Nepal Sirmooree 2025

19 Because of its close association with the 60th Rifles at Delhi, in 1858 the Regiment became a Rifle Regiment. It was the custom, because of their swift and concealed method of warfare, for rifle regiments not to carry Colours, therefore in 1863 the 2nd Goorkhas ceased to exercise the privilege of carrying them. However, in recognition of their glorious achievements at Delhi, Her Majesty Queen Victoria presented a third, special Colour to the Regiment in the form of the Queen’s Truncheon. This Truncheon was unique in the Armies of the British Empire and Commonwealth, and remains so in the British Army today, where it is carried by the successor Regiment to the 2nd Goorkhas, the Royal Gurkha Rifles. The Queen’s Truncheon The Truncheon was devised by Colonel Charles Reid, one of Queen Victoria’s Aides-de-Camp and commander of the Regiment at Delhi. It was presented in 1863 on behalf of the Queen by Lord Strathnairn, the Commander-in-Chief in India, at a special parade of all troops in the large garrison of Lahore, where it was honoured with a Royal Salute on presentation. The Truncheon is a typical piece of workmanship of the Victorian age. It stands just under six feet high, is chiefly made of bronze, and is surmounted by the Royal Crown in silver supported by three Gurkha riflemen in bronze. On the ring of silver below the figures are inscribed the words “Main Picquet, Hindoo Rao’s House, Delhi 1857”. Below this ring is a representation in bronze of one of the minarets on the Delhi Gate of the Palace of the Moghuls, and in the minaret hang two silver crossed kukris, the national weapon of the Gurkha. Below this again is another silver ring on which is inscribed on three sides “Sirmoor Rifles”. This was the title of the Regiment at the time, indicating the place of the raising of the Regiment in 1815, and the title it bore up to 1994 when it was amalgamated with the 6th, 7th, and 10th Gurkhas to form The Royal Gurkha Rifles. On a third ring, just above the upper end of the staff, the words “Main Picquet, Hindoo Rao’s House, Delhi 1857” are again inscribed, this time in Nagri script. The Truncheon was made in five pieces, so that it could be taken apart and carried in battle in the knapsacks of five different Gurkha soldiers. When, in 1858, the Third Colour was presented, an extra Jemadar (a junior native officer in the old Indian Army) was authorised to carry it, and when the Truncheon replaced the Colour this extra officer was allowed to remain on the establishment. During the visit to India of His Majesty King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, in 1876, at a Review held in Delhi the Truncheon was given precedence over all other Colours. It was impossible to convey the importance this Truncheon played in the Regiment, and in what reverence it was held by all members. On the two Regimental Days – the anniversaries of the assault on Delhi, 14th September 1857, and the crossing of the Tigris at Shumran on 23rd February 1917 – the Truncheon was placed in position outside the Regimental Quarter Guard and every individual, from Commanding Officer to the last joined Rifleman, saluted it during the course of the day without fail. Amongst the men of the Regiment it was referred to as the “Nishani Mai” (loosely translated as ‘the Symbol of the Great Mother’) an allusion to the great Queen who presented it. The recruits of the Regiment were sworn in on the Queen’s Truncheon when they joined the Regiment and became Riflemen, a tradition that has been