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 The
original recorded inhabitants of Sikkim were the Lepchas or the
"raven folks" who came to the area from Assam and Burma.
From the 1200's the Bhutias or the Tibetan people moved into Sikkim.
They included the Namgyal clan who arrived in the 1400's and gradually
won political control over Sikkim.
The earliest history of Sikkim started in the
13the century with the signing of a brotherhood treaty between the
Lepcha chelf Thekong thek and the Tibetan Prince Khe-Bhumsa at Kavi
in North Sikkim, followed by the historical visit of the three revered
lamas at Yuksam (W Sikkim) in 1641, and the consecration of the
first religious ruler (Chogyal) of Sikkim, Phuntsok Namgyal in 1642.
The Namgyal dynastry was to last some 330 years until the end of
the monarchy in 1975.
Over the course of history, Sikkim suffered massive
invasions from Nepal and Bhutan and lost much territory as a result.
Many Nepalese also migrated to Sikkim and settled as farmers. By
the 1800's Sikkim's population was very mixed, and internal conflict
resulted.
Sikkim assisted the British in a successful war against Nepal in
the year1814-1815 and won back some of its land.
During the mid 1800's,
however, Sikkim found itself increasingly under the control of the
British. Despite violent resistance to bring it under British Rule,
it finally became a protectorate in 1861. The British had access
to
Tibet through Sikkim, and recognised Sikkim's
independent status. With India's independence from the Britain in
1947, the Indian government gradually took responsibility of Sikkim's
external affairs, defense and communication of Skim from the year
1950.
In 1975, Sikkim officially became the 22snd state
of India, to which it remains today.
Read
for complete history.
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