Facing a pause in Nepalese recruitment for the Indian Army, the British Army has created a new Gurkha artillery regiment — the King’s Gurkha Artillery (KGA) — opening a fresh chapter for Nepal‑born soldiers in British service.
King Charles III gave the unit its title, and the KGA held its Kasam Khane Parade for the first intake of 20 recruits directly selected from Nepal at Larkhill Camp in south‑west England on April 20. Once trained, these artillerymen will join UK and overseas exercises and operations. (The British force uses the spelling “Gurkha”.)
Announced in 2025, the KGA is planned as a 400‑strong regiment to be raised over the next four years. Initial transfers of serving Gurkhas began in the spring, with the regiment formed at Larkhill — the Royal Artillery’s home — and scheduled to expand with additional batteries over the coming three to four years.
The Gurkha Brigade Association described the new formation as a fitting fusion of two proud, historic organisations that will strengthen the British Army’s combat power. As part of the Royal Artillery, the KGA will deliver close artillery support while giving members of the Brigade of Gurkhas new career paths and broadening the army’s artillery capabilities.
The Brigade of Gurkhas currently numbers roughly 4,000 personnel and includes the Royal Gurkha Rifles (three infantry battalions), Queen’s Gurkha Engineers, Queen’s Gurkha Signals, the Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas, Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, and Gurkha Staff and Personnel Support. These units recruit from Nepal, and officers posted to Gurkha units are, like their Indian counterparts in Gorkha regiments, required to learn Nepali.
The Gurkha tradition stretches back to the Anglo‑Nepalese War of 1814–1816, after which Gurkhas began to be recruited by the British East India Company. For more than two centuries they have served around the world; over 200,000 fought with the British Indian Army in the two world wars.
On the Indian side, the First Battalion of the First Gorkha Rifles (1/1GR) traces its roots to April 1815. After Indian independence in 1947, four regiments transferred to the British Army and were later amalgamated into the Royal Gurkha Rifles in 1994. The regiments that remained with India were restructured into several Gorkha regiments, each typically composed largely of Nepal‑domiciled soldiers.
A 1947 tripartite agreement among India, Nepal and the United Kingdom set the rules for recruiting Gurkhas from Nepal, specifying recruitment as Nepali citizens and broadly similar service conditions and pay in the two armies. That recruitment from Nepal has been suspended since 2020. A post‑Covid intake hiatus was followed by India’s Agnipath scheme, which shortened enlistment terms to four years. Nepal rejected Agnipath for its citizens, arguing it breaches the tripartite understanding and raises questions about veterans’ prospects after short‑term service.
The recruitment pause carries strategic implications for India and socio‑economic consequences for Nepal. Before the halt, about 32,000 Gorkha troops served in the Indian Army at any one time, with annual Nepalese intake reported around 1,500–1,800 and similar numbers retiring each year. Since independence the balance between Nepal‑domiciled and India‑domiciled recruits has shifted — from roughly 90:10 to about 60:40 — and New Delhi had already begun raising units composed exclusively of India‑domiciled Gorkhas, starting with a new battalion at Subathu in 2016.
Against this backdrop, the formation of the King’s Gurkha Artillery underscores the continuing importance and adaptability of Gurkha soldiers within British forces, even as recruitment and policy issues across the subcontinent remain unresolved.
