With around 600,000 permanent residents, Sikkim is the least populous state in India and the second-smallest state after Goa in total area, covering approximately 7,096 km2(2,740 sq mi). Sikkim is nonetheless geographically diverse due to its location in the Himalayas. The climate ranges from subtropical to high alpine. Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak, is located on Sikkim's border with Nepal. Sikkim is a popular tourist destination, owing to its culture, scenery and biodiversity. It also has the only open borderbetween India and China.
Legend has it that the Buddhist saint Guru Rinpoche visited Sikkim in the 9th century, introduced Buddhism and foretold the era of the monarchy. Indeed, the Namgyal dynasty was established in 1642. Over the next 150 years, the kingdom witnessed frequent raids and territorial losses to Nepalese invaders. It allied itself with the British rulers of India, but was soon annexed by them. Later, Sikkim became a British protectorate, before merging with India following a referendum in 1975.
Sikkim has 11 official languages: Nepali (which is its lingua franca), Bhutia, Lepcha (since 1977), Limbu (since 1981), Newari, Rai, Gurung, Mangar, Sherpa, Tamang (since 1995) andSunwar (since 1996). English is taught in schools and used in government documents. Sikkim is the only state in India with an ethnic Nepalese majority. The predominant religions are Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism. Gangtok is the capital and largest city. Sikkim's economy is largely dependent on agriculture and tourism, and the state has the fourth-smallest GDP among Indian states although it is also among the fastest-growing.\
HISTORY
Phuntsog Namgyal was succeeded in 1670 by his son, Tensung Namgyal, who moved the capital from Yuksom to Rabdentse. In 1700, Sikkim was invaded by the Bhutanese with
the help of the half-sister of the Chogyal, who had been denied the
throne. The Bhutanese were driven away by the Tibetans, 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. In 1791, China sent troops to support Sikkim and defend Tibet against the Gurkhas. Following Nepal's subsequent defeat, the Chinese Qing Dynasty established control over Sikkim.The earliest historical mention of Sikkim is a record of the passage of the Buddhist saint Guru Rinpoche through the land in the 9th century. The Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced Buddhism, and foretold the era of monarchy that would arrive in Sikkim centuries later. In the 14th century, according to legend, Khye Bumsa, a 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 firstChogyal, or priest-king, of Sikkim by the three venerated lamas at Yuksom.
Following
the beginning of British rule in neighboring India, Sikkim allied with
them against their common enemy, 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.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 physicians, Sir Joseph Dalton
Hooker and Dr. Archibald Campbell, the latter being in charge of
relations between the British and Sikkim governments, ventured into the
mountains of Sikkim unannounced and unauthorised. The doctors were
detained by the Sikkim government, leading to a punitive British
expedition against the kingdom, after which the Darjeeling district and
Morang were annexed to British India in 1853. The invasion led to the
Chogyal of Sikkim becoming a titular ruler under the directive of the
British governor. In 1890, Sikkim became a British protectorate, and was
gradually granted more sovereignty over the next three decades.
In
1947, when India became independent, a popular vote rejected Sikkim's
joining the Indian Union, andPrime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed to a
special protectorate status for Sikkim. Sikkim came under
the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defence,
diplomacy and communications, but Sikkim otherwise retained
administrative autonomy. A state council was established in 1955 to
allow for constitutional government under the Chogyal. Meanwhile, the
Sikkim National Congress demanded fresh elections and greater
representation for Nepalese in Sikkim. Palden Thondup Namgyal, the
Chogyal at the time, proved to be extremely unpopular with the people,
and in 1973, riots in front of the Chogyal's palace led to a formal
request for protection from India. In 1975, the Prime Minister of Sikkim
appealed to theIndian Parliament for Sikkim to become a formal state of
India. In April, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and
disarmed the Chogyal's palace guards. A referendum was held in which
97.5% of the electorate voted to join the Indian Union. On 16 May 1975,
Sikkim officially became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the
monarchy was abolished. enable the incorporation of the new state,
the Indian Parliament amended the Indian Constitution. First, the 35th
Amendment laid down a set of conditions that made Sikkim an "Associate
State," a special designation not used by any other state. Later,
the 36th Amendment repealed the 35th Amendment, and made Sikkim a full
state, adding its name to the First Schedule of the Constitution.
In
2000, the seventeenth Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje, who had been
confirmed by the Dalai Lama and accepted as a tulku by the Chinese
government, escaped from Tibet, seeking to return to the Rumtek
Monastery in Sikkim. Chinese officials were in a quandary on this issue,
as any protests to India would mean an explicit endorsement of India's
governance of Sikkim, which the Chinese still regarded as an independent
state occupied by India. China eventually recognized Sikkim as an
Indian state in 2003, on the condition that India accepted theTibet
Autonomous Region as a part of China. This mutual agreement led to a
thaw in Sino-Indian relations. New Delhi had originally accepted Tibet
as a part of China in 1953 during the government of then-Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru. On 6 July 2006, the Himalayanpass of Nathula in Sikkim
was opened to cross-border trade, constituting further evidence of
improving Sino-Indian relations.
On 18 September 2011, a magnitude 6.9Mw earthquake struck
Sikkim, killing at least 116 people in the state and in Nepal, Bhutan,
Bangladesh and Tibet. More than 60 people died in Sikkim alone, and the
city of Gangtok suffered significant damage.
FLORA AND FAUNA
Sikkim
is situated in an ecological hotspot of the lower Himalayas, one of
only three among theecoregions of India. The forested regions of the
state exhibit a diverse range of fauna and flora. Owing to its
altitudinal gradation, the state has a wide variety of plants, from
tropical species to temperate, alpine and tundra ones, and is perhaps
one of the few regions to exhibit such a diversity within such a small
area. Nearly 81% of the area of Sikkim comes under the administration of
its forest department
Sikkim has around 5,000 flowering plants, 515 rare orchids, 60 primula species, 36 rhododendron species, 11 oak varieties, 23 bamboo varieties, 16 conifer species, 362 types of ferns and ferns allies, 8 tree ferns, and over 424 medicinal plants. A variant of the Poinsettia, locally known as "Christmas Flower", can be found in abundance in the mountainous state. The orchid Dendrobium nobile is the official flower of Sikkim, while the rhododendron is the state tree.
Orchids, figs, laurel, bananas, sal trees
and bamboo grow in the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests of the
lower altitudes of Sikkim.
In
the temperate elevations above 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) there
are Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests,
where oaks, chestnuts, maples,birches, alders, and magnolias grow in
large numbers, as well as Himalayan subtropical pine forests, dominated
by Chir pine.
The alpine-type vegetation
is typically found between an altitude of 3,500 to 5,000 metres (11,500
to 16,000 ft). In lower elevations are
foundjuniper, pine, firs, cypresses and rhododendrons from the Eastern
Himalayan subalpine conifer forests. Higher up are Eastern Himalayan
alpine shrub and meadows, home to a broad variety of rhododendrons and
wildflowers.
The
fauna include the snow leopard, the musk deer, the Himalayan Tahr,
the red panda, theHimalayan marmot, the serow, the goral, the barking
deer, the common langur, the Himalayan Black Bear, the clouded
leopard, the Marbled Cat, the leopard cat, the wild dog, the Tibetan
wolf, the hog badger, the binturong, the jungle cat and the civet
cat. Among the animals more commonly found in the alpine zone are yaks,
mainly reared for their milk, meat, and as a beast of burden.
The avifauna of
Sikkim include of the Impeyan pheasant, the crimson horned pheasant,
the snow partridge, the snow cock, the lammergeyer and griffon vultures,
as well as golden
eagles, quail,plovers, woodcock, sandpipers, pigeons, Old World
flycatchers, babblers and robins. Sikkim has more than 550 species of
birds, some of which have been declared endangered.
Sikkim
also has a rich diversity of arthropods, many of which remain
unstudied. As with the rest of India, the most studied group is that of
the butterflies. Of approximately 1,438 butterfly species found in
the Indian subcontinent, 695 have been recorded from Sikkim. These
include the endangered Kaiser-i-hind, Yellow Gorgon and the Bhutan
Glory.
HOW TO REACH SIKKIM
Rail
Sikkim
lacks significant railway infrastructure. The closest major railway
stations are Siliguri andNew Jalpaiguri in neighbouring West Bengal.
However,
the New Sikkim Railway Project has been launched to connect the town
of Rangpo in Sikkim with Sevoke. The project is expected to be complete
by 2015. In addition, the Ministry of Railways has recently proposed
plans for railway lines linking Mirik to Ranipool.
Roads
National
Highway 31A and National Highway 31 link Siliguri to Gangtok. Sikkim
National Transport runs bus and truck services. Privately-run bus,
tourist taxi and jeep services operate throughout Sikkim, and also
connect it to Siliguri. A branch of the highway from Melli connects
western Sikkim. Towns in southern and western Sikkim are connected to
the hill stations of Kalimpong and Darjeeling in northern West
Bengal. The state is furthermore connected to China by the mountain pass
of Nathu La.
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