The Gurkha Connection brings to light the socio-political aspects of the recruitment of the legendary Gurkha. Based on the rare official records obtained from the Foreign Ministry, Royal Nepal Military Head Quarters, His Majesty's Government of Nepal, National Archives of India (NAI), New Delhi and the author's personal visits to the recruitment areas, the book focuses on the impacts of the recruitment on the social, economic and political condition of the suppressed communities of Nepal. The British attitude towards recruitment, in Dr. Baskota's opinion, was subject to occasional shifts and fluctuations, dictated by the ever changing internal and external situation in Nepal as well as in the British India. The education that the Gurkhas received in cantonments and schools played a crucial role in initiating social awareness in the hill communities. Similarly, their connections with the British Military service helped Nepal monetize its rural economy and enhance trade and commerce in its interior parts. The Gurkhas also became instrumental in awakening political consciousness among the communities that had been suppressed since times immemorial. The liberal and progressive ideas which they brought from the world outside spread into the Nepalese villages and helped much to overthrow the despotic Rana Rule and usher democracy in Nepal. The book is the first comprehensive attempt by a native scholar to understand the great process of social change that shaped the life in the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal.
The recruitment of the Gurkhas in the British army occupies an importance place in the history of modern Nepal. But unfortunately so far no scholarly work has been written on this subject. The present book is a modest attempt to fill this vacuum. It seeks to examine the British policy in respect of different phases of the system of recruitment and analyses the factors and motives that determined the formulation of this policy during the period under study (1815-1992). I have also attempted to bring out its manifold impact on Nepalese politics, economy and society.
This study is based primarily on the contemporary official records obtained from the (a) Foreign Ministry and the Royal Nepal Military Headquarters, the then His Majesty's Government of Nepal, and (b) National Archives of India (NAI), New Delhi. Information gathered from my personal visits to some of the recruiting areas has also been helpful in this study. The records of the British Residency in Nepal kept in the National Archives of India have proved of immense value to me, for they contain first-hand information on the subject, and also include original letters and notifications of the Nepalese authorities. The records and secret correspondence, particularly of the foreign, political and secret branches have also been widely used. Since the Government of India did not permit me to consult the records beyond the year 1912, I had to rely mostly on the original sources NEP obtained from the Nepalese depositories for the period after 1912. Besides, articles, books and memoirs of the Indian, Nepalese and European writers have also helped me to reconstruct the history of the subject.
Unlike in India, I encountered difficulties in consulting Government records in Nepal. It was only on my assurances that the information gathered would not be used against the national interest of the country that they permitted me to consult the records lying in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the then His Majesty's Government of Nepal. Since the documents were not properly numbered, indexed, catalogued and well preserved, the task of selecting the relevant ones from the mass of documents of various kinds was extremely difficult and time consuming. Proceedings of cabinet deliberations, original notifications, speeches, and copies of draft letters and treaties, some of which have been appended in the book helped me to understand and gauge Nepal's reaction to British recruitment policy.
The documents and records in the then Royal Nepal Military Headquarters on the other hand are well maintained and properly indexed. Unlike the Foreign Ministry, the records of the Army Headquarters were, however, copies of the records which I had already studied in the National Archives of India, New Delhi. Very few of these records, therefore, were of much use to me.
This study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with the topography of Nepal, and describes the socio-economic and political condition of the Nepalese communities, and finally gives a brief history of the Gurkhas up to the Anglo-Gurkha War of 1814/6. This is primarily based on secondary works by well-known Nepalese and foreign historians. The second chapter discusses the procedures and methods of recruitment. The third chapter treats of the origin and early growth of the system of Gurkha's recruitment along with the problems it faced.
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