Erstwhile Flag of Sikkim Prior to Merger HISTORY OF
SIKKIM
Sikkim was inhabited in pre-historic times by three
tribes namely Naong, Chang and the Mon. The Lepcha who
entered Sikkim sometimes later absorbed them
completely. The origin of Lepchas is shrouded in
mistery but it seems that they belonged to the clan of
the Nagas of the Mikir, Garo and Khasia hills which
lie to the south of the Bramaputra valley. Some
believe they came from somewhere on the borders of
Tibet and Burma. According to their own tradition they
came to Sikkim from the east in company with Jindaxs,
who went to Nepal and shared their tradition. The
Lepchas were a very peace loving people, deeply
religious and shy, which characteristics they still
have retained. They were in fact the children of
nature, and worshipped nature or spirits of nature.
These Lepcha lived quite close to the nature by way of
leading sustenance. Some of them practiced shifting
cultivation and raised grains like maize and millets.
They led a tribal life at the beck and call of their
tribal leader.
The credit of organizing them into some sort of a
society goes to a person called Tur ve pa no. He was
eventually elected leader of king called "Punu"
sometimes in A. D. 1400. He was killed in a battle and
was succeeded by three Kings - Tur Song Pa No, Tur
Aeng Pa No and Tur Alu Pa No. The monarchy came to an
end with the death of the last king. The Lepchas now
resorted to the practice of electing a leader whose
advice and counsel was sought on crucial matters and
followed. The Tibetan migration in early 17th century
led the Rongs to shift their habitats so as to avoid
conflict. Meanwhile the struggle and conflicts among
the followers of the "Yellow hats" and the "Red hats"
in Tibet forced the latter to seek refuge in Sikkim,
where they attained the status of aristocracy. Being
aggressive they occupied lands, which was not
registered by the docile Lepchas. These Tibetan
migrants (the Bhutias as they came to be known) who
were followers of the sect of 'Red Hats' now tried to
convert these Sikkimese "Worshippers of nature" to
Buddhism. They succeeded to some extent, though the
Lepchas tried to keep themselves aloof as far as
possible. In order to avoid any possible opposition
from the Lepchas, these immigrants now chose one
venerable person Phuntsok Namgyal as the temporal and
spiritual leader of Sikkim, whose ancestry they traced
from a legendary prince, who founded the Kingdom of
Minvang in eastern Tibet in 9th century A.D. This
dynasty ruled in the Chumbi and Teesta valley for a
long time.
Somewhere in the Thirteenth century a prince named
Guru Tashi of Minyang dynasty in Tibet had a divine
vision that he should go south to seek his fortune in
"Denzong- the valley 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 wandering came across the Sakya
Kingdom in which a monastery was being built at that
time. The workers had not been successful in erecting
pillars for the monastery. The elder son of Guru Tashi
raised the pillar single handedly and thereby came to
be known as "Kheye Bumsa" meaning the superior of ten
thousand heroes.
The Sakya King offered his daughter in marriage to
Khye Bumsa. Guru Tashi subsequently died and Khye
Bumsa settled in Chumbi Valley and it was here that he
established contacts with the Lepcha Chieftain Thekong
Tek in Gangtok. Khye Bumsa being issueless went to
Sikkim in the 13th century to seek the blessing of
Thekong Tek who was also a religious leader. Khye
Bumsa was not only blessed with three sons by the Rong
chief but he also prophesied that his successors would
be the rulers of Sikkim. Out of gratitude Khye Bumsa
visited Thekong Tek a number of times. In due course
of times the relationship ultimately culminated in a
treaty of brotherhood between the two Chieftains at a
place called Kabi Longtsok. This treaty brought about
new ties of brotherhood between the Lepchas and the
Bhutias.
Mipon Rab the third son of Khye Bumsa assumed the
Chief-Ship after the death of his father. He had sons
and the four principal clans of Sikkim are said to
have sprung from these four sons. The fourth son Guru
Tashi succeeded Mipon Rab and shifted to Gangtok. On
the other hand after the death of Thekong Tek the
Lepchas broke into minor clans. They also gradually
turned to Guru Tashi for protection and leadership.
Guru Tashi appointed a Lepcha, Sambre as his chief
adviser and lieutenant. Guru Tashi's rule marked the
absorption of the foreign ruling house into the native
soil and also paved a way for a regular monarchy. This
way Guru Tashi became the first ruler of Sikkim and
was crowned as such. He was followed by Jowo Nagpo,
Jowo Apha and Guru Tenzing who pursued the policy
creating progressively amicable relation with Lepchas.
Phuntsok (or penchu) Namgyal was the next ruler. He
was Guru Tenzing's son (great grandson of Guru Tashi)
and was born in 1604. Phuntsok Namgyal's crowning was
charged with all the vivid fantacy and miraculous
phenomenon that is befitting to so important an
occasion. Three venerable lamas are said to have
entered sikkim from three different direction
direction at the same time. They met at Yoksam
(meaning three wise men) and began a debate on the
desirability of having a temporal and religious head
to rule over pagan Sikkim. Two of the lamas furthered
their own claims but the third lama reminded them of
the prophecy of Guru Padamsambhava that a man coming
from east and Phuntsok by name would rule Sikkim. It
was also told that none of them came from east hence
the real man must be looked for. Messengers were sent
to seek Phuntsok. Near Gangtok the desired youngman
was found and lamas lost no time in crowning him the
king. They seated him on a nearby rock slab and
sprinkled water on him from the sacred urn. He was
given one of Lhatsun Chenpo's (the lama told about
prophecy) names, Namgyal, and the title of Chogyal or
religious king. It happened in the year 1642. The
Namgyal dynasty ruled over Sikkim as hereditary kings
for about 332 years.
Phuntsok Namgyal, the first consecrated ruler ruled
over a vast territory, many times the size of present
Sikkim. His kingdom touched Thang La in the Tibet in
the north, Tagong La near Paro in Bhutan in the east
and the Titalia on the borders of West Bengal and
Bihar in the south. The western border Timar Chorten
on the Timar river in Nepal. Phuntsok though a distant
descendant of Indrabodhi was now a Bhutia by his
domicile. He was persuaded by the lamas enthroning him
as Chogyal (Heavenly king or king who rules with
righteousness) to seek recognition from Dalai Lama of
Tibet. The Dalai Lama recognized Phuntsok Namgyal as
the ruler of the southern slopes of the Himalayas (Sikkim)
and is also credited to have sent ceremonial present
such as the silken scarf bearing Dalai Lama's seal,
the mitre(hat) of the Guru Rimpoche, the devil dagger
(Phurpa) and the most precious sand image of the Guru.
Consequently, the newly established Bhutia
principality of Namgyal Dynasty was tied to Tibetan
theocracy. Since then up to 19th century, the Bhutia
rulers of Sikkim looked up to Tibet for protection
against political foes. Phuntsok Namgyal proved to be
an efficient and capable administrator. He divided his
kingdom into twelve Dzongs i.e. districts and
appointed Dzongpana i.e. governor for each. He also
declared Mahayana Buddhism as the state religion,
which continued to be the state religion under all the
Namgyal rulers. He very tactfully kept the lepchas,
Bhutias and Limbus together. The Governors were
appointed from the lepchas who were then in majority.
Since Yatung the greatest commercial Tibetan center
being nearer to Gangtok posed some danger, he shifted
his capital to Yoksom. |
