Question - Need info Gurkha uniforms 2nd Afghan war

[THE CID]

Looking for some info concerning Gurkhas uniforms in the 2nd Afghan war.
I've purchased some Perry miniatures fairly new Gurkhas from Victoria's little wars range. Did they wear Green or Khaki uniforms, what colour equipment did they use, I know black leather was the norm.
Also any info on officers uniforms would be welcome.  👍🏻

[Cubs]

Dark green looks like. This illustration is captioned for the battle of Ahmed Khel 1880, from BritishBattles.com.

[Will Bailie]

There is contradictory information on Gurkha uniforms for the 2nd Anglo-Afghan War - partly because each of the Gurkha regiments had different uniform requirements!  I've seen references to both khaki and rifle green being worn, by different regiments, and in different seasons.

There are a few Gurkha soldiers visible in this Woodville painting of the Battle of Kandahar, they are mixed in with the 92nd Highlanders, and are wearing khaki:


And this watercolour by Col Hobday also shows Gurkas in khaki, also at the Battle of Kandahar:



But as Cubs notes, you can also find references to them in rifle green.  I've found text references to Gurkas in a mix of khaki tops and green trousers, and also a reference to a Gurkha mostly in khaki except for rifle-green puttees.

Kabul 1879:


Basically, you can justify whichever combination you prefer 

[THE CID]

Thanks lads, the khaki with green puttees sounds interesting.

[Mad Guru]

Lots of great info shared above!  I will pile on just a bit more:

As already pointed out you can paint your 1878-1880 Second Afghan War Gurkhas in Green or Khaki uniforms, or a mixture of the two.

As far as mixtures go, there's the Khaki uniform with rifle green or black puttees; there is also the rifle green uniform with khaki puttees, as worn by a rifleman of 5th Gurkhas in a color plate below; there's also a post-war photo from 1882 showing a group of 5th Gurkhas wearing khaki tunics over dark (probably rifle green) trousers.  I also posted some pics of British officers, who could wear khaki or rifle green foreign service helmets, pillbox caps, or glengarries...















And if you want to get a bit more fancy, in this 1878 illustration, 3rd Gurkhas are shown with red and white dicing around the base of their caps:

[THE CID]

Thanks Mad Guru, the variants are amazing. If the lead pile wasn't huge, I'd probably give the diced caps a go 😂

[Hammers]

The ubiquitous pillbox hat is always black, right?

[Hammers]

The ubiquitous pillbox hat is always black, right?

Apparently not, now that I look at the photos above.

[Cubs]

I love this, where it's the same people, although a couple have grown beards, and one of them has nicked the chair in the second photo! I wonder if there was any "George, for the love of ... that's my bloody chair!" .. "I don't see your name on it Digory, and besides, I called shotgun."

[Hammers]

I love this, where it's the same people, although a couple have grown beards, and one of them has nicked the chair in the second photo! I wonder if there was any "George, for the love of ... that's my bloody chair!" .. "I don't see your name on it Digory, and besides, I called shotgun."

A glorious display of manspread!

[Florida Tory]

One of my bucket list colonial units is the Gurkha company of the Queen's Guides.