Gurkha War and diaspora in Manipur
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Deepak Aley
Contd from previous issue
. 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.
· It was useful for slashing and cutting through dense vegetation.
· The Nepalese had matchlock weapons as well.
· Guerrilla tactics were used by the Gurkhas to best take advantage of the challenging terrain of the mountains and forests.
1815: By this time, the British logistics were severely tested so far from their bases in Bengal. Hastings was obliged to send bigger and better-led armies to the frontier in a new round of fighting in 1815.
One notable British Commander, Sir Ochterlony began to reverse the trend of EIC losses. He besieged the major Gurkha fort of Malaon and captured Kumaun (Kumaon) in May 1815.
The EIC attempted to negotiate a peace settlement, but the Nepalese were not willing to give up territories or their independence and so decided to fight on.
The British through subterfuge used local smugglers as guides and bypassed the heavily fortified passes in the valley of Nepal to march the army
1816: At the Battle of Makwanpur, Ochterlony orchestrated the most decisive EIC victory in Nepal.
More battles and sieges followed with Ochterlony taking the time to build roads to get his heavy cannons into better positions to blast the Gurkha forts.
The Nepalese eventually decided to initiate peace when Kathmandu came under direct threat from Ochterlony and was subjected to the constant campaigning of the EIC with its much superior resources, which allowed it to regularly replenish losses in material and manpower.
Aftermath
The Treaty of Sugauli:
The Treaty of Sugauli March 4, 1816, suited Ochterlony to bring the campaign to a speedy conclusion because of the approach of the dreaded aul-fever season but also because a number of his European troops suffered from dysentery.
The Treaty of Sugauli had been ratified on March 4, 1816. According to the treaty, Nepal would lose Sikkim, the territories of Kumaon and Garhwal, and most of the lands of the Tarai. The British East India Company would pay 200,000 rupees annually to compensate for the loss of income from the Tarai region. The Tarai lands proved difficult to govern, the British returning some of them to Nepal in 1816, while Nepal simultaneously abolished the annual payments.
The Mechi river became the new eastern border and the Mahakali river, the western boundary of Nepal. The Treaty forced Kathmandu to accept a British Resident, a hateful symbol of its reduction to client status in relation to the British administration in Calcutta.
Gurkha Recruitment:
David Ochterlony and the political agent William Fraser quickly to recognized the potential of Gurkha soldiers in British service. During the war, the British employed defectors from the Gurkha army as irregular forces. In April 1815, his confidence in their loyalty prompted him to form them into a battalion under Lieutenant Ross called the Nasiri regiment. That regiment, later to become the 1st King George’s Own Gurkha Rifles, saw action at the Malaun fort under the leadership of Lieutenant Lawtie. Lawtie reported to Ochterlony that he “had the greatest reason to be satisfied with their exertions.”
About 5,000 men entered British service in 1815, most of them Kumaonis, Garhwalis and other Himalayan hill men rather than Gurkhas. Those groups, eventually lumped together under the term Gurkha, became the backbone of British Indian forces.
As well as Ochterlony’s Gurkha battalions, William Fraser and Lieutenant Frederick Young raised the Sirmoor battalion, later to become the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles. An additional battalion, the Kumaon battalion, had been raised later becoming the 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles.
Support in the Sepoy Mutiny:
The Mutiny has also been described as the first war of independence. The war was not immediately successful.
Begun in Meerut by Indian sepoys in the service of the British East India Company, the Mutiny spread to many places including Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow. In 1857, the Bengal Army, which had to suppress the rebellion in this part of the Company territory, had 1500 Gurkhas.
The deployment of tiny Gurkhas, the “Irishmen of Asia”, created panic among the rebels. Ted Russell, an ensign of the 193rd Bengal Native Infantry, stationed at Aurungpore, and one of the principal actors in the book, makes clear that the Gurkhas were eager to come in contact with the mutinous hordes and fight them out.
(To be contd)
Contd from previous issue
. 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.
· It was useful for slashing and cutting through dense vegetation.
· The Nepalese had matchlock weapons as well.
· Guerrilla tactics were used by the Gurkhas to best take advantage of the challenging terrain of the mountains and forests.
1815: By this time, the British logistics were severely tested so far from their bases in Bengal. Hastings was obliged to send bigger and better-led armies to the frontier in a new round of fighting in 1815.
One notable British Commander, Sir Ochterlony began to reverse the trend of EIC losses. He besieged the major Gurkha fort of Malaon and captured Kumaun (Kumaon) in May 1815.
The EIC attempted to negotiate a peace settlement, but the Nepalese were not willing to give up territories or their independence and so decided to fight on.
The British through subterfuge used local smugglers as guides and bypassed the heavily fortified passes in the valley of Nepal to march the army
1816: At the Battle of Makwanpur, Ochterlony orchestrated the most decisive EIC victory in Nepal.
More battles and sieges followed with Ochterlony taking the time to build roads to get his heavy cannons into better positions to blast the Gurkha forts.
The Nepalese eventually decided to initiate peace when Kathmandu came under direct threat from Ochterlony and was subjected to the constant campaigning of the EIC with its much superior resources, which allowed it to regularly replenish losses in material and manpower.
Aftermath
The Treaty of Sugauli:
The Treaty of Sugauli March 4, 1816, suited Ochterlony to bring the campaign to a speedy conclusion because of the approach of the dreaded aul-fever season but also because a number of his European troops suffered from dysentery.
The Treaty of Sugauli had been ratified on March 4, 1816. According to the treaty, Nepal would lose Sikkim, the territories of Kumaon and Garhwal, and most of the lands of the Tarai. The British East India Company would pay 200,000 rupees annually to compensate for the loss of income from the Tarai region. The Tarai lands proved difficult to govern, the British returning some of them to Nepal in 1816, while Nepal simultaneously abolished the annual payments.
The Mechi river became the new eastern border and the Mahakali river, the western boundary of Nepal. The Treaty forced Kathmandu to accept a British Resident, a hateful symbol of its reduction to client status in relation to the British administration in Calcutta.
Gurkha Recruitment:
David Ochterlony and the political agent William Fraser quickly to recognized the potential of Gurkha soldiers in British service. During the war, the British employed defectors from the Gurkha army as irregular forces. In April 1815, his confidence in their loyalty prompted him to form them into a battalion under Lieutenant Ross called the Nasiri regiment. That regiment, later to become the 1st King George’s Own Gurkha Rifles, saw action at the Malaun fort under the leadership of Lieutenant Lawtie. Lawtie reported to Ochterlony that he “had the greatest reason to be satisfied with their exertions.”
About 5,000 men entered British service in 1815, most of them Kumaonis, Garhwalis and other Himalayan hill men rather than Gurkhas. Those groups, eventually lumped together under the term Gurkha, became the backbone of British Indian forces.
As well as Ochterlony’s Gurkha battalions, William Fraser and Lieutenant Frederick Young raised the Sirmoor battalion, later to become the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles. An additional battalion, the Kumaon battalion, had been raised later becoming the 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles.
Support in the Sepoy Mutiny:
The Mutiny has also been described as the first war of independence. The war was not immediately successful.
Begun in Meerut by Indian sepoys in the service of the British East India Company, the Mutiny spread to many places including Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow. In 1857, the Bengal Army, which had to suppress the rebellion in this part of the Company territory, had 1500 Gurkhas.
The deployment of tiny Gurkhas, the “Irishmen of Asia”, created panic among the rebels. Ted Russell, an ensign of the 193rd Bengal Native Infantry, stationed at Aurungpore, and one of the principal actors in the book, makes clear that the Gurkhas were eager to come in contact with the mutinous hordes and fight them out.
(To be contd)