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A SHORT HISTORY OF SIKHIM

Chador, in gratitude, founded the great monastery of Pemiongtchi, the largest in Sikhim, and wholly Tibetan in character. He also designed an alphabet for the Lepcha language and reduced it to writing.

His successor, Gyurma, was married to a lady from Lhasa, who was so exceedingly ugly that rather than live with her he abandoned his throne and fled disguised as a mendicant: in his reign Limbuana, now the eastern province of Nepal, was lost to Sikhim.

In the time of the sixth Gyalpo—Tenzing Namgyel—(1780 to 1790), the Gurkhas rose and overcame the Newars and Limbus in Nepaul, and in 1788 to 1789 invaded Sikhim and seized Rubdentze: Tenzing and his son Chophey Namgyel fled to Tibet for help. Luckily the Gurkhas in 1791 made war with Tibet and sacked Tashelhunpo, but were in the following year defeated by the Chinese and had to make an ignominious treaty. Sikhim got back a small portion of her State, but was obliged to pay the Gurkhas tribute to Nepal until 1815, when the latter were defeated and driven out by the British, who in 1817 restored West Sikhim and the Terai to the Raja. Several disputes between the Tibetan and Lepcha factions, often ending in bloodshed, broke out from time to time, causing disturbances on the Indian frontier, until in 1826 Government had to interfere, and in 1828 Captain Lloyd was sent to settle matters and reported the excellent prospects Darjeeling held out as a sanatorium. In 1834-35 another internecine strife broke out, and Captain Lloyd interfered and obtained a grant of a strip of territory running from Darjeeling to the plains. In 1849, after Drs.Hooker and Campbell had been maltreated while travelling in Sikhim, the Terai and more territory was seized, and finally, after a military expedition to Tumlong, the capital, the treaty of 1861 was enacted, which confirms our possession of the present district.

Again troubles between the Tibetan and Lepcha parties broke out in 1880, and Mr. A. W. Paul was sent to Tumlong,

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