Gurkha War and diaspora in Manipur
- Part 1 -

Deepak Aley *

Introduction :

Nepal is one of the world's least developed countries in South Asia. About 85% of the population live from subsistence agriculture in rural areas, coping with great disparities in caste, gender, and geography. Poverty, unemployment, declining natural resources, and more recently the Maoist insurgency are major reasons why international labor migration is an increasingly important source of income.

Due to its poor economic condition Nepal has been supplying labour to India since Nepalese were recruited as 'Gurkhas' in the British Indian army after the Anglo-Nepal war of 1814-15. Nepalis have been migrating to other countries as well, but India remains the main destination. The 1991 Census of Nepal recorded that absentee population from Nepal towards India constituted 89.2 per cent of the total migrants, though this phenomenon is changing in the recent years.

Migration to Gulf and Tiger States, United States of America or Europe started about 15 years ago. Most of the people from Nepal who have enough resources and are literate and skilled are migrating to Europe, America and Far East Asia. Others who are not that much skilled and have not enough resources are going to south East Asian countries, mainly to Malaysia, and Middle East.

But this phenomenon is still limited within the cities and towns among the population who are knowledgeable, somewhat educated and have good access to information. But the first choice for a large illiterate or lowly literate, unskilled and marginal population of rural Nepal, which consists of almost 80% of the whole population of Nepal, still remains migrating to India, its bigger and more developed neighbour.

More than four-fifths of above said 89.2 per cent absenteeism from Nepal remained in four States of India ie Uttar Pradesh, (undivided meaning including New State of Uttrakhand) Bihar, Assam and West Bengal.

History of Migration

The migration between India and Nepal has not been difficult. The compact geographical nature, socio-cultural continuity and the open border have made it always easy. It is believed that migration between India and Nepal started in the ancient times. At that time the flow was believed to be from India to Nepal. After the Mughal intervention in India, lots of the ruling class Hindus flew away to the hills of Nepal.

At the same period of time or may be before, it is believed that there may have been flow of Nepalese to India. But these evidences are still not accounted. The known evidence of migration started from the period after Gurkha established rule in Kumaon and Garhwal of current India in 1804. This was the time when first known flow of Nepalese to India started as they started moving to Kumaon, Garhwal and up to Sutlej.

At the same period of time, Gurkha moved beyond Sikkim towards the east and the flow started there simultaneously. During the expansion process in 1905, Gurkha had battle with Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab, who was assisting King Sansar Chand of Kangra. Although Gurkha lost the battle, impressed by the bravery and fighting skills of the Gurkhas, the Maharaja of Punjab offered to recruit them in his Army.

That can be considered to be the first professional migration from Nepal to India. There is an evidence of one of the great Nepali army commanders, Balbhadra Kunwar, being recruited by the Maharaja of Punjab and fighting in an Afghan war for Maharaja of Punjab.

After 1814-15 war with the British India, the formal entrance of Nepalese to India is believed to have begun. 4656 Nepalese recruited in the British Gurkha Regiment is the first accounted evidence of Nepalese employed in India. At the same time large number of Nepalese migrated to India for better employment opportunity in tea-estates of Darjeeling and wood works of Assam. Later on increasing number of migrants started working as watchmen, porters and gate-men.

Historical background

For centuries Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhadgaon (now Bhaktapur), the three kingdoms of the Kathmandu valley, had quarreled among themselves, too consumed by internal rivalry to seriously take the danger posed from outside their borders. That insularity had, by 1769, enabled Prithvi Narayan Shah the king of Gurkha to conquer the valley, forming the foundations for the modern Kingdom of Nepal.

In 1742 Prithvi NârâyaG became king of Gurkha. An ambitious ruler, he was able to quickly enlarge his territory by conquering the quarrelsome and disunited principalities around Gurkha.

In 1767, the traditional valley kings, under threat from Gurkha expansion, had requested Great Britain's help. Captain Kinloch responded quickly, failing to make adequate preparations for the campaign. He led 2,500 soldiers against a superior Gurkha army, suffering heavy casualties from combat, malaria, and desertions. Britain's defeat gave the Gurkhas a windfall of captured firearms as well as a misplaced confidence in their war waging abilities against the British.

The conquest of the Kathmandu valley marked the beginning of the rise of Gurkha power throughout the region. They conquered all of eastern Nepal by 1773. By 1788, Gurkha forces had also annexed western portions of Sikkim. In the west, all rulers as far as the Kali River had submitted or been replaced by 1790. Farther west still, the Kumaon region and its capital Almora, had also succumbed to the Gurkhas.

The British had also expanded their sphere of influence. The British East India Company's acquisition of the Nawab of Awadh's lands brought the region of Gorakhpur into reach of the Raja of Palpa, the last remaining independent town within the Gurkha heartlands. Suspicion of the Raja's collusion with the British led first to his imprisonment by the Gurkhas, then to his assassination. Bhimsen Thapa, the Nepalese Prime Minister (1806–1837), installed his own father as Governor of Palpa leading to serious border disputes between the two powers.

Those disputes arose because of a lack of a fixed boundary separating the Gurkhas and the British. A Border Commission imposed on Nepal by the Governor General failed to solve the problem. Gurkha raids into the flatlands of the Tarai, a much prized strip of fertile ground separating the Nepalese hill country from India, increased tensions.

The British felt their power in the region and their tenuous lines of communication between Calcutta and the northwest under threat. Since neither side had any idea of the real border, confrontation between the powers proved inevitable.

Anglo-Gurkha War 1814-1816

1814: In the 19th century, the Gurkha raids into their southern neighbor's territory were relentless. A small EIC force sent to better garrison the area was wiped out in April. Hastings sent four separate armies into Nepal, but three of these columns were repeatedly defeated in several hard-fought encounters.

The Gurkha army only numbered between five and eight thousand men during the war, but crucially, they were fighting on familiar home territory. The terrain made it difficult for EIC armies to transport their artillery and give the general logistical support armies in the field needed. The Gurkhas were fierce fighters above everything else.

o The kukri knife, which had a long, curved blade that resembled a machete and was used by the Gurkhas to infamously mutilate enemy bodies, was their most well-known weapon. o It was useful for slashing and cutting through dense vegetation. o The Nepalese had matchlock weapons as well. o Guerrilla tactics were used by the Gurkhas to best take advantage of the challenging terrain of the mountains and forests.

To be continued....