The Status of Sikkim begins....

The name ‘Sikkim’ is a derivation from the words ‘Su-khim’, meaning ‘new home’ in Limbukura, the language of the Limbu people of eastern Nepal, which lies to the west of the Singalila Ridge which separates both Sikkim and the Darjeeling District from Nepal. The Limbus colonized the southern and western parts of the present Sikkim, followed by other communities from eastern Nepal, co-existing with the original Lepcha inhabitants, who followed a less intensive form of agriculture, along with hunting and a greater utilization of wild vegetable resources. Sikkim’s other name ‘Denzong’ is in Tibetan, and means ‘land of rice’.

The history of Sikkim as an organized administrative unit starts with the establishment in 1642 of the kingdom of the Choegyal Rajas, of Tibetan ancestry and culture. Legend has it that a Tibetan chieftain Phuntsog Namgyal was enthroned in 1642 at Yuksum, a secluded valley in western Sikkim, by three high lamas of the Nyingmapa sect, coming from three different directions and meeting at Yuksum. He was crowned with the name ‘Choegyal’ meaning ‘religious king.’ It is known that he entered into a treaty with a Lepcha leader. He also established Tibetan Buddhism in his new kingdom.

The capital was then shifted eastwards by a later generation of kings, the second capital Rabdentse being built on a ridge-top near today’s Pelling. In 1787, the Gorkha king of Nepal invaded Sikkim, and captured all the lands west of the Teesta River.

Their governors ruled western Sikkim till 1816. However, in 1813, the British East India Company had declared war against the Gorkhas because their warlike policy of expansionism was conflicting with the similar policy of the British in Bengal.

The Gorkhas were defeated by the British, who, taking the side of the Sikkim Rajas, re-instated them in Sikkim after 1817. In so doing they also managed to get the Raja to cede to them, on February 1st, 1835, the mountain territory which gained the name Darjeeling.

To be continued...