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INDIA
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Phunstok Namgyal and the three saints immediately got to
the task of successfully bringing the Lepcha tribes
under the Buddhist fold. Politically, sikkim expanded
its borders, which include Chumbi valley, the present
Darjeeling district and a part of present-day Nepal and
Bhutan. The capital of sikkim was established in Yoksam
itself.
Tensung Namgyal succeded his father Phuntsok Namgyal in
1670 and moved his capital to Rabdentse. He had three
wives - a Tibetan, a Bhutanese and Limbu girl. The
latter was the daughter of the Limbu chief Yo Yo-Hang.
The chief's daughter brought with her seven girls who
were later on married into important families of Sikkim.
Many of them rose to the rank of councilors to the King.
These councilors later on came to be known as Kazis who
enjoyed immense power and privileges.
Chador Namgyal a minor son from Tensung's second wife
succeeded on the death of his father. Pedi the daughter
from the first wife who came from Bhutan challenged the
succession and invited Bhutanese intervention. Having
come to know about this secret move Yungthing Yeshe a
loyal minister took the minor king to Lhasa. During his
asylum in Lhasa, Chador Namgyal distinguished himself in
Buddhist learning and Tibetan literature. By dint of his
acumen and scholarship he rose to the position of state
astrologer to the Sixth Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama was
so much pleased with the erudition of this young scholar
that he bestowed high honors and titles on the young
king. The young king also received an estate in central
Tibet with sovereign rights. On the other hand Bhutanese
forces had captured the Rabdentse palace and imprisoned
the son of Yugthing Yeshe. But on the intervention of
Tibet, King Deb of Bhutan withdrew. Chador Namgyal came
back and drove out the rest of Bhutanese forces. The
south-eastern tract was, however, lost to sikkim as it
had been heavily colonized by then. The Bhutanese after
a short while made a second attempt to capture Sikkim
territory. Chador Namgyal gave a tough resistance but
areas now called as Kalimpong and Rhenock were lost
forever. Chador was himself religious and took steps for
the propagation of Buddhist religion in his territory.
He commanded that the second of every three sons of
Bhutia family must be ordained a monk of the Pemiongchi
Monastery, which was also open to the Tsongs. He not
only built the Guru Lhakhang Tashiding (1715) and
patronised the sacred places but also adapted the
religious dances (mystery plays) to keep alive the
martial and native traditions and invented an alphabet
for the Lepchas. However, Pedi the half sister of the
ruler did not reconcile. She conspired with a Tibetan
man of medicine and caused Chador Namgyal's death by way
of blood letting from a main artery while the king was
holidaying at Ralang hot water spring in 1716. A force
was sent to Namchi, the doctor was executed and Pedi was
strangled to death by a silk scarf.
Gyurmed Namgyal succeeded his father Chador.
Consequently upon a Mongol (Dzungar) invasion on Tibet
to persecute Nyingma sect, the Mindoling Abbot's sister.
In his times the people were forced to work on the
fortification of Rabdentse in the fear of Gurkhas and
Bhutanese raids. Many Tsongs who were not prepared to
yield to forced labour fled to Limbuana, which became a
rebel district and broke away from Sikkim even earlier
to Gurkha expansion. A boundary dispute with Bhutan also
arose. The Magar Chieftain Tashi Bidur also revolted,
though he was subdued. Limbuana was, however, lost to
Nepal. Gyurmed had no issue but while on his death bed
at the age of 26 (1733) gave out that a nun in Sanga
Choling was carrying his child. But some people do not
believe it. It is said, he was impotent and generally
shunned his wife.
Therefore, the story goes that in order to keep the
Namgyal Dynasty going, the lama priest of Sikkim
concocted a story that a nun was carrying the child of
the King. Fortunately the nun delivered a male child and
he was accepted as heir to Gyurmed. He was named as
Phuntsok after the first temporal and the spiritual head
of Sikkim.
Phuntsok Namgyal II was opposed by many people including
some Bhutias on the plea of illegitimacy. Tamdang a
close confident and treasurer of Gyurmed not only
opposed the succession but assured the powers of the
ruler and continued to rule Sikkim for three years
inspite of the opposition by pro-king faction. The
Lepchas backed the baby king and fought the pretender
under the leadership of Chandzod Karwang. Tamdang was
defeated and fled to Tibet to seek guidance and help.
But to keep Sikkim under their Tutelage the Tibetan
authorities favoured the minority of the king. A
convention representing all shades of Sikkimese
population was held which defined the functions, powers
and responsibilities of the Government. The system of
annual taxation was also introduced to augment the state
treasury. The Magar tribe, lost its chieftain during
this time and asked the regent to appoint the deceased's
son as chieftain. But the regent expressed his inability
to comply with their demand. This act enraged the Magars
who sought the help and protection from Bhutan. This way
Sikkim lost Magars allegiance forever. In the year 1752
the Tsongs rose in arms, but were subdued and won over
by tactfully by Chandzod Karwang. The rise of Gurkhas
also posed a threat for Sikkim. The later years of
Phuntsok II witnessed Gurkhas inroads in Sikkim under
the leadership of Raja Prithvi Narayan Shah of Nepal who
formented the rebellious elements in Sikkim. Bhutan also
invaded Sikkim and captured all area east of Tista, but
withdrew to present frontiers after negotiation at
Rhenock. The Gurkha inroads were beaten back seventeen
times. A peace treaty with Nepal was signed in 1775, and
Gurkhas promised to abstain from further attacks and
collaboration with Bhutanese. But the Gurkhas at a later
stage violated the treaty and occupied the land in
western Sikkim. Phuntsok II had three queens but had a
son Tenzing Namgyal from his second queen in 1769.
Tenzing Namgyal succeeded Phuntsok Namgyal in 1780.
During the reign of Tenzing Namgyal, Nepali forces
occupied large chunks of Sikkim territory. They attacked
Rabdantse and the Chogyal had to flee to Tibet. The
Nepalis excursions emboldened them to penetrate even
into Tibet. This led to the Chinese intervention and
Nepal was defeated. In the Sino-Nepal treaty, Sikkim
lost some of its land to Nepal, but monarchy was allowed
to be restored in the country. Tenzing Namgyal died in
Lhasa and his son Tsudphud Namgyal was sent to Sikkim in
1793 to succeed him as the monarch. Rabdantse was now,
considered too insecure because of its proximity to the
Nepal border and Tshudphund Namgyal shifted the capital
to a place called Tumlong.
The defeat of Nepal by the Chinese did little to weaken
the expansionist designs of the Nepalese. They continued
to make attacks into the neighbouring British
territories and Sikkim. British India successfully
befriended Sikkim. They felt that by doing so the
expanding powers of the Gorkhas would be curtailed.
British also looked forward to establishing trade link
with Tibet and it was felt that the route through Sikkim
was the most feasible one. War between Nepal and British
India broke out in 1814 and came to an end in 1816 with
the defeat of the Nepalis and the subsequent signing of
the Treaty of Sugauli. As a direct spin-off, British
India signed another treaty with Sikkim in 1817 known as
the Treaty of Titalia in which former territories, which
the Nepalis captured, were restored to Sikkim. H. H.
Risley writes in the Gazette of Sikkim, 1894, that by
the Treaty of Titalia British India has assumed the
position of Lord's paramount of Sikkim and a title to
exercise a predominant influence in that State has
remained undisputed.
The British became interested in Darjeeling both as a
hill resort and an outpost from where Tibet and Sikkim
would be easily accessible. Following a lot of pressure
from the British, Sikkim finally gifted Darjeeling to
British India on the understanding that a certain amount
would be paid as annual subsidy to Sikkim. The gift deed
was signed by the Chogyal Tsudphud Namgyal in 1835. The
British appointed a superintendent in the ceded
territory. The British however did not pay the
compensation as had been stipulated and this led to a
quick deterioration of relation between the two
countries. There were also difference between the
British Government and Sikkim over the status of people
of Sikkim. Because of the increased importance of
Darjeeling, many citizens of Sikkim mostly of the labor
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. The
relations deteriorated to such an extent that when Dr.
Campbell, the Superintendent of Darjeeling and Dr.
Hooker visited Sikkim in connection with the latter's
botanical research, they were captured and imprisoned in
1849. The British issued an ultimatum and the two
captives were released after a month of detention. In
February 1850, an expedition was sent to Sikkim, which
resulted in the stoppage of the annual grant of Rs.
6000/- to the Maharaja of Sikkim and also the annexation
of Darjeeling and a great portion of Sikkim to British
India.
Sikkim resorted to making attacks into British
territories and it was in November 1860 that the British
sent an expeditionary force to Sikkim. This force was
driven back from Rinchenpong in Sikkim. A stronger force
was sent in 1861 that resulted in the capture of the
capital Tumlong and the signing of a Treaty between the
British and Sikkimese the same year.
His son Sidekeong Namgyal succeeded Tsugphud Namgyal in
1863. The British Government started the payment of
annual subsidy of Rs. 6000/- in 1850 for Darjeeling. In
an attempt to keep good relation with Sikkim, the
British enhanced the subsidy to Rs. 12000/- per annum.
Chogyal Sidekong Namgyal defied in 1874 issueless and
was succeeded by his half brother Thutob Namgyal. There
were serious difference between the Nepalese settlers
and the original inhabitants of Sikkim and this led to
British intervention. The settlement went in favour of
the Nepali settlers and made Thutob Namgyal have ill
feeling for the British. He retreated to Chumbi and
became more aligned towards the Tibetans. |
The British meanwhile were making concerted efforts to
establish a trade links with Tibet and also imposed
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 the Lachen Valley. This delegation visited
Tumlong the capital where it met the Maharaja.
The Britishers started building of 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 Tibetans attacked Gnathang below
Jelepla but were driven away. In September of the same
year the British called for reinforcements and the
Tibetans were pushed back from Lingtu. A memorial was
built at Gnathang for the few British soldiers who died
in the engagement.
The Britishers appointed Claude White as the first
political officer in Sikkim in 1889 and Chogyal Thutob
Namgyal was virtually under his supervision. Thutob
Namgyal shifted the capital from Tumlong to Gangtok in
1894. The Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial (STNM) Hospital
built in 1917 is named in the memory of Thutob Namgyal
who died in 1914.
Alarmed by the growing Russian influence in Tibet and
also to assert itself, the British sent an expedition
led by Col. Younghusband to Lhasa via Jelepla in 1904.
The expedition met with resistance from the Tibetan
army, which was defeated, and a treaty was dictated by
Younghusband on Tibet. The Treaty secured
monopoly-trading privileges in Tibet for the British.
Thutob Namgyal was succeeded by his son Sidekong Tulku
in 1914. Unfortunately he did not live long and died in
the same year. He was succeeded by his half brother
Tashi Namgyal who promulgated many reforms in the state.
Chogyal Tashi Namgyal In 1947 when India became
independent, Tashi Namgyal was successful in getting a
special status of protectorate for Sikkim. This was in
face of stiff resistance from local parties like Sikkim
State Congress who wanted a democratic setup and
accession of Sikkim to the Union of India.
The treaty signed between India and Sikkim ratified the
status of Sikkim as a protectorate with Chogyal as the
Monarch. Tashi Namgyal died in 1963 and was succeeded by
his son Palden Thondup Namgyal. By the beginning of 1970
there were rumbling in the political ranks and file of
the State, which demanded the removal of Monarchy and
the establishment of a democratic setup. This finally
culminated in wide spread agitation against Sikkim
Durbar in 1973.There was a complete collapse in the
administration. The Indian Government tried to The
Chogyal with the Indian P.M. Jawaharlal Nehru
bring about a semblence of order in the state by
appointing a Chief administrator Mr. B. S. Das. Further
events and election led to Sikkim becoming transformed
from a protectorate to an associate State. On 4th
September 1947, the leader of Sikkim Congress, Kazi
Lendup Dorji was elected as the Chief Minister of the
state. The Chogyal however still remained as the
constitutional figure head monarch in the new setup. Mr.
B. B. Lal was the first Governor of Sikkim.
Events leading to the confrontation between the Chogyal
and the popular Government caused Sikkim to become a
full-fledged 22nd state of the Indian Union on 16th may
1975. The institution of Chogyal was subsequently
abolished.
Since then Sikkim has been a state of the Indian Union
like any other state. The 1979 assembly election saw Mr.
Nar Bahadur Bhandari being elected as the Chief Minister
of Sikkim. He has been returned to office in the
election held in 1984 and 1989. In 1994 assembly
election
Mr. Pawan Kumar Chamling became the fifth Chief Minister
of Sikkim. |
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