Before everyone flew out of Kathmandu, I brought them to a traditional “khkuri” knife shop. Kukhuri are the bent knives carried by the famous Gurkha Army—although, as we walked in, I’d forgotten to explain the significance of this to everyone with me.
So let me not do that to you now, and give you a slight glimpse into the most feared warriors in the world. No kidding.
(In fact, I wrote this while enjoying a Gurkha beer at my favorite cafe in all of Kathmandu, a placed called Northfields Cafe, and edited it in my favorite hotel, a place called Friend's Home, while drinking some Gurkha and Guns whiskey. Needless to say, Nepal is very, very proud of their Gurkhas.)
Now.
When you consider that India is 22x larger than Nepal, and then when you consider that India was famously colonized and Nepal wasn’t, it does beg a question or two.
How could the world’s biggest empire at the time take the subcontinent, and not a tiny mountainous country of 30 million?
Most, if not all, agree that it had to do with Nepal’s specialized Army—the Gurkhas.
And while I won’t get into an in-depth history lesson here (although, it should be said you’d be hard-pressed to find a better rabbit hole), here's the gist:
The Gurkhas go back 200+ years
All descendants from a Hindu warrior named Guru Gorakhnath
They fought (and beat) the British in 1814—so badly that in 1815, the British Army recruited them
For the next two centuries, they’d fight alongside the British—resulting in them being the most decorated regiment in the British Army (of all the 26 Victoria Crosses, 13 Victoria Crosses were awarded to British officers, 13 to Gurkha soldiers; meaning half of all awarded went to the Gurkhas).
Interesting, sure, but what makes them so deadly?
Actually, deadly might not be the best word—despite being true. Maybe we should ask what makes them so… formidable.
"If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha."
To start, training begins at an early age. In an interview with the parents of four Gurkha (yes), they explained:
"The boys all ate fresh food, dahl, milk, butter and cheese, and - most importantly - they ate four raw eggs each day. Mughdan would wake them up at 4 am and load 30 kg (66 pounds) of rocks into doka which they would have to go and run with."
And when they say “run”, they’re not talking about the flat plains of Oklahoma. For you see, Gurkha, as mentioned, are from the hill tribes. And in Nepal, a mountain isn’t a mountain until it reaches 19,000 feet (5800 meters). Until then it’s a hill. Meaning these young men are carrying 65+ pounds of rocks up inclines that many of us had trouble hiking up to Base Camp.
Another factor is livelihood—for both the Gurkha and his family—as being accepted as one means a (Western) salary, pension, and a British passport.
But more than anything, it is, simply, pride. Like the stoic soldiers in Game Of Thrones that showed no reaction when cut, so are the Gurkha when it comes to their ferocity. Known to hide in holes for days, walk for weeks and continue on fighting even through deadly injuries.
A few examples (copied straight from Ranker.com):
While fighting in India in 1944, Rifleman Ganju Lama crawled through the battlefield with the goal of taking out three Japanese tanks - despite being hit by enemy fire multiple times. As he made his way toward the first tank, the Japanese concentrated heavy fire on Lama. His left wrist was broken. He sustained serious wounds to his right hand and leg, but he continued to take out each tank with this anti-tank gun. Lama then turned on the fleeing soldiers. His Victoria Cross citation read, "Throughout the action. Rifleman Ganju Lama, although seriously wounded, showed a complete disregard for his own personal safety and it was solely due to his prompt action and brave conduct that a most critical situation was averted, all positions regained, and heavy casualties inflicted on the enemy.
Havildar Bhanubhakta Gurung and a platoon came under heavy fire from Japanese soldiers in March 1945. They were also clobbered by grenades, mortars, and sniper fire. What happened next was truly remarkable. His citation notes, "Rifleman Bhanubhakta Gurung stood up and, while fully exposed to heavy fire, calmly killed the enemy sniper with his rifle, thus saving his section from suffering further casualties." He then charged up the hill alone, throwing grenades into an enemy foxhole and clearing out the next with his bayonet. Gurung lobbed smoke grenades inside a bunker and dispatched two Japanese soldiers with his kukri knife. He ended a third Japanese soldier with a rock, and he held off more soldiers in the bunker with his rifle. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, and his fellow soldiers remember him as "a smiling, hard-swearing and indomitable soldier who in a battalion of brave men was one of the bravest".
Also in 1945, Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung and his fellow Gurkhas were overrun by Japanese soldiers, who began throwing grenades towards the Gurkhas' trenches. Gurung threw two grenades back, but the third exploded, destroying his right hand and doing serious damage to his arm. Gurung ignored his injuries, and used his good hand to continue shooting and holding off the advancing Japanese soldiers. He lost his right hand as a result of the incident, but remained on active duty until 1947. Gurung was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.
In Afghanistan in 2010, Sergeant Dipprasad Pun singlehandedly took on over 30 Taliban attackers. Pun was ambushed at a checkpoint, and the Taliban troops came at him with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. He ended all 30 of the soldiers in under an hour.
In 2010, recently retired Gurkha soldier Bishnu Shrestha was taking a train through West Bengal when around 40 bandits forced the train to stop and accosted and robbed the passengers. Shrestha only had his kukri - a ceremonial knife used by the Gurkha - on him, but that’s all he needed. He dispatched three of the thieves and wounded eight others. He also stopped the assault of an 18-year-old girl. The remaining robbers ran and were later arrested. Shrestha's hand was injured, but he received two citations for bravery along with a cash reward as part of a bounty authorities had placed on the robbers. The girl’s family also offered Shrestha money, but he refused, saying, "Fighting the enemy in battle is my duty as a soldier. Taking on the thugs on the train was my duty as a human being."
… and those are just a few of the stories.
To know Nepal is to know their Gurkhas.
And I do hope you spend some time doing that.
Great film here.
Great book here.
And plenty—as seen—online.
