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Kingdom of Sikkim

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Not to be confused with Sikh Empire.

Kingdom of Sikkim
འབྲས་ལྗོངས། (Sikkimese)
Drenjong
འབྲས་མོ་གཤོངས། (Classical Tibetan)
Dremoshong
ᰕᰚᰬᰯ ᰜᰤᰴ (Lepcha)
Mayel Lyang
1642–1975
Flag
Top: (1967–1975)
Bottom: (1877–1975)
Motto: "Oh, the jewel of creation is in the Lotus"[1]
Anthem: Drenjong Silé Yang Chhagpa Chilo[2]
"Why is Sikkim Blooming So Fresh and Beautiful?"


Location and administrative map of the Kingdom of Sikkim before the annexation of India
Status
  • Protectorate of Tibet of Qing China (until 1890)
    • Bhutanese domination (1680/1700–1792)
    • Nepalese domination (1776–1792)
    • Nepalese-Bhutanese presence (1792–1816)
    • British presence (1816–1890)[3]
  • Protectorate of the British Empire (1890–1947)[4]
  • Protectorate of India (1950–1975)
Capital
Official languagesChöke, Sikkimese
Common languagesLepcha (early period), Dzongkha, Nepali (late period)
Religion
Tibetan Buddhism
Nepali Hinduism[5]
Demonym(s)Drenjop, Sikkimese
GovernmentAbsolute monarchy (until 1973)
Parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1973–1975)[6]
Chogyal 
• 1642–1670 (first)
Phuntsog Namgyal
• 1963–1975 (last)
Palden Thondup Namgyal
LegislatureState Council of Sikkim
History 
• Established
1642
1680
1700
• Nepalese Invasion
1776
• Treaty of Titalia signed
1817
• Darjeeling given to British India
1835
• Palden Thondup Namgyal forced to abdicate
1975
• Merger with India
16 May 1975
CurrencyRupee
ISO 3166 codeSK
Today part ofIndia
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The Kingdom of Sikkim (Classical Tibetan and Sikkimese: འབྲས་ལྗོངས།, Drenjong, Dzongkha: སི་ཀིམ་རྒྱལ་ཁབ།, Sikimr Gyalkhab, officially Dremoshong (Classical Tibetan and Sikkimese: འབྲས་མོ་གཤོངས།) 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

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Foundation of the Monarchy

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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

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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

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Map of Sikkim, 1898

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

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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 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[13][16]

Culture and religion

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "Sikkim / Dämojong". Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  2. ^ Hiltz, Constructing Sikkimese National Identity 2003, pp. 80–81.
  3. ^ The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences ..., Volume 25, page 89.
  4. ^ According to Article II of Convention of Calcutta, Sikkim was a direct protectorate of the British Government, not the British Indian government.
  5. ^ "Nepali speakers of Sikkim reflect on 'foreigners' label".
  6. ^ Sikkim votes to end monarchy & merge with India, nytimes.com. Accessed 11 April 2024.
  7. ^ "16th May 1975: The Kingdom of Sikkim and its Annexation with India". 16 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Did India have a right to annex Sikkim in 1975?". India Today. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  9. ^ Abrahams, Pema (1 June 2023). "The Forgotten Kingdom". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ "History of Nepal: A Sovereign Kingdom". Official website of Nepal Army. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "25 years after Sikkim". Nepali Times. No. #35. 23–29 March 2001. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  16. ^ 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

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Further reading

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