A BRIEF HISTORY OF SIKKIM
The original inhabitants of Sikkim were the Lepcha
people, a tribe of people that are now only found in a small area in west
Sikkim. The country has been invaded many times by people from other
cultures, the Tibetan culture from the north bringing with it Buddhism and
the Nepalese from the west bringing Hinduism and a more settled
agricultural practice. It was a person called Tur Ve Pa No who was elected
the first king (or ‘Punu’) of Sikkim in around 1400 A.D. and started
organising the Lepchas into a society. He was killed in one of many
clashes between the Nepalese and the Lepchas. The kingship ended after
three more Punus had ruled and the Lepcha people gradually retreated to
the area around Mount Kangchenjunga under pressure from the Nepalese.
It was in 1642 that a new king was appointed at
Yuksom in west Sikkim. According to folklore it was three lamas
(Buddhist priests) travelling along different mountain paths who met at
Yuksom and decided to appoint a king as spiritual head who would actively
spread Buddhism amongst the people. A period of about a hundred and fifty
years followed when the kings ruled. During that time an army from Bhutan,
to the east, invaded Sikkim but was defeated by Tibetans who came to the
rescue of the Sikkimese. In gratitude the king built a great monastery at
Pemayangste.
In the 18th century the Gurkhas from Nepal
carried out a number of invasions into Sikkim. Sikkim sought help from the
British who, in return, assumed the role of rulers in Sikkim. Sikkim also
lost more of its territory to the British including the beautiful hill
station of Darjeeling to the south. The British encouraged more Nepalese
immigrants to enter the country in an attempt to dilute the influence of
the indigenous Lepcha people. They came in large numbers, reducing the
Lepcha and Tibetan peoples to a minority in Sikkim and Nepalese became the
most widely spoken language in the country. In 1947 India achieved
independence and Sikkim became a protectorate of India. At the same time
various political groups in Sikkim start springing up and demanding power
for the people.
In 1975 Sikkim ceased to be an independent nation and
became the twenty second state of India. ‘Planned development’ by the
Indian government threatened to affect Sikkim’s environment as new roads
were built but Sikkim still remains largely unspoiled. Known for its
incredible range of orchids and other flowers, floriculture has become one
of the main industries. With tourism, which has grown on a much smaller
scale compared with that in Nepal and other parts of India, it makes up
one of the largest sources of income for the region.
