BHUTAN and SIKKIM
BHUTAN and SIKKIM
Bhutan and Sikkim were small Buddhist countries in
the eastern Himalayas. Both became the Nation States in the 17th century CE.
The two countries shared border. Therefore, it is an inevitable that there
would be some forms of contacts between the two countries. The marriage of a
Bhutanese woman by the second Chogyal Tensung Namgyal proved beyond doubts the
relations existed between the two neighboring countries, although there were no
details records being mentioned neither in Bhutanese nor in Sikkim’s sources. The
interaction primarily consisted of a series of attacks and counterattacks.
According to the Bras lJong rGyalrab[1]
the first ever conflict between Bhutan and Sikkim occurred in 1700 CE. The
Choygyal Tensung Namgyal married a Bhutanese woman called Namgay Wangmo who
gave the birth of Princess Pede Wangmo. Namgay Wangmo was the first Gyalmo of
the Chogyal. A Prince was also born to Chogyal by his Tibetan woman, the second
Gyalmo. Chogyal had a third Gyalmo from the Lepcha Community of Sikkim. At the
age of thirteen, Prince Chador Namgyal was enthroned as the third Chogyal of
Sikkim, when his father Chogyal Tensung Namgyal passed away. But Princess Pede
Wangmo being a senior to prince Chador Namgyal did not welcome the enthronement
of the prince Chador Namgyal. She objected and declared she would be the throne
holder of Sikkim. Princess Pede Wangmo therefore turned towards Bhutan for
assistance to oust the prince Chador Namgyal.
During the crises, one of the Lepcha ministers
called Yugthing Tishey secretly taken the prince ruler Chador Namgyal to Tibet.
In the absence of the prince ruler, Yugthing Aroop who was an illegitimate son
of the late Chogyal Tensung Namgyal was kept as the in charge of the Rabdentse
palace. Bhutanese troops captured the Rabdentse palace and Yugthing Aroop was
taken to Bhutan and imprisoned. Bhutan controlled Sikkim for
about eight years. Within eight years, Bhutan took the repairing of palace,
constructed walls and added a building for the water supply. Bhutan also built Namgyal
Thonpoi and Wangdu phodang dzongs and a monastery and called Paro Gon in
Sikkim.
However, His eminent Jamyang Khentse Choki Lodro
writes different story. He writes that Chogyal Tensung Namgyal married a
Tibetan Woman, Pema Butri. He mentions neither Bhutanese woman nor Lepcha Woman
married by Chogyal Tensung Namgyal. But I am in the view that the royal
marriage to Bhutanese woman were possible because in those days, both Tibetan
and Bhutanese migrated to Sikkim and settled there. People traveled for trading
and pilgrimage purposes. The migration
of Tibetans and Bhutanese to Sikkim has been confirmed by Karubaki Datta, a
reliable source. “On the whole, it
appears that Bhutia migration took place in phases, one of the earliest,
immigrants being one Khye Bumsa. He had established a cordial relation with the
Lepchas and was even blessed by the Lepcha wizard for a son. The descendants of
Khye Bumsa are divided into six families. With Khye Bumsa came other Tibetans
or khampas who founded the 8 fields or the tribe of eight respectable names.
These are the 14 original main families of Tibetan origin in Sikkim.Besides
these, there are other families of Tibetan origin which form the raichhung or
the ‘little families’. They came to Sikkim at various points in time since the
establishment of the monarchy and are divided into 8 groups. Like the 14
original families they also enjoy some religious and social privileges particularly
pertaining to entry to monasteries. While their exact place of origin is not
mentioned specifically, at least one family viz. the sTod-pa or TumnsTod-pa are
so called from their having first settled in Tumu or Upper Mochu Valley. After
them came others, like the Chumbi–pa, immigrant from Kham in Tibet and Ha in
Bhutan, to the lower reaches of the Mochu near Chumbi”.
While Mullard writes that Nga Dag Rinzin Phuntsho
joined Princess Pede Wangmo, Bras lJong Gyalrab mentioned she married to the
grandson of the Nga Dag Rinzin Phuntsho Rinchen Gon. Bras lJong rGyalrab also
mentioned that the reincarnation of the Lhatsun Namkha Jigme was born in
Bhutan. He was known as Mi Kyod Gawa, and he also visited Sikkim.. This needs
verification from the Bhutanese source.
Later, when the prince Chador Namgyal returned to
Sikkim, Bhutanese withdrew from Rabdentse palace but still occupied the eastern
Sikkim right from river Teestsa, Damsang, Daling and Kalingpong. However,
Bhutanese sources do not mention about the conflict between the princess and
prince over the throne of Sikkim. But our sources do mention different
conflicts that took place. For example, the conflict between Bhutan and Mon
Achog. Bhutanese source placed this conflict before the above mentioned “The
first succession war of Sikkim” coined by Mullard. His holiness, Je Ngawang
Lhundrup, the author of the biography of the fourth Desi Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye
writes that Mon Achog made alliance with the Tibetan (5th Dalai Lama). He got
assurance from the 5th Dalai Lama. Mon Achog attacked Daling Dzong and captured
it. Desi Chogyal Minjur Tenpa sent Bhutanese forces headed by Dronyer Doley
first. Later, Desi sent additional
forces under the leadership of Thimphu Dzongpon Au Tshering. Bhutanese forces
recaptured the Daling Dzong. Mon Achog was killed and his hand and head were
taken to Bhutan which is a sign of victory over the enemy. This conflict took
place in 1676. But another Bhutanese historian Lama Pema Tshewang presents the
event in two phases. He writes that the
conflict between Bhutan and Mon Achog had taken place in 1668 and 1676. But his
mentioned about the involvement of the Tibetan Depa Trinley Gyamtsho in the
conflict in supporting the Mon Achog raised the doubt. According to Tibetan sources,
Depa Trinley Gyamtsho resigned from the post of Depa in 1660.
However,
according to the Sikkimese sources, Bras lJong Gyalrab and the Guatam (2014)
mentioned that the conflict was taken place after the first succession of war.
The first succession of war had happened in 1700- 1708. Gyalrab mentions that Achok did not have good
terms with the Chogyal and turned towards Bhutan for helps. But in the end,
Achok ended his life in the hands of Bhutanese. Gyalrab did not mention the
involvement of the Tibetan in the conflict between Bhutan and Sikkim. Still
there are other sources that tell us different story. For instance, Risley,
H.H. (1894/1987) presents that Gyelpo Achoo and Gyelpa Apha were the ancestors
of the first Chogyal of Sikkim. The first Chogyal Phuntsho Namgyal was the son
of Guru Tenzin who in turn was the son of Gyelpa Apha or Zhal Nga Aphag. There
was a conflict between Gyelpo Achoo and Gyelpa Apha, the two cousin families.
Gyelpa Apha asked help from Bhutan. Bhutanese general attacked Gyelpo Achoo and
killed Achoo at Ambiokh. Risley (1894/1987) further shows us that the conflict
between Bhutan and Sikkim took place even before the establishment of Monarchy
in Sikkim. Rongngoo (..) writes in his thesis that Achok was the local
chieftain of the Damsang region. He was killed by Bhutanese and took over the
Damsang, Daling and Kalingpong. But he did not specify the year or the period in
which Achok lived. However, two things are common in all the stories mentioned
above. One is that Achok was assassinated by Bhutanese and the second, Achok
was the chieftain of Damsang, Daling and Kalingpong region.
Gyurme
Namgyal became the 4th Chogyal of Sikkim. But he left Sikkim and went to Tibet.
During his absence, a conflict emerged again between Bhutan and Sikkim. Bhutan
raised the boundary issue with Sikkim. Tibetan sent the Depa of Tsang
Chanlochen to mediate the disputes. The first attempt failed. Another meeting
was held at Phari. A boundary was fixed at Rongchu. Although it is not mentioned in the Bhutanese
sources, it seemed that the conflict took place in 1725-26 during the reign of
the 9th Desi of Bhutan.
In 1733, Namgyal Phuntsho became the 5th Chopgyal of
Sikkim. Namgyal Phuntsho was born to a nun out of weblog. Therefore, one of the
ministers Tamding and his brother did not recognize the young Chogyal. He took
the throne for himself. He ruled Sikkim about three years. Another minister,
Karwang supported the young Chogyal. The young Chogyal was taken to Bhutan for
safety reasons and kept in Bhutan till he attained age. Then Karwang asked
assistance from Bhutan. There was a severe war between the two groups. The
joint forces of Karwang and Bhutan defeated the Tamding. Tamding went to Tibet
to ask for assistance. The Tibetan government sent Rabden Sharpa to Sikkim as
an agent.
Again, the conflict emerged in Sikkim. This time,
the Mangar chief revolted against the Rabden Sharpa when he refused to accept
the chieftainship of the new Mangar chief. As usual the Mangar chief sought
help from Bhutan in 1746. Of course, the joint forces failed in their pursuits
in 1747. However, Karwang persuaded the Rabden Sharpa to enthrone Namgyal
Phuntsho on the throne of Sikkim.[2] This war occurred during the reign of the 12th
Desi Ngawang Gyaltshen (1739-1744).[3] Bhutanese was given the local rights in
Gangtok and allowed to keep a small garrison. Tenzin Namgyal became the 6th
Chogyal of Sikkim. In 1788 Gorkha attacked Sikkim. The Gorkha forces captured
the Rabdentse palace of Sikkim. The Chogyal Namgyal fled to Chumbi valley of
Tibet. Although Bhutan used to attack Sikkim in the past several occasions,
this time Bhutan supplied rice, tea and coins to Chogyal Tenzin Namgyal.[4] But
Mr. Rai is in the view that Bhutan offered assistance to Tibet.
Another interesting thing with regard to the
relationship between Bhutan and Sikkim is the discovery of the certificates
issued by the Bhutanese Government to Yugthing Chog Thub by Mullard. Mullard
studied the documents and translated into English and also provided
transliteration. In 1790, the Paro Ponlop issued certificates to Yugthing Chog
Thub, followed by the central government's issuance the following year. These
certificates hold historical significance, as they were granted to the same
individual. The certificates were issued to Yugthing Chog Thub for thanking him
for his services to Bhutan Government. He came forward and helped put down the
rebellion. He was given the rights to collect both the summer and winter taxes
from the people living in Damsang, Daling and Kalimpong areas. He was also
given freedom to travel in the southern plains. But what is not clear to us is
“who organized revolt against whom”? Of course, Bhutanese source mentions that the
supporters of the late Desi Zhidar revolted against the Central Government time
and again. This confirmation was substantiated by Samuel Turner's report in
1783.
However, Bras ljong Gyalrab mentions that Yugthing
Chog Thub was the war hero of the Gorkha –Sikkim war of 1771, 1775 and 1788. He
felt insecure to live in the western Sikkim. Bhutanese Government allowed him
to live in the Bhutanese territory of eastern Sikkim where Bhutanese Government
need not had to appoint a native officer. It appears that the Bhutan government
issued a certificate to Yugthing Chog Thub during the reign of the 18th Desi
Jigme Singye (1775-1788). From the transliteration provided by Mullard, I wrote
in our national language:
Document
No.: PD/9.5/007
༉ ད་ལམ་ ཕྱག་མཛོད་མཆོག་ཐུབ་ཕ་བུའི་སྐོར་ལ་ སྔ་ཕྱི་རིམ་པར་ སྒོ་གསུམ་ ཐ་དད་ནས་ རེ་ལྟོས་སྐྱབས་འཇུག་སོགས་ གང་ཡང་ ཆོས་རྗེ་འབྲུག་པར་ ཚོལ་ཞིང་ དེ་མ་ཟད་ རིང་སྤུངས་ ནང་ཟིང་སྐབས་ཀྱང་ གཏམ་ཐོས་པའི་མེད་ལ་ ལུས་སྲོག་ཏུ་མ་ལྟོས་པར་འོང་སྟེ་ ཕྱག་ཕྱི་ བསམ་པ་ལྷག་མེད་ཀྱིས་ གུས་པའི་ ཞིག་གསོ་ བཅས་ལ་ གོངས་ས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ནས་ཀྱང་ སྤྱན་རྒྱངས་བརྩེ་གཟིགས་ཆེན་པོས་ མཆོག་ཐུབ་པའི་ ཟས་་གོས་ཀྱི་ ཐུན་དེབས་དང་ ལྟོ་ཐུས་བཅས་ལ་ གོངས་ཞབས་ཀྱི་ སྒེར་རྒྱ་སྔོན་རྒྱ་གར་ ལོ་ཁྱི༌སྡོད༌སྐུལ༌༌༌༌༌༌ཀྱི༌རམ༌རིང༌གི༌ཟུར༌རྒྱ༌དེ༌ནས༌ དབྱར༌ཁྲལ༌དང༌དགུན༌ཁྲལ༌ འབྲུ༌དང༌གྱམ༌ཁ༌དངོས༌པོ༌ཅི༌བྱོར༌ཤལ༌ལི༌ཆུམ༌བཅས༌ མཆོག༌ཐུབ༌རང༌གིས༌ འསྡུ༌མཆོག༌པ༌དང༌དགུན་གྱི་དུས་སུ་ རྒྱ་ཕྱོགས་ ཚོང་གྲུལ་བྱེད་ཚར་ཡང་ཆེད་ཕྲ་དུ་ནས་ཀྱང་ ལམ་རྒྱ་མེད་པར་ འགྲོ་ཆོག་པ་དང་ དམ་སང་ རྡར་གླིང་ གསང་སྦས་ རྫོང་གསར་ཕྱོགས་ གང་དུ་ཁོ་པའི་མི་སེར་ ལྷོ་པ་མོན་པ་ རྩོང་ཡུར་པ་སོགས་བབས་པ་ཅི་ཡོད་ཀྱང་ ལྷག་མེད་ མཆོག་ཐུབ་རང་ནས་ ཚད་གཅོད་བྱས་རྗེས་ཡིན་པ་དེས་ གྲོངས་ས་ཡིན་ཚེ་ ཡོད་རིས་ལྷག་མེད་ནར་ བདག་པོར་ཁྲལ་དེས་ སྤྲོད་དགོས་རྒྱུ་དང་ མཆོག་ཐུབ་པ་ ཀ་གླིང་སྤུང་གནས་ཏེ་ འབྲས་ལྗོངས་སུ་ མ་ལོག་པར་ ངོ་ཟླ་ལྔ་ལ་ རྡར་རྫོངས་ནས་ ལོ་གོས་ ཕྱག་མཛོད་་རང་ལ་ གླ་གཉེར་ཐང་དང་ཟླ་བོ་༤་ལ་བོད་ཀྱི་ཁྲལ་ མཆོག་ཐུབ་ རང་ལྟ་གཉིས་སྐལ་སྲོག་བརྒྱགས་ ཉ་བལ་རིལ་༢་དང་ མར་ཁུ་ཤལ་ཁལ་རེ་ ཚྭ་བོད་ཚྭ་དང་རྒྱ་ཚྭ་གང་རུང་ བྲས་(ཆུམ)༡༥་བཅས་བྱིན་དགོས་རྒྱུ་དང་རི་ནག་གྲུང་ཟེར་བ་་་་་དེ་ཡང་ གོངས་སའི་དམར་ཏྲམ་དུ་ ཁོདཔ་ཇི་ལྟར་དང་ གཞན་ཡང་ ཕྱག་མཛོད་མཆོག་ཐུབ་ཀྱི་རིམས་པ་ གང་ཡང་ གཞུང་ས་ཆེན་པོ་ནས་ ལག་ཁྱེར་དུ་གནང་བའི་དན་ཁྲ་དི་དོན་ལ་ རྫོང་བདག་གཉེར་པ་སོགས་ཆེ་ཕྲ་ཀུན་ནས་ སྤང་བླང་ཚུགས་མེད་དུ་ཡོད་པ་གྱིས། ཞེས་ལྕགས་ཁྱི་ཟླ་༡༡་ཚེས་༣་བཟང་པོར་ འབྲུག་རིན་སྤུངས་ནས་དགེ།
The above certificate was issued in 1790 by the Paro
Ponlop.
Document
No.: PD/9.5/005
ད་ལམ་ ཡུག་མཆོག་ཐུབ་ཕ་བུ་འདི་དག་ སྔ་ནས་ཀྱང་ ཆོས་རྗེས་ཁྲུག་སར་ སྐྱལ་སྡེང་ཁྲོང་ཞུས་པ་མ་ཚད་ རྗེས་སུ་ བོད་གནས་ཀྱི་ཆགས་རྐྱེན་ལྟ་བུས་ གོར་སྙིང་གིས་ ཡུལ་ཐོན་བྱུང་བ་ནས་ བཅས་་་་་་་་ཁ་ཞེས་མེད་པའི་ བློ་འཕྲལ་ཕུག་དགེ་འབྲུག་བསྟན་པ་གཉིས་སུ་་་་་་་གཟང་བའི་བློ་གཏོད་རིང་འདི་ལོར་ཁོ་རང་ཕ་རིར་སྤུལ་དུ་དགའ་ལྡན་གཞུང་གསར་ཞུ་ཡིག་གི་ལམ་ནས་སླབ་དོན་ཞུས་ཏེ་་་་་་་་་་་དུས་ཀྱང་རིང་སྤུངས་ཟིང་རྐྱེན་སྐབས་ཤར་དུས་པ་ཀྱགས་སྟབས་སུ་ལུས་གྲག་ལ་ག་བལྟོས་པའི་ཁ་ཞེས་མེད་པའི་ཕྱག་གྱིར་རྒྱུར་ཐག་ཞུ་ཁུལ་ཞིག་དང་ཟིང་རྐྱེན་ཞི་འཕྲུལ་མཆོག་ཐུབ་རང་ཞབས་འཇགས་ཀྱིས་ཞུ་སྦྱོར་ལ་དེ་ས་རང་གི་མི་སེར་ཡོད་རིགས་ཀྱི་འཚོ་སྐྱོང་དང་བཅས་ ཀ་གླིང་སྤུངས་ སྡོད་ཆོག་པ། དམ་སང་རྡར་གླིང་གི་ཆ་ཁུལ་ཁོ་རང་མི་སེར་ལྟི་་་་་་་ཡོད་་་་་ཡུལ་ཐོན་གྱི་རིགས་ཀྱང་སླར་བདག་འཛིན་བྱེད་ཆོག་པ། ཞིག་ཟས་ཞུ་ནན་ཆེ་བས་ལྟ་བཞིག་གང་བཤད་ལྡ་་་་་་་་་་ཤིས་ལྟོ་བརྒྱགས་ཀྱི་ འཚོ་ཐབས་ལ་ཞབས་པད་རང་གི་ སྒེར་རྒྱ་སྔོན་རྒྱ་གར་ལོ་ཁྱི༌སྡོད་ཤུལ་གྱི་རམ་ལྟེང་གི་ཟུར་རྒྱ་དེར་ད་ལྟ་ག་རྒྱམ་ཞབས་པད་ནས་བསྐོས་གནང་ཞིག་བཞག་པ་དི་རང་དང་མཆོག་ཐུབ་ས་ཀ་གླིང་སྤུངས་ རྡམ་གནས་བར་དུ་རྒྱ་གཞི་དེ་ནས་ དབྱར་ཁྲལ་དང་དགུན་ཁྲལ་འབྲུ་ཁྲལ་ གྱམ་དངོས་པོ་ཅི་བྱོན་དང་ཤལ་ལིའི་ཆུམ་སྔར་ལུགས་བཞིན་ མཆོག་ཐུབ་པས་རྒྱུགས་ ཆོག་པར་ བཀྲིན་བསྐྱངས་ཡོད། སྒྲའི་གཟུང་གྱུར་ལ་ཚོང་ཁེ་སྤོ་ཡང་བ་རྒྱལ་བ་་་་་་་་་་བདེད་སོང་གཉིས། རྒྱ་ཕྱོགས་སུ་ཚོང་གྲུལ་བྱེད་པར་དབྱར་སྒང་ལ་ལུང་པ་སྤྱི་ཐོག་ནས་ཚོང་གྲུལ་བྱེད་མི་ཆོག་པ་དེ་རང་ལ་ཆ་གནས་དགོས་པ་དང་དགུན་ཚོང་རིགས་རྒྱ་ཕྱོགས་སུ་ཚོང་གྲུལ་ལམ་གང་དེར་བྱེད་ཆོག་པར་ཆེ་ཕྲ་སུ་ཀྱང་ལམ་འགག་རྒྱ་སྡོམ་མེད་པར་གཏང་ཆོག།གོར་ཁའི་ཁྱུར་ཟིང་སྐབས་འབྲས་ལྗོངས་འདི་ས་ཆའི་ཀོངས་ནས་ཡུལ་ཐོན་གྱི་རིང་ཐོར་རྫོང་གསར་དང་དམ་སང་གསང་སྦས་རྡར་གླིང་ཚོང་མུར་གྱི་མི་སེར་བཅས་པ་བབས་སྡིང་་་་་་་་་ཡོད་ཀྱང་ཆེ་ཕྲ་གང་ཡང་ལྷག་མེད།མཆོག་ཐུབ་རང་ནས་རྩད་གཙོ་བྱས་རྗེས་དེངས་རང་མི་སེར་ཡིན་ངེས་གདོན་མཐོངས་ངེས་ཤེས་འགྲོངས་ཆིས་ལྷག་མེད་ནོར་བདག་པོའི་ལག་སར་འཕྲོད་པ་བྱས་སྤྱོན་དགོས་རྒྱུར།
རྡར་རྫོངས་ས་དང་འདི་གཉེར་སོགས་ལས་ཚན་ཆི་ཁྲ་གང་ནས་ཀྱང་བཀའ་ལ་གནས་ཏེ་སྙད་གཙོར་མེད་པའི་ཐོགས་འགྲོགས་རམ་ཅི་ཕན་ལ་འབད་དགོས་རྒྱུ་དང་ཡང་མཆོག་ཐུབ་པ་ཀ་གླིང་སྤུངས་གནས་ཏེ་འབྲས་ལྗོངས་སུ་ཕྱིར་ལོག་མ་བྱུང་བར་ངོ་ཟླ་༡༠་་་་་་སྒར་རྫོང་ནས་ལོ་གོ་མཆོག་ཐུབ་རང་ལ་གླ་གཉེར་ཐང་དང་ཟླ་བོ་༥་ལ་བོད་ཁྲལ་་མཆོག་ཐུབ་ལ་ཁྲོ་གཉིས་སྐལ་དང་སྲོག་བརྒྱགས་ཉ་བལ་རིལ་གཉིས་་དང་མར་ཁུ་ཤལ་ཁལ་རེ་རྒྱ་ཚྭ་དང་བོད་ཚྭ་གང་རུང་བྲས་(ཆུམ)༡༥་བཅས་བྱིན་དགོས་རྒྱུ།གཞན་ཡང་་རི་ནག་སྤུངས་ཟེར་བ་དེ་ཡང་ད་ཐུགས་ལ་དགེ་འབྲུག་་་་གཉིས་ནས་སྤུང་བྱ་ས་རེ་དེ་ལྟར་ཡིན་བྱུང་། དགའ་ལྡན་གཞུང་ནས་རི་ནག་དེ་མཆོག་ཐུབ་པར་གནང་འདུག་དང་བརྒྱུན་ མཆོག་ཐུབ་པ་སླར་ འབྲས་ལྗོངས་སུ་མ་ལོག་བར་རྡར་རྫོང་ནས་སྤུང་གསར་བསྐོར་བྱས་མི་ཆོག་པར་རེ་ཞིག་མཛོད་ཡོད། མཆོག་ཐུབ་ཀྱང་སླར་རང་གནས་ཚངས་སུ་ཚུད་པ་བྱུང་བ་ནས་བརྩམ་རེ་རི་ནག་སྤུང་ས་དེའི་བསྐོ་བཞག་ ཆོས་རྗེ་འབྲུག་པ་རང་གིས་སྔ་གྲོལ་ལྟར་བྱས་པ་ལས་གཞན་གྱིས་བྱེད་མི་ཆོག་པའི་བཀའ་ཁྲ་ལྕགས་ཕག་ཟླ་ཚེས་ ལ་ འབྲུག་བཀྲིས་ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཕོ་ཕྲངས་ནས་བྲིས་པ། དགེ།
This second certificate was issued in 1791 by the
central Government of Bhutan.
Meanwhile, British India made friend with Sikkim to
prevent Sikkim from coming to help Gorkha against British India in the Anglo
–Gorkha war of 1814-16. British India
rewarded Sikkim by giving back its territories captured by Gorkha in the past, for
remaining neutral in the Anglo-Gorkha war. Sikkim ruler granted Darjeeling to
British India in 1835.This event took place during the reign of Chogyal Tsurphu
Namgyal. Chogyal drew a criticism from both Tibet and Bhutan and he was accused
of selling Darjeeling to British India.[5]
Bhutan even attempted to kill the Chogyal when he was on the way to Tibet for
pilgrimage.[6]
Therefore, Chogyal complained to British
India and said: “The neighboring States
are perpetually bothering me. It will not do if Darjeeling falls into another
State's hands”.[7]
Sikkim became the protectorate of British India in 1861. By this time, British
India had already taken the Assam duars from Bhutan and had tensions over the
Bengal duars. Bhutan disapproved the takeover of Sikkim’s administration by
British India, so Bhutan gave shelter to the supporters and relatives of the exiled Dewan Namgyal of Sikkim.[8] British
India stopped the payment of the compensation for the annexation of Fallakota
to Bhutan. Bhutan blamed Sikkim for this, British India action and went to
Sikkim territory Gopalganj and brought an elephant belonged to Sikkim. This
event took place during the reign of Desi Nadzi Passang (1861 – 1863).[9]
After the duar war of 1865, British India wanted to
improve the communication with Bhutan by establishing an office of Bhutanese
agent at Buxa. British India asked Bhutanese Government to appoint a native
Bhutanese officer to be posted as an agent at Buxa. Bhutanese appointed a
Sikkimese man called Phento. The Bhutanese leader was the Gongsa Desi Jigme
Namgyal. Later on, during the reign of Druk Gyalpo Ugyen Wangchuck, Phento was
appointed to teach Bhutanese students at the court school of Bumthang.
A Sikkimese scholar Dawa Samdrup worked at Buxa duar
in the office of the British India from 1887 to 1893. While he was at Buxa, he
met a Bhutanese lama called Tshampa Norbu. He took Tshampa Norbu as his root
lama. Later, he translated the Bhutan History (Lho’ Chos Byung) into English.[10]
It seems, there were no personal contacts between
the two leaders after British India took over the administration of Sikkim. But
on rare occasions, British India provided opportunities to meet the two
leaders. For example, in 1906 and 1911, Druk Gyalpo Ugyen Wangchuck and Chogyal
Thutob Namgyal were invited at Calcutta and Delhi. Later in 1935, British India
welcomed Druk Gyalop Jigme Wangchuck and Chogyal Tashi Namgyal at Calcutta.
Bhutan and Sikkim entered into matrimonial
relations, when Gongzin Sonam Tobgye Dorji married Ashi Chos dBying Wangmo, the
daughter of the 9th Chogyal Thutob Namgyal.
While, Gongzim Ugyen Dorji served the first Druk
Gyalpo, his son Gonzin Sonam Tobgye served the second Druk Gyalpo Jigme
Wangchuck. The sibling of Gongzim Sonam Tobgye and Ashi Chos dBying Wangmo
includes the present Royal Grant Queen Mother Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuck,
Ashi Tashi, late Prime Minister of Bhutan Jigmi Palden Dorji, late Dasho Ugyen
Dorji and late Dasho Lhundrup Dorji (Lumpy). Both Gongzim Ugyen Dorji and Sonam
Tobgye Dorji (father and son) served as Bhutanese agents at Buxa duar. Both
father and son acted as a bridge between Bhutan and British India.
Many British India political officers for Sikkim
visited Bhutan. The first political officer was John Claude White. When his
retirement from the service was nearing, Both Sikkim and Bhutan requested the
Bengal Government to extend the White’s service by few more years. Mr. White
was succeeded by Mr. Charles Bell. The young Prince Tashi Namgyal was enthroned
as the next Chogyal of Sikkim. He was not given the full administrative power
as he was young. Later, when he attains the age, Mr. Bell proposed to council
that the prince be given the full power. Mr. Bell reasoned that through this
action, British India would appeal both Tibet and Bhutan and there would be
cordial relations in the region.[11] It appears that both Tibet and Bhutan were
dissatisfied with British India's authority over Sikkim. Druk Gyalpo (1907 – 1926) also carried out
the boundary talk with Sikkim and the boundary between Bhutan and Sikkim was
fixed at Gipmochi.[12] Later
during the reign of Druk Gyalpo Jigme Wangchuck (1927- 1952)also, British India
political officers continued to visit Bhutan. In 1943, the prince Thondup
Namgyal also came to Bhutan with Mr. Gould, the then political officer for
Sikkim. The relations between Sikkim and Bhutan might have enhanced further.
In 1947, on the behalf of the Druk Gyalpo Jigme
Wangchuck, Gongzim Sonam Tobgye attended the conference of the Asian relations
at New Delhi. At the conference, a national flag of member countries was
required to be hoisted. Therefore, Ashi Chos dBying Wangmo Dorji designed a
Bhutanese national flag.[13]
Courtesy: Tshering Tashi
British India left India in 1947 without making
clear about the future status of the Sikkim and Bhutan. There were concerns and
worries both in Sikkim and Bhutan. However, Prime Minister of free India made
it clear that Sikkim and Bhutan were special case and would not be part of the
Indian Union. Meanwhile, Bhutan signed a treaty with independent India in 1949
whereby Bhutan agreed to be guided by India in her external affairs. The
following year Sikkim followed suit Bhutan. But Sikkim agreed that India
controlled her dense, communication and external affairs of Sikkim. Thus Sikkim
became the protectorate of India. Prince Palden Thondup Namgyal actively
involved and spearheaded the developmental projects in Sikkim. In Bhutan, his
cousin Jigme Palden Dorji also sailing in the same boat. Both of them also
underwent training on Indian administrative service course at Dehra Dun.
As there was pressure from both India in the south
and China in the north, Sikkim and Bhutan along with Nepal considered the
formation of the federation of the Himalayan Kingdom. For this effect, Prince
Paldden Thondup and Jigmi Palden made a visit to Kathmandu informally in 1971
but later dropped it.[14] The concept of federation among Himalayan
countries appeared when Basil Gould , the political officer of Sikkim advised
the prince Thondup Namgyal to think of the possible alliance among the Buddhist
countries consisting of Tibet Bhutan and Sikkim. Later the king of Nepal
Mahendra also show interest and willingness to form the one. But it did not materialize.
When
Jigmi Palden Dorji, the Prime Minister of Bhutan, was interviewed by N. George
Patterson, he stated, "I have previously made it clear that I will not
entertain the idea of endorsing the proposal for federation, as it would
inevitably result in an overwhelming influence from Nepal."[15]
Both Bhutan and Sikkim worked hard to become the
member of the UNO. When Sikkim could not become the member of the UNO and when
Bhutan was successful in getting the membership, the relations between the two
countries declined.[16]
Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal attended and graced the
coronation ceremony of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo in 1974. In 1975, unfortunately,
Sikkim became the part of Indian Union.
Later, when Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal passed
away, Bhutan thought of taking the responsibility of carrying out the funeral
ceremony but finally done by the Indian Government. However, Her Royal Grand
Queen Mother Azhi Kezang Choden Wangchuck attended the funeral ritual of the
Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal.
[1] Bras ljong Gyalrab was written by the 9th Chogyal Thutob Namgyal and Gyalmo Yeshe sGrolma but I referred the English (translated) version.
[2]
Guatam (1914)
[3]
Phuntsho (2013)
[4]
Tshewang (1994), Pradhan (.) and Phuntsho (2013)
[5]
Singh (1988)
[6]
Singh (1988)
[7]
Singh (1988)
[8]
Singh (1988)
[9]
Tshewang (1994)
[11]
Singh (1988)
[12]
Singh (1988)
[13]
Tshering
[14]
Rustomji (1971, 2008)
[15]
Sinha (..)
[16]
Duff (2015)
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