Uniform.—Dark green, facings black.
10th Gurkha Rifles.
Raised in 1890, by Lt.-Col. C.R. Macgregor, from the Kubo Valley Police Battalion, and originally known as the 10th Regiment of Burma Infantry.[1] Present designation, 1903.
Uniform.—Dark green, facings black.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] It is a singular fact that the old 10th Madras Infantry (1st Burma-Gurkha Rifles), raised in 1766, bore the honours "Carnatic," "Mysore," "Amboor," "Assaye," "Ava," "Burma '85/87," and in 1900 Capt. J. Henegan was a wing commander. He is now, at the time of writing, Lieut.-Col. commanding the 1st Battalion of the present 10th Gurkha Rifles.
Another peculiar point will recommend itself to military students. In "Whitaker's Naval and Military Directory" of 1899 and 1900 the 17th and 19th regiments of Madras Infantry are given, but the 18th regiment is omitted. This, however, is not the only instance of the kind. As in the case of our 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers there have been certain regiments that have disappeared for a time from the Army List, the numbers of the others remaining unaltered.
There is some little doubt about the derivation of the word "Dogra." Some say it is derived from the Indian word "dogur" or "dugur," meaning "hill" or "mountain," and that the Dogra country is so called because the whole of it is more or less mountainous. Others maintain that the origin of the name is found in two Sanscrit words, "do," meaning "two," and "girath," meaning "lake," there being two small lakes of great beauty known as Man Sur and Sardin Sur. The first derivation is most probably the correct one, for it is a matter of history that the pioneer Rajputs, who left the plains to make their home in the hills to found the Dogra principalities, styled themselves Dogras, or Hillmen, as distinguished from men of the plains.