]] and the ColdWar, as well as the wars on the Indian border with Pakistan and China. They continue to serve to the present day.

* KukrisAreKool

* WhatTheHellHero: The Amritsar Massacre where the Gurkhas fired on some demonstrators at a town by that name because they were JustFollowingOrders. What may be worse from one perspective (because there was no more fear that it might be a riot and thus it was ForTheEvulz), the commander spent a week doing such things as forcing locals to lick the blood up with their tongues. Fortunatly that commander was at least ReassignedToAntarctica for it. But it was a nasty business and a stain on the Gurkhas' otherwise splendid record.

The Gurkhas are from Nepal, a country in the [[ShangriLa Himalayas]] with one of the toughest climates in the world. They are unique in that their chief fame comes from their service as HiredGuns rather then for their own country. The wages to be found in foreign armies are far greater and among the perks are immunization and education in technology. They came to English attention in a war between the [[MegaCorp East India Company]] and the King of Nepal. As part of the peace treaty the Company demanded permission to recruit from Nepali for, in a fashion reminiscent of JohnWayne, the Company had liked the Gurkhas so much as [[WorthyOpponent enemies]] that they couldn't wait to have them as allies. The Gurkhas were recruited mostly from the Mager, Gurang, Limbu, and Rai, tribes. Other tribes have occasionally joined especially when manpower is desperatly needed like in WorldWarII. Curiously the Sherpas which are the most famous tribe in the area have not been well represented: perhaps it's enough work getting rich [[GloryHound glory hounds]] up Mount Everest. Another interesting curiousity is that only one regiment(9th Gurkha rifles) of Gurkhas is made up of the Kshatriya(warrior) caste. Most are Vaisha's(peasants)though in fact such things were apparently not taken as seriously in the mountains as they have sometimes been in the valley.

The Gurkhas are from Nepal, a country in the [[ShangriLa Himalayas]] with one of the toughest climates in the world. They are unique in that their chief fame comes from their service as HiredGuns rather then for their own country. The wages to be found in foreign armies are far greater and among the perks are immunization and education in technology. They came to English attention in a war between the [[MegaCorp East India Company]] and the King of Nepal. As part of the peace treaty the Company demanded permission to recruit from Nepali for, in a fashion reminiscent of JohnWayne, the Company had liked the Gurkhas so much as [[WorthyOpponent enemies]] that they couldn't wait to have them as allies. The Gurkhas were recruited mostly from the Mager, Gurang, Limbu, and Rai, tribes. Other tribes have occasionally joined especially when manpower is desperatly needed like in WorldWarII. Curiously the Sherpas which are the most famous tribe in the area have not been well represented: perhaps it's enough work getting rich [[GloryHound glory hounds]] up Mount Everest. Another interesting curiousity is that only one regiment of Gurkhas is made up of the Kshatriya(warrior) caste. Most are Vaisha's(peasants)though in fact such things were apparently not taken as seriously in the mountains as they have sometimes been in the valley.

The Gurkhas are from Nepal, a country in the [[ShangriLa Himalayas]] with one of the toughest climates in the world. They are unique in that their chief fame comes from their service as HiredGuns rather then for their own country. The wages to be found in foreign armies are far greater and among the perks are immunization and education in technology. They came to English attention in a war between the [[MegaCorp East India Company]] and the King of Nepal. As part of the peace treaty the Company demanded permission to recruit from Nepali for, in a fashion reminiscent of JohnWayne, the Company had liked the Gurkhas so much as [[WorthyOpponent enemies]] that they couldn't wait to have them as allies. The Gurkhas were recruited mostly from the Mager, Gurang, Limbu, and Rai, tribes. Other tribes have occasionally joined especially when manpower is desperatly needed like in WorldWarII. Curiously the Sherpas which are the most famous tribe in the area have not been well represented: perhaps it's enough work getting rich [[GloryHound glory hounds]] up Mount Everest.

** Some in the Taliban believe that they are demons.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Amritsar Massacre where the Gurkhas fired on some demonstrators at a town by that name because they were JustFollowingOrders. What may be worse from one perspective (because there was no more fear that it might be a riot and thus it was ForTheEvulz), the commander spent a week doing such things as forcing locals to lick the blood up with their tongues. Fortunatly that commander was at least ReassignedToAntarctica for it. But it was a nasty business and a stain on the Gurkhas otherwise splendid record.

** During the [[WeAreStrugglingTogether riots]] following the Indian Partition when Hindus and Muslims were having a collective AxCrazy moment of RapePillageAndBurn on each other, the Gurkhas were the only non-British who could be trusted with arms. They faithfully helped [[WeHelpTheHelpless escort fleeing refugees]] with laudible bravery and impartiality.

The Gurkhas are from Nepal, a country in the [[ShangriLa Himalayas]] with one of the toughest climates in the world. They are unique in that their chief fame comes from their service as HiredGuns rather then for their own country. The wages to be found in foreign armies are far greater and among the perks are immunization and education in technology. They came to English attention in a war between the [[MegaCorp East India Company]] and the King of Nepal. As part of the peace treaty the Company demanded permission to recruit from Nepali for in a fashion reminiscent of JohnWayne the Company had liked the Gurkhas so much as [[WorthyOpponent enemies]] that they couldn't wait to have them as allies. The Gurkhas were recruited mostly from the Mager, Gurang, Limbu, and Rai, tribes. Other tribes have occasionally joined especially when manpower is desperatly needed like in WorldWarII. Curiously the Sherpas which are the most famous tribe in the area have not been well represented: perhaps it's enough work getting rich [[GloryHound glory hounds]] up Mount Everest.

Gurkhas until recently have seldom been officers and usually served in units with white officers. This was partly because of prejudice held by the British that Gurkhas were fine soldiers, but too ineducable to make good officers. Another reason was that the original Indian army was at least partly and often a very large part, a constabulary to prevent revolt and therefore the upper caste had to pull the strings. Despite that, relations have usually been fairly good between British and Ghurkhas, arguably better then the British deserved. Perhaps it's simply that all soldiers live in a caste system while they serve and for the Ghurkas it more or less ended when they went home as far as British were concerned. And maybe British were nicer then their FeudalOverlord back home. Also the quality of leadership may have been better; British officers in Ghurka regiments were specially picked. In any case that has changed of late and there have been a number of Gurkha officers.

Singapore also uses Ghurkhas as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurkha_Contingent police.]] Go on, Tell [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singapore_Gurkha_officer.jpg him]] you won’t pay your parking ticket, I dare you.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Amritsar Massacre where the Ghurkas fired on some demonstrators at a town by that name because they were JustFollowingOrders. What may be worse from one perspective (because there was no more fear that it might be a riot and thus it was ForTheEvulz), the commander spent a week doing such things as forcing locals to lick the blood up with their tongues. Fortunatly that commander was at least ReassignedToAntarctica for it. But it was a nasty business and a stain on the Gurkhas otherwise splendid record.

After Independance the Gurkha regiments were [[DontSplitUsUp divided]] between the British and the new Indian army(really the army of TheRaj changing employers), by election of the soldiers as agreed in the treaty. Some continued in British service and others served the Indian government. They proved valueble in the little wars of [[VestigialEmpire colonial devolution]] and the ColdWar, as well as the wars on the Indian border with Pakistan and China. They continue to serve to the present day.

** Mmm. Maybe it would have been better to use Harry as bait, give him a chance at some [[GlorySeeker glory]] and kill a lot of terrorists in the bargain? He doesn't sound like the sort of fellow that would object if asked about it, God bless him.
*** Taliban and Pashtuns generally absolutely HATE Gurka who did very well out of the Raj, while the Pashtuns did not. To this day Gurkas have a very short life expectancy if captured by troops of the Frontier Force, Pakistan's Pashtun regiment.
**** Not ''entirely'' without precedent among Pashtuns:

** During the [[WeAreStrugglingTogether riots]] following the Indian Partition when Hindus and Moslems were having a collective AxCrazy moment of RapePillageAndBurn on each other, the Gurkhas were the only non-British who could be trusted with arms. They faithfully helped [[WeHelpTheHelpless escort fleeing refugees]] with laudible bravery and impartiality.

* FireForgedFriends: How the British got the idea of recruiting Gurkhas.

* PantheraAwesome : One Gurkha coming home from the wars was crossing a RopeBridge. When he reached the end a Snow Leopard attacked him. The Gurkha slew it with his Kukri, skinned it, and carried it's skin home on it's back.

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