Famous Fights of Indian Native Regiments

Part 4

Chapter 43,944 wordsPublic domain

This war dragged slowly and wearily to a close. Finally there came a time when the Gurkhas were compelled to sue for peace. By the treaty drawn up at the conclusion of hostilities large tracts of territory were ceded to the British; but, as this treaty had to be sent to the Governor-General for approval and signature, there was a delay, and during that delay the bold spirit of the Gurkhas rose against this admission of defeat, and when the treaty was returned they flatly refused to sign it. At this hostilities were resumed, and the British again proceeded to attack.

This time they had a larger share of the luck of war. By the guidance of a party of smugglers they were enabled to penetrate right into the Gurkha stronghold unobserved. Their path lay through deep ravines, darkly enclosed by rugged precipices and shrouded in the gloom of dense overhanging trees. Threading their way through these eerie approaches, they at length came up behind the Gurkhas, who were patiently waiting and watching the regular avenues of approach. Being suddenly attacked in the rear, the Gurkhas were demoralised, and, though they fought bravely, were defeated. This action proved decisive. Again they were conquered, and, from that time, they have nobly admitted the superiority of their conquerors. A few years later their indomitable spirit was linked with that of the British, and they were fighting side by side with the white man in Asia.

The Gurkhas of to-day adhere to the Hindu religion. In their appearance there is a strong trace of Mongolian blood, as shown by their almond-shaped eyes, high cheek bones, and firm but mobile lips.

In early times Nepal consisted of a great number of petty states constantly at war with each other. Thus it happened that, by conquest and reconquest, and intermixture of tribes, the term "Gurkha" became geographical rather than ethnic; that is to say, the name does not, strictly speaking, apply to any special tribe or race, but to the inhabitants of the locality known as Gurkhá.

The principality of Gurkhá owes its existence and name to a yogi called Guraknath. He lived in a cave in a hill in Central Nepal. To this holy man came many devotees daily, and, in the neighbourhood of his cave, there soon sprang up a village which in time spread its boundaries until it assumed importance as the City of Gurkhá, so named after the yogi. In further course of time it became the capital of the district, to which, and to its inhabitants, it gave its name.

It is interesting to note that this yogi Guraknath is still held in great veneration by all Gurkhas, and to-day their battle-cry may be heard in Europe--"Guru Guraknath Kijai" ("Victory to Guraknath!").

The Gurkhas are conquerors of no mean order. Their principal conquests took place in the middle of the eighteenth century. In the year 1599 Drabiya Sah elected himself Gurkha Rajah, and, about 140 years later, the eighth in descent from him--one Narbupal Sah--invaded the Nepal valley. The invasion was unsuccessful and he was driven back, but the spirit of invasion was not defeated. He was succeeded in 1742 by his son, Prithwi Narayan Sah, a lad twelve years old. This boy grew up into a sensible, brave man of great ambitions, and in time became a very capable general and diplomat. It was to his genius as a ruler and a general that the Gurkhas owed their ultimate conquest of the region of Nepal. His first invasion failed, though he and his warriors fought with splendid courage. Later, having subjugated several of the neighbouring states, he strengthened his army from these sources, and undertook a second invasion in 1765. Again he was utterly defeated; but he was a man of heroic courage, and, in his third invasion in 1768, in the course of which he was defeated as often as he was successful, he finally seized Khatmandu--by superior "strategy" as it was known in those days--and dictated terms of peace in the heart of the valley of Nepal.

Prithwi, the conqueror, then removed his capital to Khatmandu, which has ever since remained the capital of the Gurkha kingdom. He died in 1775, after a great and terribly eventful reign of thirty-three years.

Pratap Simha Sah, who succeeded his father Prithwi, attempted the conquest of Sikkim, but failed utterly. In Sikkim the Maharajah obtained the victory over him in so many battles that the Gurkha king was forced to sign away some of his eastern territory; but the Gurkhas returned again and again to the attack, until, in 1776, they utterly defeated the Sikkim Maharajah at the battle of Chinepore, and more than regained their lost possessions.

In 1776 the wars of conquest still continued. Another great man arose, Ran Bahadur Sah, uncle to Pratap Simha Sah's infant son, who was on the throne. Bahadur Sah was a man of ability, and, as Regent, decided to subjugate the Chaobisi principalities. He conspired with the Rajah of Palpa, one of the Chaobisi states, agreeing to a division of the spoil in return for his assistance. The Gurkha-Palpa alliance was then formed, and nearly all the Chaobisi states were subjugated, the Gurkhas keeping the lion's share. Meanwhile the Gurkha armies in the east, under General Saroop Simha, were victorious, and the whole of the Rai and Limbu districts of eastern Nepal were conquered. For some time after that they continued the extension of their rule in Sikkim and parts of Tibet. This latter invasion brought upon the Gurkhas a strong Chinese army, which utterly routed them in the year 1792. In consequence of this the Regent was executed by order of the infant king, who himself, on account of his later atrocities, was forced to abdicate in 1800. After some years of exile in India he returned as a firebrand to Gurkha, and died unhonoured and unmourned in 1807.

It was during the second and third Afghan wars that the Gurkhas and the Highlanders fought together in an admirable combination. A brief description of these two wars, containing some graphic incidents of battle, and showing the part the Gurkhas and the Highlanders played together, will be found in the following chapter.

SOME BATTLES IN WHICH THE GURKHAS HAVE FOUGHT

It is interesting to trace to-day the heroic exploits of the Gurkhas through campaigns in which they have fought side by side with the Highlanders of our own country. Space admits of only a brief account, but it will serve to show exactly how and why the Arms of Lord Roberts come to bear, as supporters, a Highlander and a Gurkha.

The second Afghan war (1878-80) was brought about by the discovery of Russian intrigues with Shere Ali. Although the Amir had been advised by Lord Lytton that he was sending Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain on a mission to Kabul, he made no satisfactory reply either in assent or dissent; but when Sir Neville reached Ali Musjid, a fortress on the Afghan frontier, his embassy was confronted by an armed force, and, not possessing sufficient troops to attack, he was compelled to turn back. Smarting under this affront--for it had been clearly laid down that his mission was not of a hostile nature--he returned to Peshawur, from which point an ultimatum was despatched to Shere Ali. This led to the formal proclamation of war on November 21st, 1878. Ali Musjid was the scene of the first battle, in which, under Sir Samuel Browne, the 6th Native Infantry, the 45th Sikhs, and 27th Punjab Infantry were engaged.

Prior to this battle the Kurram Column, or Field Force, had been formed, under General Roberts. The native troops included in this force were as follow:--

1ST INFANTRY BRIGADE--29th Bengal Native Infantry, 5th Punjab Infantry, and the Bhopal contingent.

2ND INFANTRY BRIGADE--21st Native Infantry, 2nd Punjab Infantry, and 5th Gurkhas, under Major Fitzhugh.

This famous Kurram Column immediately took the field, and their first engagement of importance was at Peiwar Kotal. To the 29th Bengal Native Infantry and 5th Gurkhas, under Col. Gordon, No. 1 Mountain Battery, a wing of the 72nd (Duke of Albany's Own) Highlanders, the 2nd Punjab Infantry and 23rd Pioneers, under Brigadier Thelwall, was assigned the task of turning the enemy's position, while a feint was to be made upon their front. The turning force set out during the night of December 1st. A writer who describes that campaign says: "The bright camp-fires shed their wavering light on the white tents, when, without sound of drum or bugle, the troops fell silently into their ranks, the companies were told off, and the battalions formed.... Nor had they long to wait before their challenge was responded to by two shots, showing that the position had been reached. And ere long the troops found themselves confronted by an abattis formed by felled trees which, laid over each other to the height of 8 feet, completely blocked the way."

On this barricade, the Gurkhas, led by Major Fitzhugh and Captain Cook, made a fierce rush. A stern conflict ensued--a hand-to-hand fight with bayonet, _kukri_, and clubbed musket; and the Gurkhas drove the enemy back to a second barrier nearly 100 yards to their rear. Here they made another stand, but the ferocity of the lithe and wiry Gurkhas, and the stern valour of the Highlanders--their right wing falling upon the enemy's flank--combined to drive the Afghans from this second stockade with considerable loss.

Here it was that the Gurkhas and the Highlanders rushed on together side by side in a memorable charge, none of them knowing the strength and number either of the enemy or his further stockades. In the uncertain light of early dawn they drove the enemy up the hillside like chaff before the wind. For a time the Afghans fled in disorder, then suddenly they rallied and prepared for a wild charge downhill. Major Galbraith of the 85th Foot was the first to see their intention, and he immediately directed the fire of his men to demoralise and check this movement. While he was doing this an Afghan crept up behind some bushes, and, levelling his rifle at him, took careful aim. Suddenly the Major observed him, and, with the rapidity of lightning, raised his revolver and pulled the trigger. The weapon missed fire, but his prompt action had disturbed the Afghan's aim, and in another moment Captain Cook of the Gurkhas had closed with the native and flung him heavily. There was a quick fight between them, during which Major Galbraith, more fortunate this time with his revolver, sent a bullet through the Afghan's heart. For his brave act in saving the Major's life Captain Cook gained his V.C. But the nation was compelled to mourn this hero very soon, for it was in the following campaign at Sherpur, while leading the Gurkhas, that he was mortally wounded.

By the dawn of day the Gurkhas and the Highlanders, with the assistance of the 29th Punjabis, had taken some important positions, and by the time the sun rose the enemy was defeated.

This victorious campaign was carried on through the craggy ravines of Sappri as far as Siafooden, where the Afghans made a stand and gave battle a second time; but here again the Gurkhas and the Highlanders were the principal factors in their defeat. The subsequent brilliant rush on Shaturgardan Pass was also made glorious by these Highlanders of Britain and Asia. The campaign ended on May 26th, 1880.

Again, in the third Afghan war, the Gurkhas, in common with different regiments of Highlanders and some native regiments, won great distinction.

Sir Louis Cavagnari, who had concluded peace after the first campaign, undertook a personal mission to Kabul. This time the mission was well received--at least at first--but there soon came a time when the Afghans, taking advantage of the necessary inferiority in the numbers of our peaceful mission, insulted it, at first vaguely, then openly, apparently with the idea of goading the Governor to a quarrel. Insult on insult gave fuel to the fire thus aroused, and at last, when the insults became unbearable, the Governor and his staff protested so vigorously that the Afghans seized their opportunity and massacred them. Immediately following on this came the declaration of war by Shere Ali. After the preliminary battles at Charasiah and Asmai the British force advanced to Kabul. There was very severe fighting around the capital, and another sharp engagement at Asmai, after which our troops found themselves entrapped in Sherpur. Here the Gurkhas won a lasting glory for themselves by the recapture of some of our guns which had been taken by the enemy.

During this campaign the Gurkhas took part in the battle of Sijazabad. Here the enemy took up a strong position on the side of a steep hill, which they had further strengthened by barricades of earth and stone. From one to another of these they were driven point by point by the determined assault of the 4th Gurkhas, 14th Punjabis, and the 9th Foot. This was a battle in which all our outnumbered forces, especially the Gurkhas, showed remarkable _élan_. For many hours the Gurkhas stormed one barricade after another, always driving the Afghans up the hill with bullet, bayonet, and _kukri_, until at last the enemy's final defence was taken. It was in this battle that an incident occurred which shows, not only the Gurkha's quality, but his primitive methods of revenge--which methods, needless to say, are now somewhat modified. Towards the close of the uphill battle, when the enemy was in full retreat, a single Gurkha, in advance of his fellows, had just shot one of the Afghans, when two of them suddenly sprang up from behind a rock near by. They were Afghan hillmen--fanatics pledged in the name of Allah to the last drop of blood for Islam. They shared the belief, common among Orientals, that death under this pledge was the entrance to Paradise, where the houris are born of pure musk. With a spring one of them fiercely plunged his dagger into the unfortunate Gurkha, while the other with a sweep of his tulwar clove the head of the dying man. Swift as was this passage of arms, still swifter came the retribution. Lieut. Gordon of the 92nd Foot despatched one of the hillmen, and the other immediately fell, riddled by Gurkha bullets. With a ferocious cry the Gurkhas swept down upon the two stricken hillmen, and with their terrible _kukris_ hewed them in pieces. But as the time of Samuel and Agag has departed, so has this primitive lust of revenge been gradually modified in the Gurkha by his association with the humanity of the West.

The Gurkhas were in the famous march of General Roberts on Kandahar, which immediately followed the battle of Sijazabad. It was towards the end of this march that the Gurkhas and the 92nd Gordon Highlanders made an attack on the little village of Gundi-Moolah-Sahibdad. In this memorable assault the Gurkhas and the Gordons almost strove with one another for the _kudos_ of the victory. But the _kudos_ may easily be said to belong to them jointly. And in recognition of this the Gordon loves to talk about his little comrade-in-arms, while the Gurkha worships the Gordon to such a degree that he would lay down his life for him.

The Afghan strife closed--let us hope for ever--with the battle of Kandahar. This conclusive fight stands in history as a signal tribute to the tenacity of the British soldier in general, and to the generalship, since tried and proved and never found wanting, of Lord Roberts. Says a historian, "It was remarkable for the generalship and cool judgment Roberts had shown, and also for the courage displayed by his troops.... On every occasion we were far outnumbered by the enemy, who were equal to our men in physical strength, and armed with nearly the same weapons; but Roberts trusted to the courage of his slender army and to its perfect discipline, which were conspicuous alike in the savage defiles of the Kurram Valley, on the rocky heights of the Peiwar Kotal and the Spingawi Pass, in the lines of Sherpur, and on the splintered bluffs of Asmai."

The Kandahar Field Force was disbanded in September, 1880, and Roberts' last act before returning to India was to distribute distinguished-service medals to the 72nd and 92nd Highlanders and the 5th Gurkhas. These are his words on that occasion, and no doubt every Gurkha at the front to-day has them, or their translation, in his memory, for they have, more than anything else, confirmed and ratified a brotherhood-in-arms between the Gurkhas and the Highlanders:--"Soldiers of the Kandahar Field Force, I am glad to have this opportunity of giving medals for distinguished conduct to the men of the 72nd and 92nd Highlanders and the 5th Gurkhas. They have deservedly won them. I say from my experience as a soldier that no men with whom I have served can have better deserved these rewards; and it is an additional pleasure to me to have seen the other day of what material my Highlanders and Gurkhas are made. I can but hope it may be my good fortune to have such good soldiers at my side when next I go into action.... You may be assured that the very last troops the Afghans ever wish to meet in the field are the Scottish Highlanders and the Gurkhas."

After this, from one who is now a veteran of England, who can doubt that, as the Gurkhas marched towards the front, their hearts went before them to their big brothers of former frays, with the hope that they would be in close touch in the battle line?

THE GURKHA REGIMENTS, WITH THEIR BATTLE HONOURS

The following is a complete list of the ten Gurkha Regiments (each composed of two battalions), with their Battle Honours, etc.:--

1ST KING GEORGE'S OWN GURKHA RIFLES (The Malaun Regiment).

Raised at Subathu in 1815, chiefly from Gurkha soldiers of Amar Singh, by Lieut. R. Ross.

BADGES.--The Plume of the Prince of Wales and the Royal and Imperial Cypher.

BATTLE HONOURS.--"Bhurtpore," "Aliwal," "Sobraon," "Afghanistan '78/80," "Punjab Frontier," "Tirah."

UNIFORM.--_Dark green_, facings _scarlet_.

2ND KING EDWARD'S OWN GURKHA RIFLES (The Sirmoor Rifles).

Raised at Nahau (Sirmoor) in 1815, by Lieut. F. Young, from Gurkha soldiers, who took service with the British on the termination of the first phase of the Nepal war. Granted a truncheon for distinguished service at Delhi, 1857.

BADGES.--The Plume of the Prince of Wales and the Royal and Imperial Cypher of Edward VII.

BATTLE HONOURS.--"Bhurtpore," "Aliwal," "Sobraon," "Delhi," "Kabul '79," "Kandahar '80," "Afghanistan '78/80," "Punjab Frontier," "Tirah."

UNIFORM.--_Dark green_, facings _scarlet_.

3RD QUEEN ALEXANDRA'S OWN GURKHA RIFLES.

Raised at Almora in 1815, by Lieut. Sir R. Colquhoun, Bart., from Gurkha soldiers, who took service with the British after the fall of Malaun and the conquest of Kamaon; supplemented by transfers from the Gorakhpur Hill Regiment, and originally designated the Kamaon Battalion.

BADGE.--The Cypher of Queen Alexandra.

BATTLE HONOURS.--"Delhi," "Ahmad Khel," "Afghanistan '78/80," "Burma '85/87," "Chitral," "Punjab Frontier," "Tirah."