Text by Himanshu Joshi
PHOTOGRAPHS: HIMANSHU JOSHI & NOMITA DRALL
If you are visiting Sikkim for the first time, chances are that your first port of call, so to say, would be Gangtok, the capital of this small North-Eastern hill state. It makes sense too in a way – go to the main hub and then probe the other parts of the state.
But, if you want to explore Sikkim in accordance to its historical chronology then you’ll need to tweak your itinerary a bit. Instead of Gangtok, which is in East Sikkim district, you’ll need to start from Yuksom in West Sikkim. For, you see, Yuksom is where the kingdom of Sikkim was established in 1642; it was the first capital of the kingdom of Sikkim.
There are earlier mentions of Sikkim too, but they are few and far between and most are in the realm of myths and legends.
The earliest historical mention of Sikkim is a record of the journey of the Buddhist saint Guru Rinpoche through the land in the 9th century. He is the one who is said to have introduced Buddhism in the land and also to have forecast the coming of monarchy centuries later. It is an established fact that the earliest inhabitants of the land were the Lepchas.
They called them- selves, Rong Pa, literally meaning ‘ravine folk’ or the Mutanchi, meaning the beloved people of Mother Earth. The origin of Lepchas is shrouded in mystery, but it seems that they belonged to the clan of the Nagas of the Mikir, Garo and Khasi Hills which lie to the south of the Brahmaputra valley.
Some believe they came from somewhere on the borders of Tibet and Burma.
According to their own tradition, they came to Sikkim from the east in company with Jindaxs, who went to Nepal and shared their tradition.
The Tibetan migration in early 17th century led the Rongs to shift their habitats so as to avoid conflict. In order to avoid any possible opposition from the Lepchas, the immigrants chose Phuntsok Namgyal as the temporal and spiritual leader of Sikkim, whose ancestry they traced from a legendary prince.
Phuntsok became the first Chogyal – temporal and spiritual king – of Sikkim in 1642. As the story goes, he was consecrated by three venerated lamas who came from the north, west and south to Yuksom, marking the beginning of the monarchy. They seated him on a rock slab and sprinkled water on him from the sacred urn. He was given the name, Namgyal, and the title of Chogyal. The Namgyal dynasty ruled over Sikkim as hereditary kings for 332 years.
You can still see that rock slab – or the stone throne, as the locals call it today – at Yuksom, which today is not bigger than a good sized village, albeit with varied options for stay and food. It is the starting point for the famous Dzongri trek into the Kanchenjunga National Park. On the throne you would see bowls of water, symbolising the holy water from the scared urn that was used nearly 375 years ago.
This consecration site is a ten-minute walk from the Yuksom bazaar and, unlike tourist places in other parts of India, a quiet and crowd-free spot. It has a big chorten made from soil brought from different parts of Sikkim and mixed with water from the major rivers of the region.
Another point of interest – there is an old juniper tree that towers above the throne. People believe that it is a tree that is as old as Sikkim! On a rock close by, there is a ‘footprint’ of one of the venerated lamas.
The Dalai Lama recognised Phuntsok Namgyal as the ruler of the southern slopes of the Himalayas and is also credited to have sent ceremonial presents such as the silken scarf bearing Dalai Lama’s seal, the mitre (hat) of the Guru Rinpoche, the devil phurpa (dagger) and the most precious sand image of the Guru.
Consequently, the newly established Bhutia principality of Namgyal Dynasty was tied to Tibetan theocracy. Since then up to 19th century, the Bhutia rulers of Sikkim looked up to Tibet for protection against political foes.
The second Chogyal, Tensung Namgyal, succeeded to the throne in 1670. He shifted the capital from Yuksom to nearby Rabdentse, also in the West Sikkim district. Rabdentse remained the capital of the kingdom for over the next century – till 1793. No wonder, it has today the most extensive ruins of the royal area in whole of Sikkim.
Close to Pelling, the main town of West Sikkim, and Geyzing, the district headquarters – also one of the most visited spots in the state. A walk of about 10 minutes on a well-laid out path through a thick forest, brings one to the site whose location is bewitching.
The ruins lie on an undulating meadow with gorgeous views of the Kanchenjunga, the third-highest mountain peak in the world.
On a clear day – for, in Sikkim, it rains almost every second day – the view is one to die for. Rabdentse, declared by the Archaeological Survey of India as a heritage monument, surely is a place made for rulers!
The ruins mainly consist of a maze of brick walls. The 10-minute walk brings you first to three standing stones called ‘Namphogang’. This was the spot from where judgments were pronounced. The palace ruins are ahead in two segregated areas – the northern wing and the southern wing.
Close to the palace ruins are three chortens, the religious place where members of the royal family offered incense to the deities. While the northern wing was for the royal family, in the southern wing, common people were given an audience by the king. A stone throne can be seen here.
The 18th century saw many wars and battles fought in Sikkim by Nepalese, Bhutanese and Tibetans. The beginning of the century saw an invasion by the Bhutanese army that was supported by the half-sister of the Chogyal – Chador Namgyal, a minor son from Tensung’s second wife, had succeeded as the king – who had been denied the throne. To save the minor king, a loyal minister took him to Lhasa.
But on the intervention of Tibet, King Deb of Bhutan withdrew and after ten years Chador Namgyal came back and drove out the rest of Bhutanese forces. For next many decades, Sikkim repeatedly faced many raids by the Nepalese in the west and Bhutanese in the east.
In 1780, during the reign of Tenzing Namgyal, Nepali forces occupied large chunks of Sikkim territory. They attacked Rabdentse and the Chogyal had to flee to Tibet.
The Nepali excursions emboldened them to penetrate into Tibet. This led to the Chinese intervention and Nepal was defeated. In the Sino-Nepal treaty, Sikkim lost some of its land to Nepal, but monarchy was allowed to be restored in the country.
Tenzing Namgyal died in Lhasa and his son Tsudphud Namgyal was sent to Sikkim in 1793 to succeed him as the monarch. Rabdentse was now considered too insecure because of its proximity to the Nepal border and Tsudphud shifted the capital to a place called Tumlong, in North Sikkim today.
The ruins of Tumlong, about 40 km from Gangtok, are the least advertised in Sikkim. If you are not looking for the place, you can miss the small signboard on the right side of the road, which goes from Gangtok to Mangan, the district headquarters of North Sikkim.
Keep an eye out for the signboard near Phodong, a few kilometres after Seven Sisters Waterfall, a major tourist site. You’ll have to leave the main road and drive up hill on a narrow road. Ask for directions after a couple of kilometres and you’ll come to a non-descript spot with the ruins of the third capital of Sikkim.
What is left today is just a small part, smaller than a bungalow in Lutyen’s Delhi – an outer wall and shells of what would have been living rooms. It is not much to look at, but it too has a superb location.
There are a few carved – rather etched – rock slabs in one corner that are the only proof that the place had seen better times. Most of the artifacts, I was told, were in the State Museum in Gangtok now. There is a beautiful monastery a kilometre ahead of the ruins and I would recommend you to visit it – it is serene and not at all commercial and with friendly monks to make the visit worthwhile.
Tumlong, which remained the capital for 101 years, though, has one milestone to its credit; the Treaty of Tumlong was signed here in 1861 between the British and the king of Sikkim.
The British India had successfully befriended Sikkim, mainly in a bid to check the ever-present threat of the Gurkhas and to establish a trade link with Tibet.
The British also became interested in Darjeeling, both as a hill resort and an outpost, from where Tibet and Sikkim would be easily accessible. Following a lot of pressure from the British, Sikkim finally gifted Darjeeling to British India on the understanding that a certain amount would be paid as annual subsidy to Sikkim. The gift deed was signed by the Chogyal in 1835. The British, however, did not pay the compensation as had been stipulated and this led to a quick deterioration of relation between the two countries.
The relations deteriorated to such an extent that when Dr Archibald Campbell, the Superintendent of Darjeeling, and Dr (later Sir) Joseph Dalton Hooker visited Sikkim in connection with the latter’s botanical research, they were captured and imprisoned in 1849.
In November 1860, the British sent an expeditionary force to Sikkim. This force was driven back from Rinchenpong in Sikkim. A stronger force was sent in 1861 that resulted in the capture of Tumlong and the signing of the Treaty of Tumlong.
In 1890, Sikkim became a British protectorate and in 1894, the then Chogyal, Thutob Namgyal, shifted the capital from Tumlong to Gangtok.
The Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial (STNM) Hospital, built in 1917 in Gangtok, is named in his memory. The hospital is a landmark in Gangtok today, which became the capital of the 22nd state of India on May 16, 1975.
Gangtok is the biggest city of Sikkim and its former royal palaces and buildings today house state government offices.
Not much is left of old Sikkim today in Gangtok, which firmly places you in the present. For the past, you’ll have to start your journey from Yuksom.
