Editing Sikkim (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Sikkim}}
[[File:Guru rimpoche at samdruptse.jpg|thumb|left|[[Guru Rinpoche]], [[patron saint]] of Sikkim]]

The [[Lepcha people|Lepcha]]s are considered to be the earliest inhabitants of Sikkim.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sikkim.nic.in/north/html/lepcha.htm|title=Lepchas and their Tradition|publisher=Sikkim.nic.in|access-date=6 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017203541/http://sikkim.nic.in/north/html/lepcha.htm|archive-date=17 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> However the [[Limbu people|Limbu]]s 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.<ref>{{Cite book | title = Navigating Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Contemporary India and Beyond: Structures, Agents, Practices (Anthem South Asian Studies) | year = 2014 | last = Skoda | first = Uwe | publisher = Anthem Press | isbn = 978-1-78308-340-4| page = 137 }}</ref> The Buddhist saint [[Padmasambhava]], also known as Guru Rinpoche, passed through the land in the 8th century.<ref name="SikkimEcclDept">{{Cite web|url=http://sikkimeccl.gov.in/History/Legends/GuruRinpoche.aspx|title=History of Guru Rinpoche|publisher=Sikkim Ecclesiastical Affairs Department|access-date=9 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109043422/http://sikkimeccl.gov.in/History/Legends/GuruRinpoche.aspx|archive-date=9 November 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bhutia |first=Kalzang Dorjee |date=2 April 2024 |title=The Chile is my uncle: Spicy kinship between humans and more-than-humans in the Sikkimese Himalayas |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07409710.2024.2333114 |journal=Food and Foodways |language=en |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=122–141 |doi=10.1080/07409710.2024.2333114 |issn=0740-9710|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced [[Buddhism]], and foretold the era of monarchy that would arrive in Sikkim centuries later.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

=== Foundation of the monarchy ===
{{Main|Kingdom of Sikkim}}
[[File:Flag of Sikkim (1967-1975).svg|thumb|left|[[Flag of Sikkim]] during its independent monarchy.]]

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 [[lama]]s at [[Yuksom]].<ref>{{Cite book | title = Central Asia | year = 2005 | publisher = Area Study Centre (Central Asia), University of Peshawar. v. 41, no. 2 | pages = 50–53 }}</ref>
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 [[Bhutan]]ese with the help of the half-sister of the Chogyal, who had been denied the throne. The Bhutanese were driven away by the [[Tibetan people]], 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.<ref name="StrategicSikkim1985">{{Cite book | title = Strategic Sikkim | last = Singh | first = O. P. | year = 1985 | publisher = Stosius/Advent Books | isbn = 978-0-86590-802-4 | page = 42 }}</ref> In 1791, [[China]] sent troops to support Sikkim and defend [[Tibet]] against the [[Gorkha Kingdom]]. Following the subsequent defeat of Gorkha, the Chinese [[Qing dynasty]] established control over Sikkim.<ref>Singh, O. P. p. 43</ref>

=== During the British Raj ===
[[File:Historical Map of Sikkim in northeastern India.jpg|thumb|310px|An 1876 map of Sikkim, depicting Chomto Dong Lake in northern Sikkim.<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w6k9pto4BGMC&pg=PR32 | title = ''Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet and of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa'' | year=1876| author = Sir Clements Robert Markham | publisher = Asian Educational Services | access-date =12 June 2013 | isbn = 978-81-206-1366-9 }}</ref> However, the whole of Chumbi and Darjeeling are not depicted as part of Sikkim in the map.]]

Following the beginning of [[British Raj|British rule]] in 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.<ref>{{Cite book | title = History of Sikkim, 1817–1904: Analysis of British Policy and Activities | last = Jha | first = Pranab Kumar | year = 1985 | publisher = O.P.S. Publishers | page = 11 | asin = B001OQE7EY }}</ref> 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 [[physician]]s, Sir [[Joseph Dalton Hooker]] and [[Archibald Campbell (doctor)|Archibald Campbell]], the latter being the superintendent of Darjeeling, ventured into the mountains of Sikkim with the prior permission of King Tsugphu Namgyal.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |date=May 1890 | title = Sikkim and Tibet | journal = Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine | volume = 147 | page = 658 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rahul |first=Ram |date=1 January 1976 |title=Sikkim of History |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002088177601500102 |journal=International Studies |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=15–28 |doi=10.1177/002088177601500102 |issn=0020-8817|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The doctors were detained by an influential Dewan,<ref name=":0" /> leading to a punitive British expedition against the kingdom, after which the [[Darjeeling]] district and Morang were annexed to British India in 1853. The Chogyal of Sikkim became a [[vassal state|titular ruler]] under the directive of the British governor as a result of the invasion.<ref name="Hist">{{Cite web | url = http://sikkim.nic.in/sws/sikk_his.htm | title = History of Sikkim | access-date = 12 October 2006 | date = 29 August 2002 | publisher = Government of Sikkim | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061030023958/http://www.himalmag.com/2006/august/special_report_1.htm | archive-date = 30 October 2006 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

Sikkim became a British [[protectorate]] in the later decades of the 19th century, formalised by a [[Convention of Calcutta|convention]] signed with China in 1890.<ref>{{citation |last=Rose |first=Leo E. |title=India and Sikkim: Redefining the Relationship |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=42 |pages=32–46 |number=1 |date=Spring 1969 |jstor=2754861 |doi=10.2307/2754861}}</ref>{{sfn|Rose, Modernizing a Traditional Administrative System|1978|p=205}}<ref name ="Sethi">{{cite web |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/did-india-have-a-right-to-annex-sikkim-in-1975/1/435037.html |title=Treaties: Annexation of Sikkim |last1=Sethi |first1=Sunil |date=30 April 1978 |website=intoday.in |publisher=Living Media India Limited |access-date=21 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128172513/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/did-india-have-a-right-to-annex-sikkim-in-1975/1/435037.html |archive-date=28 January 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Sikkim was gradually granted more sovereignty over the next three decades,<ref>{{cite book |last=Bell |first=Charles |title=Tibet: Past and Present |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1992 |pages=170–174 |isbn=978-81-208-1048-8}}</ref> and became a member of the [[Chamber of Princes]], the assembly representing the rulers of the Indian [[princely states]], in 1922.<ref name ="Sethi"/>

=== Indian protectorate ===
Prior to [[Partition of India|Indian independence]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], as the Vice-President of the Executive Council, pushed through a resolution in the [[Constituent Assembly of India|Indian Constituent Assembly]] to the effect that Sikkim and Bhutan, as Himalayan states, were not 'Indian states' and their future should be negotiated separately.{{sfn|Duff, Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom|2015|p=41}} A standstill agreement was signed in February 1948.{{sfn|Duff, Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom|2015|p=45}}

Meanwhile, Indian independence and its move to democracy spurred a fledgling political movement in Sikkim, giving rise to the formation of [[Sikkim State Congress]] (SSC), a pro-accession political party. The party sent a plate of demands to the palace, including a demand for accession to India. The palace attempted to defuse the movement by appointing three secretaries from the SSC to the government and sponsoring a counter-movement in the name of [[Sikkim National Party]], which opposed accession to India.{{sfn|Duff, Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom|2015|pp=44–45}}

The demand for responsible government continued, and the SSC launched a civil disobedience movement. The Chogyal [[Palden Thondup Namgyal]] asked India for help in quelling the movement, which was offered in the form of a small military police force and an Indian [[Dewan]]. In 1950, a treaty was agreed between India and Sikkim which gave Sikkim the status of an Indian [[protectorate]]. Sikkim came under the [[suzerainty]] of India, which controlled its external affairs, defence, diplomacy and communications.<ref>{{citation |first=Werner |last=Levi |title=Bhutan and Sikkim: Two Buffer States |journal=The World Today |volume=15 |pages=492–500 |number=2 |date=December 1959 |jstor=40393115}}</ref> In other respects, Sikkim retained administrative autonomy.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

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.<ref name="duPlessixGray">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/08/books/the-fairy-tale-that-turned-nightmare.html |title=The Fairy Tale That Turned Nightmare? |date=8 March 1981 |first=Francine |last=du Plessix Gray |author-link=Francine du Plessix Gray |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=3 July 2017 |postscript=; |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617055430/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/08/books/the-fairy-tale-that-turned-nightmare.html |archive-date=17 June 2017 |url-status=live}} and [https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/08/books/the-fairy-tale-that-turned-nightmare.html?pagewanted=2 page 2] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815024722/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/08/books/the-fairy-tale-that-turned-nightmare.html?pagewanted=2 |date=15 August 2017 }}</ref> Meanwhile, the [[Sikkim National Congress]] demanded fresh elections and greater representation for Nepalis in Sikkim. People marched on the palace against the monarchy.<ref name="duPlessixGray"/> In 1973, anti-royalist agitations took place, which needed to be quelled using Indian security forces.{{sfn|Gupta|1975|p=790}}

=== Merger and statehood ===
{{See also|1975 Sikkimese monarchy referendum}}
In [[1975 in Sikkim|1975]], the Prime Minister of Sikkim [[Kazi Lhendup Dorjee]], appealed to the Indian Prime Minister, [[Indira Gandhi]] for Sikkim to become a state of India. In April of that year, the Indian Army took over the city of [[Gangtok]] and disarmed the Chogyal's palace guards. Thereafter, [[1975 Sikkimese monarchy referendum|a referendum]] was held in which 97.5 per cent of voters supported abolishing the monarchy, effectively approving union with India. India is said to have stationed 20,000–40,000 troops in a country of only 200,000 during the referendum.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=T. |first=G. |date=1975 |title=Trouble in Sikkim |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/03064227508532403 |journal=Index on Censorship |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=68–69 |doi=10.1080/03064227508532403 |issn=0306-4220 |via=Sage Journals|url-access=subscription }}</ref> On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sikkim.gov.in/ASP/Miscc/aboutsikkim.htm |title=About Sikkim |publisher=Official website of the Government of Sikkim |access-date=15 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525171423/http://www.sikkim.gov.in/asp/Miscc/aboutsikkim.htm |archive-date=25 May 2009}}</ref> To enable the incorporation of the new state, the [[Parliament of India|Indian Parliament]] amended the [[Constitution of India|Indian Constitution]]. First, the [[List of amendments of the Constitution of India|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 [[List of amendments of the Constitution of India|36th Amendment]] repealed the 35th Amendment, and made Sikkim a full state, adding its name to the [[Constitution of India#First Schedule|First Schedule]] of the [[Constitution of India|Constitution]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Constitution-has-been-amended-94-times/articleshow/5683974.cms |title=Constitution has been amended 94 times |date=15 May 2010 |access-date=16 May 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716125725/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-15/india/28130281_1_constitution-amendment-bill-simple-majority-joint-session |archive-date=16 July 2012 |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] }}</ref>

=== Recent history ===
In 2000, the seventeenth [[Karmapa]], [[Karmapa controversy#Urgyen Trinley Dorje|Urgyen Trinley Dorje]], who had been confirmed by the [[Dalai Lama]] and accepted as a [[tulku]] by the Chinese government, escaped from [[Tibet (1912–1951)|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 Autonomous Region|Tibet]] as a part of the territory of China;<ref>{{cite news |title=India and China agree over Tibet |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3015840.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=24 June 2003 |access-date=19 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Powers |first1=John |last2=Templeman |first2=David |title=Historical Dictionary of Tibet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LVlyX6iSDEQC&pg=PA184 |year=2012 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7984-3 |page=184}}</ref> [[New Delhi]] had accepted Tibet as part of China in 1954, but China appears to have believed that the agreement had lapsed.<ref>{{citation |chapter=China–India: Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh Plateaus |last=Pardesi |first=Manjeet |editor=Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly |title=Border Disputes: A Global Encyclopedia, 3 volumes: A Global Encyclopedia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9g5CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA542 |year=2015 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-024-9 |pages=543–544}}: "Soon thereafter, India signed an agreement with China—on April 29, 1954—which explicitly recognized Tibet as part of China."</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Acharya |first=Alka |chapter=China |editor1=David Malone |editor2=C. Raja Mohan |editor3=Srinath Raghavan |title=The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KL8DCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA358 |year=2015 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-874353-8 |page=358}}: "With the signing of Panchsheel, however, India ... established the official Indian position that Tibet was a part of China and that India would not permit any anti-China activity on its soil."</ref> The 2003 agreement led to a thaw in [[Sino-Indian relations]].<ref name="Map">{{cite news |first=Amit |last=Baruah |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/12/stories/2005041210160100.htm |title=China backs India's bid for U.N. Council seat |date=12 April 2005 |access-date=12 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228082759/http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/12/stories/2005041210160100.htm |archive-date=28 February 2007 |url-status=dead |work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="BBC Nathula">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5150682.stm |title=Historic India-China link opens |publisher=BBC News |date=6 July 2006 |access-date=12 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060707022630/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5150682.stm |archive-date=7 July 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> The pass, which was first opened during the 1904 [[Younghusband Expedition]] to Tibet,<ref>{{citation |last=Waddell |first=L. Austin |title=Lhasa and its Mysteries |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.79988 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |location=London |year=1905 |page=106 |via=archive.org}}</ref> had remained closed since the 1962 [[Sino-Indian War]].<ref name="BBC Nathula"/>

On 18 September 2011, [[2011 Sikkim earthquake|a magnitude 6.9M<sub>w</sub> earthquake]] struck Sikkim, killing at least 116 people in the state and in [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]], Bangladesh and [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]].<ref>[http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_himalayan-quake-toll-climbs-to-116-40-stranded-foreign-tourists-rescued_1589946 "Himalayan quake toll climbs to 116, 40 stranded foreign tourists rescued"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926110846/http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_himalayan-quake-toll-climbs-to-116-40-stranded-foreign-tourists-rescued_1589946 |date=26 September 2011}}. [[Daily News and Analysis|DNA]]. 21 September 2011.</ref> More than 60 people died in Sikkim alone, and the city of [[Gangtok]] suffered significant damage.<ref>[http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/earthquake-toll-rises-to-50-in-india-rescue-teams-land-at-quakes-epicentre-mangan-134859 "Earthquake toll over 80; India 68; as rescue teams reach quake epicentre"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925030112/http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/earthquake-toll-rises-to-50-in-india-rescue-teams-land-at-quakes-epicentre-mangan-134859 |date=25 September 2011}}. NDTV. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2012.</ref>