Trade linkages between British India and Tibet through the passes of Sikkim dates back to the late 18th Century. It was the report written by john Edgar the Deputy commissioner in Darjeeling in 1873 that really captured the attention of the British India Goverment with regard to the great strategic and commercial potentials of this route in Sikkim. The Trade through Nathula [the path listening ear-4310m] had been the outcome of the repated deliberations and discourses at highest administrative levels between the British India/Sikkim and Tibeto-Chinese Goverments.

The Later half of the 1890s, witnessed a fairly good trade of British India with Tibet through Sikkim passes as highlighted by the extract of the diary of the Political Officer for Sikkim. The diary extract of the 16th January 1898 states, "The trade for December are very good, amounting to Rs 3,41,290. This includes a consignment of Gold worth Rs. 16,800- the finest that has been sent in for some years."

The adventurous younghosband Mission launched from Sikkim with a military escort (1903-04) accomplished it's task of reaching Lhasa thereby leading to 1904 Convention that firmed up the Anglo-Tibet trade.

"Deorali village was mostly used as a starting point for the mule train caravan. All the mule trails were "kuccha" and un-mettalled and most were suseptible to the warth of nature. Starting early in the morning, in the break of day, the caravan used to trudge along the mule trail to the Naya Bazaa; 10th Mile was the next stop then came the uphill climb to 15th mile. Thegu, was the next stop before comming to the hamlet of Tshango. The next climb involved crossing the cold pass and the last outpost of India, Nathu la. Once the pass was climbed, it was very first village was that of Lathung after which places like that of Pari la, then Gyantse, etc. Came before comming to the very end of it Lhasa.

There used to be custom checks at 15th Mile. yaks were used only from phari onwards. Upto that point, mules and occasionally, coolies were used to ferry the goods. An average mule train consisted of between 15-50 mules. Each mules riders would accompany the caravan in the company of a group of Tibetan mastiffs. It was the chinese who were the inventors of the 2 wheel carriage pulled by mules. It was more in use from Phari onwards because of the lever terrain of the Tibetan plateau.
There were post offices en-route that trade trail. They were also couriered on mules. All trade were regulated via the India Trade Agent (Central Goverment) Who issued trade permits to the traders, especially so in the case of high value commodities like that of petrol, diesel, auto parts, liquors etd. The trade was that of an open market. Most of the trade especially from Nathula was done on the basis of cash transactions where as the trade from Jelep La was mostly done on the basis of barter, even to the later days. The preferred currency for trade was the Indian currency but later on in the post 1950s the Chinese doller called "dyang" (1 dyang=NRI 3-4) gained prominence. It was a pure silver coin.

The trade exports of India then were that of ghee, suger, tinned goods, hardware, moter parts, mechanical items, construction meterials, editible oils, lether goods (especially shoes), western watches (Rolex-Black dials) etc. The Indian imports were that of raw wool, Chinese silk and Chinese dollar.

Indian Goods having the most demands in Tibet were petrol, rice, suger etc. Also in the demand list were high priced products like that of the West end watches and the Rolex and Laungis brand of watches. There were talk of 40kgs of these watches being transported every now and then.

Profitability of the trade was almost 3 times the cost of production. The trade brought with it a lot of employment, directly and indirectly. Indirectly, the trade agents, the mule agents, the mule suppliers, the mule riders, the fodder suppliers, the wooden crate makers the inn-keepers (called "nhe'zang" in tibetan), the blacksmiths etc were employed. Among the big naes in the Indo-Tibet trade were that of Bhaju Ratna Sau (Jyoti Brothers, now in Kathmandu) the Sarraf Brothers, Nandu Ram, Mintri Bros., the Diplas (Gangtok traders), Musk house's Guwahatiwall. etc.

It was easier to transport goods via Nathu la, as road was better at least upto Deorali, the goods would have more chances of reaching it's final destination saftly. Not that there was any reports of robbery of dacoity enroute. But we were always in the mercy of nature. Dangers of mudslide, landslides, avalanches, blizzards and generally, the slipping of some of the mules while on their walk did have a toll on the overall breakage. There wasn't any system of insurance then.

It took almost 15 days to reach the said destination from the date of order from the Indian side. The trade was done using only the two main routes; it was an open market with no knowledge of there being any black marketing. There was enough safety and security as well as strict custom rules especially regarding "prohibited items" the import of silver and gold for the trade to carry on.

The immediate impact of the abrupt closure of the indo-tibet trade in 1962 weas the downfall of both Sikkimese and Kalimpong's economy"

From this flurishing trade route for traders from calcutta, madrass, amritsar and Delhi both in the pre and post independence period, the situations have transformed and paradigms have greatly shifted. The reopening of the Nathula trade toute has been a long drawn process.

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