History of Sikkim
Views
History of ancient Sikkim begins with mythical and legendary stories of gods and monks and ends with the last Chogyal of Sikkim. Then the Kingdom extended far to Dibdala in the North, Shingsa Dag-pay, Walung, Yangmag Khangchen, Yarlung and Timar Chorten in the West, down along the Arun and Dudh Kosi river to Maha Nodi, Nuxulbari and Titaliya in the South, on the east Tagong La, and Tang La on the North".
It is told that, when the Bhutias first came into Sikkim from Tibet during the 13th and 14th centuries they found it inhabited by the Lepchas and the Limboos.
Contents |
Legend
In thirteenth century a prince named Guru Tashi in Tibet had a divine vision that he should go south to see his fortune in the Denzong The Vally of rice. As directed by the divine vision he along with his family which included five sons headed in the southern direction. The family during their wanderings came across the Sakya Kingdom in which as monastery was being build at that time. The workers had not been successful in the erecting pillar of the monastery. The elder son of Guru Tashi rised the pillar single handedly, he was then known as Khye Bumsa (meaning the superior of ten thousand heroes), he was then offered the king Sakya's daughter in marriage. Guru Tashi subsequently died.
Kheya Bumsa settled in Chumbi Vally, it was here where he established contacts with the Lepchas chief Tetong Tek in Gangtok, who was also a religious leader. It is said, at that time Kheya Bumsa was childless, by the blessings of Tetong tek, he had three sons, thereafter they had numerous treaties of brotherhood.
Sikkim Kindgom
In the seventeenth century Lama Latsum Chembo, felt that he had a mission to establish a Buddhist monarchy in the hidden country of Denjong, on his quest he reached a place called Norbugang where he met to other holy men. The name of that place was later named as Yuksom. These three superior holy men had to establish a Buddhist monarchy in Sikkim, but whom should they choose as the monarch? they sent a search party in the east direction where they found a man called Phuntsok Namgyal in Gangtok, he was the great grandson of Guru Tashi. In 1642 AD Phuntsok Namgyal then was consecrated as the King of Sikkim in Yuksom. Phunstok Namgyal and the three saints immediately got to the task of successfully bringing the Lepcha tribes under the Buddhist fold. Then the kingdom Sikkim extended from Dibdala in (Tibet) in the north to Kishenganj in Purnea to the south, Tegonla (in Bhutan) in the east to Arun River (in Nepal) to the west.
Nepali Invasion
Nepali on the western border of Sikkim started becoming brazen in their imperialistic designs and made frequent attacks into Sikkim's territory. During the reign of Tenzing Namgyal, Nepali forces occupied large chunks of Sikkimese territory. They attacked Rabdanste and the Chogyal had to flee to the Tibet. The Nepali excursion emboldened them to penetrate even into Tibet. This led to Chinese intervention and Nepal was defeated. In Sino-Nepal treaty, Sikkim lost some of it's land to Nepal, but monarchy was allowed to be restored in the country. Tenzing Namgyal died in Lasha and his son Tsudphud Namgyal was sent to Sikkim in 1973 and consecrated as Sikkim's Chogyal. The defeat of Nepal by the Chinese did little to weaken Nepalis. They continued to make attacks into the neighboring India and Sikkim.
Arrival of British
At that time India was already under British East India Company. Disgusted with Nepali attacks in Indian Territory, Clever British East India Company befriended Sikkim, doing so the expanding powers of Nepali Gorkhas would be curtailed. War between Nepal and British (Anglo-Nepalese War) broke out in 1814 and came to an end in 1816 with the defeat of the Nepalis and subsequent signed treaty of Sigauli with Nepal. British restored Nepali captured territories to Sikkim by signing a Treaty of Titalia.
Darjeeling as a Gift
Darjeeling was Sikkim's territory at the time, but keen Interest of British over Darjeeling, Sikkim finally gifted Darjeeling to British India on the understanding that certain amount would be paid as annual subsidy to Sikkim. The Deed of Grant was signed by the Chogyal Tsudphud Namgyal in 1835. British however did not pay any compensation to Sikkim, this led to a quick deterioration of relation between the two countries. There were also differences between the British Government and Sikkim over the status of people of Sikkim, since many citizens of Sikkim mostly labour class started to settle there as British subjects. The migration disturbed the feudal lords in Sikkim who resorted to forcibly getting the migrants back to Sikkim, This annoyed the British Government which considered these as acts of kidnapping of British Citizens.
Relation with British
Tokhang Namgyal, also known as Pagla Dewan had strong anti-British convictions and this aggravated the surrogation further. The relations deteriorated to such an extent that when Dr. Champbell, the Superintendent of Darjeeling and Dr. Hooker who visited Sikkim for botanical research were captured and imprisoned in 1849. The later British issued an ultimatum and the two captives were released after a month. In February 1850, and expedition was sent to Sikkim which resulted in the stoppage of the annual grant of Rs. 6000 to Chogyal and also annexation of Darjeeling and a great portion of Sikkim to British India. Sikkim kept making attacks into British territories and it was in November 1860 that the British sent and expeditionary force to Sikkim which was driven back from Rinchenbong in Sikkim. A stronger force was again sent in 1861 that captured the capital Tumlong and the signing of a treaty between Sikkim and British. But British wanted good relation with Sikkim, therefore British started paying annual subsidy Rs. 6,000 in 1850 for Darjeeling, the British raised subsidy up to 12,000 per annum later.
Coins and Revenues
In 1867, the Nepali Luchmidas Pradhan settled in Sikkim for mining copper at Tukkhani above Melli in South Sikkim. Soon he and his family started mining copper from Rinchenpong, Rongpo. Towards the middle of the 18th century, the British had permitted the Nepali traders in Sikkim to use the coins of Nepal amongst themselves. In 1883, Sikkim permitted Luchmidas Pradhan to mint coins called Chepte Paise, these minters were known as Takshris. Luchmidas Pradhan and his family also acquired a number of estates with the help of Phodang Lama and his brother Khangsa Dewan who were two important Lepcha officers in the Sikkim court. Revenues were generated from the villagers staying on the estate by levying rents on cultivated land, cattle etc.
Nepali Settlers in Sikkim
In mid 1870-80 there were serious clash between the Nepali settlers and the original inhabitants of Sikkim, there was even clash between two communities, this led to British intervention. The British decision went in favour of Nepali settlers and Chogyal Thutob Namgyal was measured having ill feelings for the British, he retreated to Chumbi and become more aligned towards the Tibet.
Tibetan Intervention
The British meanwhile were making efforts to establish trade links with Tibet and also impose their influence. A delegation led by colman Macaulay, Financial Secretary to the Bengal Government of British India was sent to Sikkim in 1884 to explore the possibility of establishing a trade route with Tibet through Lachen Valley. British then started building roads in Sikkim, this was viewed with suspicion by Tibet, and in 1886, some Tibetan militia occupied Lingtu in Sikkim Near Jelepla pass. In may 1888, the Tibetan attacked Gnathang below Jelepla but where driven away. In September of the same year the British called reinforcements and the Tibetans were pushed back from Lingtu. A memorial was built at Gnathang for the few British Soldiers who died in the engagements.
Boundary between Sikkim and Tibet
Alarmed by the defeat of the Tibetans and apprehending that they would lose influence over Tibet, the Chinese began negotiations with the British that finally resulted in Signing of the Anglo-Chinese convention on 17th March 1890. This treaty clearly defined the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet and recognized British India's direct control over the internal and external affairs of Sikkim and prohibited Sikkim to have direct links with any other country without the permission of the British.
First Political Officer
The British appointed Claude White as the first Political officer in Sikkim in 1889 and Chogyal Thutob Namgyal was virtually under his supervision. Claude White, who played pioneering role in bringing about radical changes in the administrative setup as well as improving the economy of the State by introducing the revenue earning agricultural methods. In process there was a large influx of Nepalis to till the land. To protect the interest of the Bhutia and Lepchas, White marked lands belonging to Bhutia and Lepcha could not be sold to the Nepalis. This practice still continues till date.
Removal of Monarchy System
After Indian became independent in 1947, there were rumblings in Sikkim's political ranks and file, which demanded the removal of monarchy and the establishment of the democratic setup, which led to wide spread agitation against Sikkim Monarchy in 1973. In the process administration completely collapsed in the kingdom. On 5th December 1950 a treaty was signed between Independent India and Sikkim as a protectorate with Chogyal as Monarch, under this treaty the defense and Foreign Affairs of Sikkim was to be looked after by India. The Postal system and Currency would also be Indian. Meanwhile a new party called National party was formed, the famous party formula was introduced for the vote, in which the Nepalis were equated with Bhutia and Lepchas, since Nepalis constituted more than 70% of the total population.
First General Election
The first general election was held in 1953 for 12 seats, six seats were reserved for Bhutia, Lepchas and Six for Nepali. Sikkim was divided into four territorial constituencies, Gangtok, North Central, Namchi & Pemayantse., the twelve seats were distributed amongst these four constituencies. For instance Pemayantse had 3 seats (2 Nepali and 1 Bhutia) and a voter had to cast three votes one each for the seat, in effect one man had three votes in the Pemayantse constituency. Such votes was therefore biased and all the political parties of Sikkim, except the National Party, agitated against this and demanded One man one Vote.
Election after the Merger
As per Tripartite Agreement, the State was divided into 32 constituencies, 15 seats were reserved for the Bhutia-Lepcha, 15 for Nepali, 1 for Schedule Caste/Schedule tribe and one for the Sangha. The Chogyal would continue to be the constitutional head and the Assembly would have no powers to question him or his family.
First Chief Minister
On 4th September 1974, the leader of State Congress Kazi Lendup Dorjee was elected as first Chief Minister of Sikkim by wining 31 seats. Differences between the Chogyal and the Assembly got aggravated to such an extent, that the Sikkim Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution, on 10 April 1975, abolishing the institution of the Chogyal and declaring Sikkim as a constituent unit of India. The Assembly also resolved to submit it's resolution to the people of Sikkim by way of general referendum. About 60,000 votes were cast in favour of the resolution, whereas 1,500 against it.
Population
As late as in 1991 when the first Census was taken Sikkim had a population of 30,458, which is minuscule compared to the 2001 census where the total population now stands at 5,40,851+ persons.