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 The
original inhabitants were the Lepchas or the “raven
folks” who came to the area from Assam and Burma.
From the 1200’s the Bhutias or the Tibetan people
moved into Sikkim. They included the Namgyal clan
who arrived in the 1400’s and gradually won
political control over Sikkim. In 1642,Phintsok
Namgyal (1604-1670) became the first Chogyal (King).
He presided over a social system based on Tibetan
Lamaistic Buddhism. His descendents ruled Sikkim for
more than 330 years. During the 1700’s Sikkim
suffered massive invasion from Nepal and Bhutan and
lost much territory as a result. The Nepalese also
migrated to Sikkim and settled as farmers. By the
1800’s Sikkim’s population was very mixed, and
internal conflict resulted. |
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Sikkim assisted the British in a
successful war against Nepal in the year1814-1815
and won back some of its land. The British India
Company purchased the health resort of Darjeeling
from Sikkim. During the mid 1800’s, Sikkim violently
resisted attempts to bring it under British Rule,
but in 1861 it finally became a protectorate. The
British had assess to Tibet through Sikkim, and
Sikkim’s independent status was recognized. The
Indian government took responsibility of Sikkim’s
external affairs, defense and communication of Skim
in the year 1950. In 1973, India took Sikkim into
the union as an associate member. In 1975, Sikkim
became the 22nd state of India. |
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