,
patron saint of Sikkim The
Lepchas are considered to be the earliest inhabitants of Sikkim. However the
Limbus and the
Magars also lived in the inaccessible parts of West and South districts as early as the Lepchas perhaps lived in the East and North districts. The Buddhist saint
Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, passed through the land in the 8th century. The Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced
Buddhism, and foretold the era of monarchy that would arrive in Sikkim centuries later.
Foundation of the monarchy during its independent monarchy. According to legend,
Khye Bumsa, a 14th-century prince from the
Minyak House in
Kham of
Tibetan ancestry, 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). In 1700, Sikkim was invaded by the
Bhutanese with the help of the half-sister of the Chogyal, who had been denied the throne. The Bhutanese were driven away by the
Tibetans, who restored the throne to the
Chogyal ten years later. Between 1717 and 1733, the kingdom faced many raids by the Nepalese in the west and Bhutanese in the east, culminating with the destruction of the capital
Rabdentse by the Nepalese. In 1791, the Dalai Lama sent troops to support Sikkim and defend Tibet against the
Gorkha Kingdom. Following the subsequent defeat of Gorkha, an alliance of Sino-Tibetans established control over Sikkim.
During the British Raj Following the beginning of
British rule of neighbouring India, Sikkim allied with Britain against their common adversary,
Nepal. The Nepalese attacked Sikkim, overrunning most of the region including the
Terai. This prompted the
British East India Company to attack Nepal, resulting in the
Gurkha War of 1814. Treaties signed between Sikkim and Nepal resulted in the return of the territory annexed by the Nepalese in 1817. However, ties between Sikkim and the British weakened when the latter began taxation of the
Morang region. In 1849, two British
physicians, Sir
Joseph Dalton Hooker and
Archibald Campbell, the latter being the superintendent of Darjeeling, ventured into the mountains of Sikkim with the prior permission of King Tsugphu Namgyal. The doctors were detained by an influential Dewan, Sikkim became a British
protectorate in the later decades of the 19th century, formalised by a
convention signed with China in 1890. Sikkim was gradually granted more sovereignty over the next three decades, and became a member of the
Chamber of Princes, the assembly representing the rulers of the Indian
princely states, in 1922. In other respects, Sikkim retained administrative autonomy. A state council was established in 1953 to allow for constitutional government under the Chogyal. Chogyal
Palden Thondup Namgyal was able to preserve autonomy and shape a "model Asian state" where the
literacy rate and
per capita income were twice as high as neighbouring
Nepal,
Bhutan and India. Meanwhile, the
Sikkim National Congress demanded fresh elections and greater representation for Nepalis in Sikkim. People marched on the palace against the monarchy. On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished. To enable the incorporation of the new state, the
Indian Parliament amended the
Indian Constitution. First, the
35th Amendment laid down a set of conditions that made Sikkim an "Associate State", a special designation not used by any other state. A month later, the
36th Amendment repealed the 35th Amendment, and made Sikkim a full state, adding its name to the
First Schedule of the
Constitution.
Recent history In 2000, the seventeenth
Karmapa,
Urgyen Trinley Dorje, who had been confirmed by the
Dalai Lama and accepted as a
tulku by the Chinese government, escaped from
Tibet, seeking to return to the
Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. Chinese officials were in a dilemma on this issue, for any protests to India would mean an explicit endorsement of India's governance of Sikkim, which China still recognised as an independent state occupied by India. The Chinese government eventually recognised Sikkim as an Indian state in 2003, in return for India declaring
Tibet as a part of the territory of China;
New Delhi had accepted Tibet as part of China in 1954, but China appears to have believed that the agreement had lapsed. The 2003 agreement led to a thaw in
Sino-Indian relations. On 6 July 2006, the Sikkimese Himalayan pass of
Nathu La was opened to cross-border trade, becoming the first open border between India and China. The pass, which was first opened during the 1904
Younghusband Expedition to Tibet, had remained closed since the 1962
Sino-Indian War. More than 60 people died in Sikkim alone, and the city of
Gangtok suffered significant damage. == Geography ==