(goor´ke) , ethnic group of Nepal . They claim descent from the Rajputs of N India and entered Nepal from the west after being driven from India. They conquered (early 16th cent.) the small Nepalese state of Gurkha and henceforth called themselves Gurkhas. They expanded eastward, and by the mid-18th cent. had established their authority over all of Nepal.

The Gurkha Contingent was officially created in Singapore in 1949 from ex-British Army Gurkhas. The Gurkhas' main strength is their impartiality in the multiracial city-state of four million people.