Warrior Gentlemen: "Gurkhas" in the Western Imagination
Warrior Gentlemen is not merely an addition to the voluminous literature on the Gurkhas of Nepal (see 'The Gurkha Guide' Himal Jul/Aug 1991). It presents an entirely new perspective that will provoke those attuned to the stereotyped genre. The term 'Western imagination' in the subtitle of the book may invoke Edward Said's Orientalism (London, 1978), but the reference here is entirely to English or British imagination. After all, the Gurkhas have never served under officers other than British (and Indian after 1948). The extensive bibliography the author provides includes 311 published entries, of which, only three are non-English.
Caplan's book is well-researched and organised. The introduction is a review of Gurkha texts and Gurkha involvement in British service. The second chapter relates Gurkhas to their homeland in economic, social, and political context. The third chapter is an interesting description of that particular species of British officers who lead Gurkhas. The next two chapters are essays into the image construction of stereotyped Gurkhas. The concluding chapter attempts to synthesise how the text and colonial power are interlinked to produce the imagined Gurkhas.
To begin, the author relates available literature to the social and cultural settings, from which the officers themselves come. In this discourse, there are only romantic approvers, since the same 'tatterdemalion bands' (Pemble, 1971, p.28) as Nepalese soldiers are transformed into beau ideal soldiers under the British. One of the most distinguishing features of this literature is the strong sense of disciplined continuity. The series of Gurkha handbooks include Buchanan-Hamilton (1819), Hodgson (1833), and Vansittart (1894) and their versions on ethnic qualities. Early Gurkha heroic tales and their loyalty to the British are recounted as sacral mantra. The author discovers that the Gurkha is a creation of military ambience.