Burmese Gurkhas ( my, ဂေါ်ရခါးလူမျိုးများ; ne, गोरखाली) are a group of

Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian st ...

speaking Burmese people of

Khas Khas people (; ne, खस) popularly known as Khas Arya are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of South Asia, what is now present-day Nepal, Indian states of Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Sikkim. Historical ...

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Go ...

ethnic group living in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

(formerly Burma). While the

Gurkhas The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recru ...

have lived in Burma for many centuries, it was during the British rule in Burma that the majority of the

migrated from

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. The estimated population of Gurkha is nearly 1 million.The majority of Gurkha now reside in

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

(Rangoon), Mandalay,

Pyin U Lwin Pyin Oo Lwin or Pyin U Lwin (, ; Shan: ), formerly and colloquially referred to as Maymyo (), is a scenic hill town in the Mandalay Region, Myanmar, some east of Mandalay, and at an elevation of . The town was estimated to have a population of ...

Mogok Mogok (, ; Shan: , ) is a town in the Thabeikkyin District of Mandalay Region of Myanmar, located north of Mandalay and north-east of Shwebo. History Mogok is believed to have been founded in 1217 by three lost Shan hunters who discovered ...

Tamu Tamu may refer to: * Texas A&M University or TAMU * Tamu, Myanmar ** Tamu District, Myanmar ** Tamu Township * Ta'mu, rice cooked in woven coconut leaves from the Philippines * Tamu Massif, an inactive underwater volcano in the Pacific * '' Helio ...

, Kalaymyo,

Taunggyi Taunggyi ( ; Shan: ; Pa'O: ) is the capital and largest city of Shan State, Myanmar (Burma) and lies on the Thazi-Kyaingtong road at an elevation of , just north of Shwenyaung and Inle Lake within the Myelat region. Taunggyi is the fifth la ...

, and other parts of the country.

History and demography

Like many other people who reside in

and who have their origin in

, the majority of

came along with the British administration. Many

served during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

in the Burma Campaign, especially as rear guard units for the British retreat from Burma After Burma's independence in 1948, the Gurkhas joined the infant Burma Army. Many

served in the new republic's various campaigns against ethnic insurgents and the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

invasions. The Gurkha were considered key assets of the Burmese Army in the 1950s.This was also the soldier named Suk Bahadur Rai that won the highest honor of

Tatmadaw Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include th ...

, The Aung San Thuriya Medal.

Culture

Many

practice

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

. There are a few Gurkha Buddhist and Hindu temples in the cities around Kachin State, Shan State, Yangon and Mandalay. Gurkha form a large minority in Myitkyina, Mogok and the hill station of Pyin U Lwin (Maymyo).

Language

Most Gurkha typically speak Nepali and Burmese languages.

Education

The Gurkha place high importance on education, and they represent a disproportionately high share of those with advanced (medical, engineering or doctorate) degrees in Burma.

Notable Gurkha people in Burma

*Private Aung San Thuriya Suk Bahadur Rai – No.4 Burma Regiment (4th Gurkha)

Myanmar Army The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Tatmadaw, Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The My ...

. – recipient of the Aung San Thuriya award, the highest gallantry award in Myanmar. *

Suk Bahadur Suk Bahadur Thapa ( my, ဆွတ်ဗဟာဒူး) is a Burmese footballer who served as the major for 4th Infantry Battalion (4th Gurkha) of Myanmar Army. He was also a dominating tennis and field hockey player as well as the national 10 ...

(Burmese: ဗဟာဒူး) is a Burmese footballer who served as the captain of Myanmar national football team (1952–1970). He is considered as the greatest Burmese footballer that ever lived for the tremendous success he brought to country's football. He's also a major in Myanmar Army *Corporal Thiha Thura Man Bahadur Thapa – No.4 Burma Regiment (4th Gurkha)

*Lt. Colonel Zeya Kyawhtin Thura Lachhuman Rai- No.4 Burma Regiment (4th Gurkha), Myanmar Army *Colonel Zeya Kyawhtin Tanka Dhoj -Director General of Hotel and Tourism Department under Ne Win's government. *Lt. Colonel Raj Bahadhur Lama-(A 1) Eastern Command , Myanmar Army *Major Zeyakyawhtin Bhagiman Subba – No.4 Burma Regiment (4th Gurkha),

*Assistant Director Arun Kumar- Internal Revenue Departmant, Ministry of Finance, Union of Myanmar *Professor of Chemistry Attar Singh Chettry (M.Sc.),

Mandalay University Mandalay University (also translated as University of Mandalay; my, မန္တလေးတက္ကသိုလ် ) is a public liberal arts and science university located in Mandalay, Myanmar and one of the sixteen autonomous universities un ...

, Myanmar * Gannes Basnet (Advocate ) first Gurkha Candidate for Myanmar Parliament * Cherry Myae Maung Tin Tun (Writer) * Nyein Thazin (Taekwando) two gold, three silver and two bronze medals * Nanda Soe @ Maha Nandar Gyawali Kick boxer * Nandar Gyawali, Podcaster, human rights activist and feminist activist

References

External links

Demographics of Nepal The current population of Nepal is 29,192,480 as per the 2021 census. The population growth rate is 0.93% per year. In the 2011 census, Nepal's population was approximately 26 million people with a population growth rate of 1.35% and a ...

{{Asia topic, Ethnic groups in Ethnic groups in Myanmar Nepalese diaspora by country Nepalese diaspora in Asia Gurkhas