Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1537

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.13 linear feet (1 album)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Gurkha photograph album, 1917-1919, Ms. Coll. 1537, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.

Date:

1917-1919 (inclusive)

Form:

Black-and-white photographs

Abstract:

Gurkha photograph album consisting of 48 black and white photographs from 1917-1919 featuring images of military training, soldiers, children, cities, and bungalows. Locations identified in captions include: Bombay, Jamal Garhi, Cape Town, and Mardan.

Gurkhas are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. From the end of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 until the start of World War I, the Gurkha Regiments saw active service in Burma, Afghanistan, Northeast India and the North-West Frontier of India, Malta, Cyprus, Malaya, China and Tibet. Around 100,000 Gurkhas fought in the First World War (1914-18).

The Corps of Guides was a regiment of the British Indian Army made up of British officers and Indian enlisted soldiers to serve on the North West Frontier. It evolved through the 20th century to become the Guides Cavalry and Guides Infantry. The Corps of Guides became the garrison unit of a key post on the frontier, the new Fort of Mardan.

Sources:

"The Gurkhas." National Army Museum. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/gurkhas.

Hodson-Pressinger, Selwyn. "1693. THE MARDAN FORT, INDIA, 1854." Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 81, no. 328 (2003): 382–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44231001.

Compiled by unknown individual, this Gurkha photograph album consists of 48 black and white photographs taken between 1917-1919. Photographs feature images of gurkhas in uniform and in training, Corps of Guides, as well as scenes from cities. Locations identified in captions include: Bombay, Jamal Garhi, Cape Town, and Mardan.