Kingdom in South Asia (1642?1975)
The
Kingdom of Sikkim
(
Classical Tibetan
and
Sikkimese
:
???????????
,
Drenjong
), officially
Dremoshong
(Classical Tibetan and Sikkimese:
??????????????
) until the 1800s, was a
hereditary monarchy
in the
Eastern Himalayas
which existed from 1642 to 16 May 1975, when it was annexed
[7]
[8]
[9]
by India. It was ruled by
Chogyals
of the Namgyal dynasty.
[10]
History
[
edit
]
Foundation of the Monarchy
[
edit
]
According to legend,
Khye Bumsa
, a 14th-century prince from the
Minyak
House in
Kham
in eastern
Tibet
, received a
divine revelation
instructing him to travel south to seek his fortunes. A fifth-generation descendant of Khye Bumsa,
Phuntsog Namgyal
, became the founder of Sikkim's monarchy in 1642, when he was consecrated as the first
Chogyal
, or priest-king, of Sikkim by the three venerated
lamas
at
Yuksom
. Phuntsog Namgyal was succeeded in 1670 by his son,
Tensung Namgyal
, who moved the capital from Yuksom to
Rabdentse
(near modern
Pelling
). By the time of its foundation, Sikkim became a protectorate of Tibet (which at the time was part of The
Khoshut Khanate
until 1717, when became part of the
Dzungar Khanate
and later to The
Qing Dynasty
in 1720.)
Nepalese-Bhutanese domination
[
edit
]
In the mid-18th century,
Sikkim
was invaded by both
Nepal
(then the
Gorkha Kingdom
) and
Bhutan
(then ruled by
Gyalsey Tenzin Rabgye
) and was under both the Gorkha and the Bhutanese rule for more than 40 years. Between 1775 and 1815, almost 180,000 ethnic
Nepalis
[11]
from Eastern and Central Nepal migrated to Sikkim.
[
citation needed
]
After the British colonisation of India, however, Sikkim allied itself with British India in order to fight Nepal, their common enemy at the time.
[
citation needed
]
The Nepalese then attacked Sikkim, overrunning most of the region including the
Terai
. This prompted the
British East India Company
to attack Nepal in 1814, resulting in the
Anglo-Nepalese War
.
[
citation needed
]
The
Sugauli Treaty
between
Britain
and Nepal and the
Treaty of Titalia
between Sikkim and British India resulted in territorial concessions by Nepal, which ceded Sikkim to British India.
[12]
British and Indian protectorate
[
edit
]
Under the 1861
Treaty of Tumlong
, Sikkim became a
British protectorate
, then an Indian protectorate in 1950.
[13]
Thutob Namgyal
, the 9th Chogyal of Sikkim, looked to the
Dalai Lama
for spiritual leadership and during his reign the
Tibetan
government started to regain political influence over Sikkim. In 1888 the British sent a
military expedition to expel Tibetan forces from Sikkim
.
Accession to India
[
edit
]
In 1975, allegations of discrimination against
Nepali
Hindus in Sikkim led to resentment against the
Chogyal
.
[14]
[15]
Their instigation led to
Indian Army
personnel moving into
Gangtok
. According to
Sunanda K. Datta-Ray
of
The Statesman
, the army killed the palace guards and surrounded the palace in April 1975.
[13]
After disarming the palace, a
referendum on the monarchy
was held under questionable circumstances, in which the Sikkimese people supposedly overwhelmingly voted to abolish the monarchy, and the new parliament of Sikkim, led by
Kazi Lhendup Dorjee
, proposed a bill for Sikkim to become an Indian
state
, which was promptly accepted by the Government of India.
[13]
[16]
Culture and religion
[
edit
]
In culture and religion, Sikkim was linked closely with
Tibet
, from which its first king migrated, and
Bhutan
, with which it shares borders. The presence of a large ethnic Nepali population, mainly from eastern and central Nepal, also leads to cultural linkages with Nepal.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Sikkim / Damojong"
.
Archived
from the original on 22 November 2021
. Retrieved
22 November
2021
.
- ^
The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences ...
, Volume 25, page 89.
- ^
According to Article II of
Convention of Calcutta
, Sikkim was a direct protectorate of the British Government, not the British Indian government.
- ^
"Nepali speakers of Sikkim reflect on 'foreigners' label"
.
- ^
Sikkim votes to end monarchy & merge with India
, nytimes.com. Accessed 11 April 2024.
- ^
"16th May 1975: The Kingdom of Sikkim and its Annexation with India"
. 16 May 2018.
- ^
"Did India have a right to annex Sikkim in 1975?"
.
India Today
. Retrieved
27 May
2023
.
- ^
Abrahams, Pema (1 June 2023).
"The Forgotten Kingdom"
.
Foreign Policy
. Retrieved
27 May
2023
.
- ^
Marathe, Om (20 August 2019).
"Explained: Sikkim, from Chogyal rule to Indian state"
.
The Indian Express
.
Archived
from the original on 13 November 2022
. Retrieved
13 November
2022
.
- ^
Chettri, Mona (2013).
"Ethnic politics in the Nepali public sphere three casesfrom the eastern Himalaya"
(PDF)
.
SOAS Research Online
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 13 November 2022
. Retrieved
13 November
2022
.
- ^
"History of Nepal: A Sovereign Kingdom"
. Official website of Nepal Army. Archived from
the original
on 7 June 2011.
- ^
a
b
c
"Indian hegemonism drags Himalayan kingdom into oblivion"
. Nikkei Asian Review. Nikkei. 21 February 2016. Archived from
the original
on 3 April 2017
. Retrieved
24 July
2018
.
- ^
Larmer, Brook (March 2008).
"Bhutan's Enlightened Experiment"
.
National Geographic
. Bhutan. (
print version
). Archived from
the original
on 20 March 2021
. Retrieved
7 September
2016
.
- ^
"25 years after Sikkim"
.
Nepali Times
. No. #35. 23?29 March 2001.
Archived
from the original on 31 January 2018
. Retrieved
7 September
2016
.
- ^
Sethi, Sunil (18 February 2015).
"Treaties: Annexation of Sikkim"
. No. 2. India Today. India Today.
Archived
from the original on 28 January 2016
. Retrieved
4 December
2016
.
Sources
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Duff, Andrew (2015).
Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom
. Edinburgh: Birlinn.
ISBN
978-0-85790-245-0
.
- Rai, Rajiv (2015),
The State in the Colonial Periphery: A Study on Sikkims Relation with Great Britain
, Partridge Publishing India,
ISBN
978-1-4828-4871-7
- Rose, Leo E. (Spring 1969), "India and Sikkim: Redefining the Relationship",
Pacific Affairs
,
42
(1): 32?46,
doi
:
10.2307/2754861
,
JSTOR
2754861
- Rose, Leo E. (1971),
Nepal ? Strategy for Survival
, University of California Press,
ISBN
978-0-520-01643-9
- Sharma, Suresh Kant; Sharma, Usha (2005),
Discovery of North-East India: Geography, History, Culture, Religion, Politics, Sociology, Science, Education and Economy. Sikkim. Volume ten
, Mittal Publications, pp. 117?,
ISBN
978-81-8324-044-4
- Singh, Amar Kaur Jasbir (1988),
Himalayan triangle: a historical survey of British India's relations with Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan, 1765?1950
, British Library,
ISBN
9780712306300
External links
[
edit
]
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