Nepali Army

The Nepali Army (Nepali: नेपाली सेना, romanized: Nēpālī Sēnā), technically the Gorkhali Army (गोरखाली सेना, Gōrakhālī Sēnā; see Gorkhas), is the land service branch of the Nepalese Armed Forces. During the period of the Nepali unification campaign, it was known as the Gorkhali Army and later as the Royal Nepali Army following the establishment of a Hindu monarchy in Nepal. It was officially renamed to the Nepali Army on 28 May 2008, following the abolition of the 240-year-old Shah dynasty shortly after the Nepali Civil War.

The Nepali Army has participated in various conflicts throughout its history, going as far back as the Nepali unification campaign launched by Prithvi Narayan Shah of the Gorkha Kingdom. It has engaged in an extensive number of battles within South Asia, and continues to take part in global conflicts as part of United Nations peacekeeping coalitions.

The Nepali Army is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal and the incumbent Chief of Army Staff is General Prabhu Ram Sharma.

The uniting of Nepal was the major start of the army. Since uniting would be hard without a strong army, management had to be very good. Other than temples in Kathmandu, the army organized in Gorkha. After Gorkhali troops captured Nuwakot (a hilly part of north Kathmandu) in 1744, the Gorkhali forces became the Royal Nepali Army.

Their performance was so impressive that the British East India Company started recruiting Nepali troops into their army. British troops called them "Gurkhas". The Nepal–Sikh war came shortly in 1809, and the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1814. It became more involved in the British Indian Army until independence, remaining independent (since it was a protectorate of the British Raj until 1947, though autonomy had been granted in 1923). In 1946, the Royal Nepali Army troops were led by Commanding General Baber Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana at the Victory Parade in London.

Prior to 2006, the Royal Nepali Army was under the King of Nepal. Following the 2006 Democracy Movement (Nepali: लोकतन्त्र आन्दोलन, romanized: Loktantra Āndolan) on 18 May, a bill was passed by the Nepali parliament removing the monarchy, which included renaming the army to the Nepali Army.^[3] In 2004, Nepal spent $99.2 million on its military (1.5% of its GDP). Between 2002 and 2006, the RNA was involved in the Nepali Civil War. They were also used to handle protesters during the 2006 democracy movement.