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SIKKIM
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SIKKIM , called by Tibetans Dejong (" the See also:rice See also:country "), a protected See also:state of See also:India, situated in the eastern See also:Himalaya, between 27° 5' and 28° 9' N. and between 87° 59' and 88° 56' E. It comprises an See also:area of 2818 sq. m. of what may be briefly described as the catchment See also:basin of the headwaters of the See also:rivers See also:Tista and Rangit. On the S. and S.E., branches of these rivers See also:form the boundary between Sikkim and See also:British India, while on the W., N. and N.E. Sikkim is separated from See also:Nepal, See also:Tibet and See also:Bhutan by the range of lofty mountains which culminate in See also:Kinchinjunga and form a See also:kind of See also:horse-See also:shoe, whence dependent spurs project southwards, gradually contracting and lessening in height until they reach the junction of the Rangit and the Tista. Thus the country is split up into a See also:succession of deep valleys surmounted by open plateaus cut off from one another by high and steep ridges, and lies at a very considerable See also:elevation, rising from loon ft. above See also:sea-level at its See also:southern extremity to 16,000 or 18,000 ft. on the See also:north. The See also:main See also:trade-passes into Tibet, such as the Jelep (14,500), Chola (14,550), and See also:Kangra-la (16,000), are not nearly so high as in the western Himalaya, while those into Nepal are less than 12,000 ft. See also:Physical Features.—Small though the country is, a wide variation of See also:climate makes it peculiarly interesting. From a naturalist's point of view it can be divided into three zones. The lowest, stretching from woo to 5000 ft. above sea-level, may be called the tropical See also:zone; thence to 13,000 ft., the upper limit of See also:tree vegetation, the temperate; and above, to the See also:line of perpetual See also:snow, the alpine. Down to about 188o Sikkim was covered with dense forests, only interrupted where See also:village clearances had bared the slopes for See also:agriculture, but at the See also:present See also:time this description does not apply below 6000 ft., the upper limit at which See also:maize ripens; for here, owing to increase of See also:population (particularly the See also:immigration of Nepalese settlers), almost every suitable spot has been cleared for cultivation. The exuberance of its See also:flora may be imagined when it is considered that the See also:total flowering See also:plants comprise some 4000 See also:species; there are more than 200 different kinds of ferns, 400 See also:orchids, 20 bamboos, 30 rhododendrons, 30 to 40 primulas, and many other genera are equally profuse; in fact Sikkim contains types of every flora from the tropics to the poles, and probably no other country of equal or larger extent can present such See also:infinite variety. Butterflies abound and comprise about 600 species, while moths are estimated at 2000. Birds are profusely represented, numbering between 500 and 600 species. Among mammals, the most interesting are the snow See also:leopard (Fells unica), the See also:cat-See also:bear (Aelurus fulgens), the See also:musk See also:deer (See also:Moschus moschiferus) and two species of See also:goat See also:antelope (Nemorhaedus bubalinus and Cemas See also:goral). See also:Copper and See also:lime are the See also:chief minerals found and worked in Sikkim, but they are of little commercial value at present. See also:Government and Population.—The population is essentially agricultural, each See also:family living in a See also:house on its own See also:land: there are no towns or villages, and the only collection of houses, outside the Lachen and Lachung valleys, are the few that have sprung up See also:round country See also:market-places, such as Rhenock, Dikkeling and Gangtok; but in the above-mentioned valleys the inhabitants, who are Bhutanese in origin and herdsmen in occupation, have large clusters of well-built houses at various altitudes up the valleys, which they occupy_ in rotation according to the See also:season of the See also:year. The seat of government, or in other words the See also:palace of the See also:raja, was formerly situated at Rubdentze; but when that See also:place was taken and destroyed by the Gurkhas, a new palace was built at Tumlong, See also:close to the eastern and Tibetan boundary, while a subsidiary summer See also:residence was erected on the other See also:side of the Chola range at Chumbi, in the Am-mochu valley. At the present time the raja and his See also:court remain in the more open country at Gangtok, where the British See also:political officer and a small detachment of native troops are also stationed. The first See also:regular See also:census of Sikkim, in 1901, returned the population at 59,014, showing an apparent increase of nearly twofold in the See also:decade. Of the total, 65% were See also:Hindus and 35% Buddhists. The Lepchas, supposed to be the See also:original inhabitants, numbered only 8000, while no less than 23,000 were immigrants from Nepal. The state See also:religion is See also:Buddhism as practised in Tibet, but is not confined to one particular See also:sect ; while among the heterogeneous population of Sikkim all manner of religious cults can be found. See also:Education is at a See also:low ebb, though the monasteries are supposed to maintain See also:schools, and missionary enterprise has established others. The See also:revenue of Sikkim has increased under British guidance from Rs. 20,000 a year to nearly Rs. 1,60,000, derived chiefly from a land and See also:poll tax, See also:excise, and See also:sale of See also:timber; the chief See also:expenditure is on walla. the See also:maintenance of the state, which practically means the raja's family, and on the improvement of communications. The country has a See also:complete See also:system of See also:mountain roads, bridged and open to See also:animal (but not See also:cart) See also:traffic. British trade with Central Tibet is carried over the Jelep route, on the See also:south-eastern border of Sikkim. See also:History.—The earliest inhabitants of Sikkim were the Rong-pa (See also:ravine folk), better known as Lepchas, probably a tribe of Indo-See also:Chinese origin; but when or how they migrated to Sikkim is unknown. The reigning family, however, is Tibetan, and claims descent from one of the Gyalpos or princelings of eastern Chinese Tibet; their ancestors in course of several generations found their way westwards to See also:Lhasa and Sakya, and thence down the Am-mochu valley; finally, about the year 1604, Penchoo Namyge was See also:born at Gangtok, and in 1641, with the aid of Lha-tsan Lama and two other priests of the Duk-pa or Red-See also:hat sect of Tibet, overcame the See also:Lepcha chiefs, who had been warring among themselves, established a See also:firm government and introduced Buddhist See also:Lamaism as a state religion. His son, Tensung Namyge, very largely extended his See also:kingdom, but much of it was lost in the succeeding reign of Chak-dor Namyge (1700-1717), who is credited with having designed the See also:alphabet now in use among the Lepchas. In the beginning of the 18th See also:century Bhutan appropriated a large See also:tract of country on the See also:east. Between 1776 and 1792 Sikkim was constantly at See also:war with the victorious Gurkhas, who were, however, driven out of See also:part of their conquests by the Chinese in 1792; but it was not until 1816 that the bulk of what is known to us as Sikkim was restored by the British, after the defeat of the Nepalese by See also:General See also:Ochterlony. In 1839 the site of See also:Darjeeling was ceded by the raja of Sikkim. In 1849 the British resumed the whole of the plains (See also:Tarai) and the See also:outer hills, as See also:punishment for repeated insults and injuries. In 1861 a Britisn force was required to impose a treaty defining See also:good relations. The raja, however, refused to carry out his obligations and defiantly persisted in living in Tibet; his See also:administration was neglected, his subjects oppressed, and a force of Tibetan soldiers was allowed, and even encouraged, to seize the road and erect a fort within sight of Darjeeling. After months of useless re-See also:monstrance, the government was forced in 1888 to send an expedition, which drove the Tibetans back over the Jelep pass. A See also:convention was then concluded with See also:China in 1890, whereby the British See also:protectorate over Sikkim was acknowledged and the boundary of the state defined; to this was added a supplemental agreement See also:relating to trade and domestic matters, which was signed in 1893. Since that time the government has been conducted by the maharaja assisted by a See also:council of seven or eight of his leading subjects, and guided by a See also:resident British officer. See also:Crime, of which there is little, is punished under See also:local See also:laws administered by kazis or See also:petty chiefs. Since 1904 political relations with Sikkim, which had formerly been conducted by the See also:lieutenant-See also:governor of See also:Bengal, have been in the hands of the See also:Viceroy. Rajas of Sikkim (Dejong-Gyalpo) : Penchoo Namgye (1641-1670), Tensung Namgye (1670-1700), Chak-dor Namgye (1700-1717), Gyur-me Namgye (1717-1734), Penchoo Namgye (1734-178o), Tenzing Namgye (1780-1790), Cho-phoe Namg (1e (1790–186), Sikhyong Namgye (:861-1874), Tho-tub Namgye 874), the maharaja, whose son has been educated at See also:Oxford. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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