Beyond Khukuri and Madal

A brief history of Gurkhas, told by a Gurkha

Maj. Gen. Ashok K. Mehta (retd)

The author must be congratulated for the book which is a bold and courageous venture typifying these very Gurkha traits. Tim I Gurung is presumably the author’s post-retirement name as he could only have been recruited in 1980 as Til Bahadur or Tirath Singh followed by the Gurung surname. But I could be wrong. He worked in China after leaving service and is now settled in Chinese Hong Kong, where it is not unusual for Gurkhas to change their first name to more familiar western ones.

Tim joined the British 6 Gurkha Rifles and served in his battalion rotating between Hong Kong and Brunei but missing out UK before hanging up his Gurkha hat after a short, 13-year pensionable service as a Corporal. Ayo Gorkhali: A History of the Gurkhas is the first ever book in English on Gurkhas by a native Gurkha soldier from Dhampus village overlooking Pokhara valley, the heartland of Gurungs and other Gurkha warriors. Dhampus was made famous by Prince Charles—a Colonel Commandant of the Gurkhas who is still served by Gurung and Pun orderlies—in 1983, when he trekked to the village accompanied by Nepal’s Prince Dhirendra, King Birendra’s younger brother. Tim has provided the first bottom-up view of Gurkhas but only, rather mainly, of British Gurkhas, where he served. Most books on British Gurkha warriors are written either by British officers or western scholars.

Ayo Gorkhali is a snapshot of the history of the British Gurkhas as it is impossible to faithfully compress the history of 11 regiments and 51 battalions into one volume even as each battalion and regiment has its own recorded history. Tim’s ambition of placing 200 years of Gurkha history in one book written by a Gurkha has been consummated so that ‘admirers of Gurkha legacy won’t have to look for another book’. Some still might. Tim has produced a capsule of history with its stark consequences—the victimhood of Gurkhas, their betrayal by the master and drainage of youth from Nepal and their cumulative aftermath. Tim is not alone in accusing Britain of betrayal, Rana and Shah rulers of Nepal pursuing their individual interests and of governments that followed in Nepal neglecting to take up Gurkha grievances.

The book is organised into crisp chapters like Origin of Gurkhas; Start of the 200-year-old Legacy (less than half shared with Indian Gurkhas); and History of the Gurkhas’ Ultimate Weapon, the Kukri or Khukuri. Three items associated with the Gurkhas are the Gurkha hat, khukuri and madal (Gurkha drum). Tim mentions that the first ever khukuri battle was to rescue French hostages in 1946 from Viet Minh by 1/1 GR. In fact, 4/5 GR (FF) in 1971 war launched a silent khukuri attack at Atgram in Bangladesh war. Yes, khukuri is the metaphor for ‘manhood and bravery’ with legendary tales of the use of khukuri in battles to spread terror among the enemy. Its most recent example