Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1816): The Gurkhas and the Company

The Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816), also called the Gurkha War, was fought between the Kingdom of Nepal and the British East India Company. After two hard campaigns in the Himalayan foothills, Nepal signed the Treaty of Sugauli, losing about a third of its territory but keeping its independence. The war also began one of the longest military partnerships in modern history: the recruitment of Gurkha soldiers into British service.

Background

In 1768–1769 Prithvi Narayan Shah, ruler of the small hill state of Gorkha, conquered the Kathmandu valley and founded the modern Kingdom of Nepal. His successors expanded rapidly, taking Kumaon in 1790 and Garhwal in 1804 and pressing west towards the Sutlej River. A setback against China in the Sino-Nepalese War closed the north, so expansion turned west and south.

By 1814 Nepal was effectively governed by the chief minister, Bhimsen Thapa, on behalf of the young King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah. Nepal’s southern border in the fertile Terai lowlands met lands controlled by the East India Company, and disputes over the districts of Butwal and Sheoraj led to the killing of Company police posts in 1814. The Governor-General, Lord Moira (later Marquess of Hastings), formally declared war on 1 November 1814.

The first campaign, 1814–1815

The Company sent four columns into the hills, with about 30,000 or more troops in total against a Nepalese army estimated at around 12,000–16,000. Several columns performed badly in the difficult terrain.

At Nalapani (Kalunga), a hill fort near Dehradun, a garrison of a few hundred under Balbhadra Kunwar repulsed repeated assaults. General Robert Rollo Gillespie, the hero of the Vellore Mutiny relief, was shot dead leading an attack on 31 October 1814, even before war was formally declared. The defenders held out until late November, when, without water, the survivors broke out.

In the west, General David Ochterlony advanced methodically against Nepal’s most experienced commander, Amar Singh Thapa. Meanwhile a separate force took Almora, capital of Kumaon, in April 1815. Cut off, Amar Singh Thapa surrendered the fortress of Malaun in May 1815 and withdrew east of the Kali River.

The Treaty of Sugauli and the second campaign

Negotiators agreed the Treaty of Sugauli on 2 December 1815, but the court in Kathmandu hesitated to ratify it. Early in 1816 Ochterlony, with around 17,000 men, outflanked the defences by marching through a little-used pass. After the Battle of Makwanpur on 28 February 1816, Nepal ratified the treaty on 4 March 1816.

Under the treaty Nepal gave up Kumaon, Garhwal and the hill areas west of the Kali River, as well as large parts of the Terai and land in the east later linked to Sikkim. It also agreed to receive a British Resident in Kathmandu. Some Terai lands were returned in late 1816, and more after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, when Nepal aided the British.

The beginning of Gurkha service

British officers were deeply impressed by the courage of the Nepalese soldiers. In April 1815, even before the war ended, the Company began forming battalions from surrendered and captured Nepalese troops, including the Nasiri battalions and the Sirmoor Battalion. They grew into the Gurkha regiments of the Indian Army, which fought for the British in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the two world wars and many other conflicts.

The name “Gurkha” comes from Gorkha, the hill kingdom where Nepal’s ruling dynasty began. Gurkhas were recruited mainly from hill communities such as the Magar, Gurung, Rai and Limbu. Since 1947 Gurkha regiments have served in both the British and Indian armies.

Key people

• Bhimsen Thapa (1775–1839): chief minister of Nepal, who dominated the government for three decades and led the decision to resist the Company.
• Amar Singh Thapa: veteran commander of Nepal’s western conquests, who opposed making peace on British terms even after his surrender at Malaun.
• Balbhadra Kunwar: commander at Nalapani, remembered in both Nepal and Britain for the defence of the fort; the British later raised a memorial to their opponents there as well as to their own dead.
• David Ochterlony (1758–1825): the most successful Company general of the war, whose careful advances in 1815 and 1816 decided the outcome.
• Lord Moira, Marquess of Hastings (1754–1826): Governor-General of India from 1813 to 1823, who went on to wage the Third Anglo-Maratha War.

Consequences

The war fixed Nepal’s western and southern borders roughly where they lie today and ended its expansion. Nepal kept its independence but became increasingly cautious towards Britain, closing itself to most foreign visitors for over a century. For the Company, victory secured the Himalayan hill country, where hill stations such as Mussoorie and Shimla later developed.

Timeline

• 1768–1769: Prithvi Narayan Shah conquers the Kathmandu valley.
• 1814, 31 October: Gillespie is killed at Nalapani.
• 1814, 1 November: Lord Moira formally declares war on Nepal.
• 1815, April: Company forces take Almora; the first Gurkha battalions are raised.
• 1815, May: Amar Singh Thapa surrenders Malaun to Ochterlony.
• 1815, 2 December: The Treaty of Sugauli is signed.
• 1816, 28 February: Battle of Makwanpur.
• 1816, 4 March: Nepal ratifies the treaty, ending the war.

Why it matters

The Anglo-Nepalese War set the borders of modern Nepal and made it a buffer state between British India and China. It also started more than two centuries of Gurkha service with British and Indian forces, a legacy that remains strong in Nepal today.