Sikkim
Page 43
6.
See interview at http://blog.com.np/2013/01/31/the-pain-of-losing-a-nation-story-of-lhendup-dorji-and-sikkim/, retrieved 25 Feb. 2015
7.
S. Ganguly, ‘The Sino-Indian Border Talks, 1981–1989: A View from New Delhi’, in Asian Survey, Vol. 29, No. 12 (Dec., 1989), pp. 1123–35
8.
Garver, Protracted Contest, p. 175
9.
T. Mathou, ‘Tibet and its Neighbours: Moving Towards a New Chinese Strategy in the Himalayan Region’, in Asian Survey, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Jul–Aug 2005), pp. 503–21
10.
Daily Telegraph, 5 November 2008
11.
See item list below:
EXPORT
1
Agriculture implements
2
Blankets
3
Copper products
4
Clothes
5
Cycles
6
Coffee
7
Tea
8
Barley
9
Rice
10
Flour
11
Dry Fruits
12
Dry and fresh vegetables
13
Vegetable oil
14
Gur and Misri
15
Tobacco
16
Snuff
17
Spices
18
Shoes
19
Kerosene oil
20
Stationery
21
Utensils
22
Wheat
23
Liquor
24
Milk-processed product
25
Canned Food
26
Cigarettes
27
Local herb
28
Palm oil
29
Hardware
IMPORT
1
Goat skin
2
Sheep skin
3
Wool
4
Raw silk
5
Yak tail
6
Yak hair
7
China clay
8
Borax
9
Seabelyipe
10
Butter
11
Goat Kashmiri
12
Common salt
13
Horse
14
Goat
15
Sheep
Selected Timeline
1640s
Namgyals dynasty established in Sikkim
1817
Treaty of Titalia (with East India Company)
1861
Treaty of Tulong (with British government)
1890
Anglo-Chinese Convention stating Sikkim is a British protectorate
1904
Younghusband Expedition reaches Tibetan capital of Lhasa
1914
Tashi Namgyal succeeds as Chogyal of Sikkim (on death of his brother Sidkeong)
1918
Tashi Namgyal granted full powers
1923
May: Birth of Thondup Namgyal
1939
14th Dalai Lama is enthroned in Lhasa, Tibet
1941
December: Death of Paljor Namgyal, Thondup’s older brother
1944
Thondup Namgyal becomes head of State Council
1947
India gains independence from Britain
1949
May: India appoints dewan (prime minister) for Sikkim following disturbances
October: Declaration of People’s Republic of China
1950
October: Invasion of Tibet
December: Indo-Sikkim Treaty
December: Dalai Lama flees to Yatung in the south of Tibet
1953
Elections in Sikkim
1954
Nari Rustomji appointed Sikkim’s dewan
1956
Dalai Lama visits Sikkim and India for Buddha’s 2500th celebrations
1958
Elections in Sikkim
1959
March: Dalai Lama flees Tibet for exile
September: Formation of Sikkim National Congress party
1961
March: US begins clandestine support of Tibetan rebels in Mustang Valley
1962
October: Sino-Indian Conflict, coinciding with the Cuban Missile Crisis
1963
March: Marriage of Thondup and Hope Cooke
December: Death of Tashi Namgyal
1964
February: Birth (to Hope Cooke) of Palden Namgyal
July: Death of Pandit Nehru, PM of India
1965
September–November: China tacitly supports Pakistan in Indo-Pakistani War, sending troops to Sikkim border
1966
January: Death of Lal Bahadur Shastri, PM of India
January: Indira Gandhi appointed PM of India
1967
March: Elections in Sikkim: Sikkim National Congress emerge as largest single party winning 8 of 18 elected seats
September: Clashes between Indian and Chinese troops on Sikkim–China border
1968
February: Birth (to Hope Cooke) of Hope Leezum Namgyal
1970
Elections in Sikkim: Sikkim National Party wins 8 of 24 seats in elections
1971
July: Secret Kissinger visit to China
August: Indo-USSR Friendship Treaty October: PRC takes over Chinese seat on UN Security Council (from Taiwan) December: Bangladesh War
1973
January: Elections in Sikkim: Sikkim National Party emerges as leading party after winning 9 of 18 elected seats (disputed)
March: Demonstrations for political reform in Gangtok
April: Thondup asks for Indian support in controlling disturbances
May: Tripartite Agreement (known as 8 May Agreement) August: Hope Cooke leaves Sikkim
1974
April: Elections in Sikkim: Sikkim National Congress wins in 31 of 32 constituencies; Kazi appointed Chief Minister
May: India launches Smiling Buddha nuclear test
June: Demonstrations in Gangtok
September: Sikkim made an ‘associate state’ of India
1975
April: Sikkim becomes 22nd state of India following takeover of palace and referendum
June: Indira Gandhi declares National Emergency
1976
February: Indira Gandhi postpones planned elections
1977
March: Indira Gandhi calls elections and loses; Morarji Desai becomes PM of India
August: Khatiawara releases ‘Memo’ on the events of 1975
1978
March: Death of Tenzing Namgyal
March: Indian PM Morarji Desai declares annexation of Sikkim ‘not a desirable step’
1979
August: President’s Rule declared
October: Elections in Sikkim: Sikkim Janata Parishad wins in 16 of 32 constituencies; Nar Bahadur Bhandari appointed Chief Minister
1980
January: Indira Gandhi elected PM of India for second time
1982
January: Death of Thondup Namgyal
Acknowledgements
Two days after I started this book from a cottage in Glenisla in the Angus Glens of Scotland my six-year-old nephew Robbie came across from my brother’s cottage (next door) asking, ‘Have you finished your book yet?’ Such visits became a regular occurrence. Thank you to my seven nephews and nieces for keeping my feet on the ground, and for being patient enough to allow this book to mature alongside them. Thanks also to my brothers, Jim and Tom, and their other halve
s, Natalie and Aoife, for encouragement, comments and support over the last few years. Above all, thanks to my mum and dad, who have never put pressure on me, despite (I’m sure) being as eager as my nephews and nieces to see the book completed.
The Glenisla connection comes from my grandfather, David Inglis Duff, whose notes on Sikkim first inspired me to write this book. This book would not have been written if he hadn’t cared enough to write notes and take photographs of his journey; nor would it have been possible without having Glenisla as a haven of peace in which to write. Thanks to both my grandparents, whose enthusiasm for India inspired my own.
It was in early 2010 that I first got in touch with Martha Steedman about her time as headteacher at the Paljor Namgyal Girls’ School in Sikkim. Martha and her husband Robert were always unfailingly generous with their time, and a source of both help and inspiration. I was deeply saddened when Martha died only two months before publication of this book. Ishbel Ritchie, Martha’s successor at the PNG School and now living in Dunfermline, has also always given me valuable insights. The two ladies’ weekly letters home demonstrated their deep love for Sikkim, and brought the 1960s and 1970s to life. The realization that I had such a unique, contemporary perspective gave me the courage to keep going on this project.
Martha and Ishbel were vital in making introductions to many people in Sikkim who generously gave interviews and responded patiently to questions and requests for information. They include Sonam Yongda, Sonam Wangdi, Karma Topden, B. B. Gurung and family, Chandra Das Rai and family, Keshav Pradhhan and family, Jigme Kazi, Rinzing Chewang Kazi, Soden la and Jigme Wangchuk, Nar Bahadur Khatiawara, Nar Bahadur Bhandari and Primula Bhandari, Ringu Tulku, Pema Wangchuk, Vimal Khawas, Professor Mahendra Lama and the ever-helpful Raman Shresta at Rachna Books in Gangtok. Particular thanks to Tashi Densapa and Anna Balikci Denjongpa at the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology for their generosity in providing on-site accommodation during two separate visits, and being so helpful with access to material. Saul Mullard and Alex McKay also helped with understanding the early history of Sikkim. At the last minute, Tina Tashi came through with some brilliant photographs, which helped the book immeasurably. Many people in Sikkim have provided assistance in other ways: Thinley Densapa, the Gurung family in Chakung, Hope Leezum Namgyal and family. In Delhi, K. S. Bajpai gave a full and frank interview and helped greatly with follow up questions. One of the most remarkable interviews I conducted was with Ratu Ngawang, escort to the Dalai Lama during his flight from Tibet in 1959. Others in India who helped with information and background context include Kuldip Nayar, Soumitra Das, Brigadier Rai Singh, Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy, Gautam Shrestha and the staff at Adventures Unlimited, and Squadron Leader Rana T. S. Chhina. A special mention to Sonam at Sonam’s Kitchen, whose Darjeeling breakfasts are unmissable. In the UK, thanks also to James and Bettine Scott, Elizabeth Preston, Peter de Vink, Krystyna Szumelukowa, Tom Drysdale, Malcolm Rust for help with introductions and with finding crucial information.
Sikkim could not have been written without reading Sunanda Datta-Ray’s account, Smash and Grab: Annexation of Sikkim, and Hope Cooke’s autobiography, Time Change. Both also generously allowed me to quote from their books, for which many thanks.
Writing a first book (and finding a publisher) requires sage advice and support. Michael Tobert is a brilliant critic and provided light during the dark periods. Others provided encouragement at critical points, often without realising it: John Keay, Jules Stewart, Patrick de Vink, Christopher MacLehose, Heather Adams, Giles Milton, Benedict Flynn, Richard Moore, Jonathan Foreman, Rick Maddocks and Barbara Lamplugh. Many others, too numerous to mention, gave beds, food, and lent a friendly ear when needed. A special mention to Linda Gillies, Kate Godfrey and Bill Everett, and other friends in Glenisla, including members of the Bridge Club, who provided much needed relief after long writing days. Thanks to Andrew and Jo Brydie for lending me their house in Carrbridge for a crucial month in the depths of winter 2013, to Ian Draper for putting me up in Delhi when he hardly knew me and allowing me to conduct an important interview in his sitting room, and to Richard Skinner and Jacqueline Crooks for letting me stay at their fabulous writers’ retreat in Andalucia for two months. Also thanks to the team at consultancy Market Gravity, for periodic bouts of employment, and the Edinburgh MD Paul Bowman, who generously lent me his office during the final editing process.
Being assigned to a first-time author must be an editor’s bad dream. Thanks to Debs Warner for being wonderfully patient and coping with my wanderings. Thanks also to the team at my publishers, Birlinn, for all their hard work.
Even in the days of instant internet access, libraries and archives remain vital for researching a book of this type. Thanks to the wonderful staff at the London Library, and in the Asia, Pacific and Africa collections of the British Library, who have always been diligent and helpful. Thanks also to the University of St Andrews Library, the Bodleian Library, the Tibetan Archives in Dharamsala and the Sikkim State Archives in Gangtok.
Finally, thanks to my wife, Louise, who has maintained a steadfast faith in me when my self-belief was severely challenged, and without whose comments and advice this book would have been much the poorer.
Andrew Duff
March 2015
Bibliography
OFFICIAL SOURCES
Foreign relations of the United States, Volume XVIII, 1969–76
India Office Records (IOR), in the British Library
The National Archives of the UK (TNA)
The Sikkim Code Vols I–V, Law Dept, Govt of Sikkim
Sikkim Coronation Booklet (Printed by Statesman Press, Calcutta, India)
Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC)
PRIVATE LETTERS AND OTHER SOURCES
Ishbel Ritchie, Private Letters
Martha Hamilton, Private Letters
Public Library of US Diplomacy (WikiLeaks)
Arthur Hopkinson, memoir (IOR MSS/EUR/D998/58)
PUBLISHED BOOKS
Adhikari, B. Sikkim: The Wounds of History (Biraj Adhikari, India, 2010)
Andrew, C. and Mitrokhin, V. The Mitrokhin Archive II (Penguin, London, 2006)
Avedon, J. In Exile from the Land of the Snows (Harper Perennial, UK, 1994)
Basnet, L. B. Sikkim – a Short Political History (S. Chand & Co, Delhi, India, 1974)
Bell, C. Portrait of the Dalai Lama (Collins, London, 1946)
Berry, S. A Stranger in Tibet: The Adventures of a Wandering Zen Monk (Collins, London, 1990)
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Cannadine, D. Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire (Penguin, London, 2001)
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Conboy, K. and Morrison, P. The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet (University Press of Kansas, USA, 2002)
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Datta-Ray, S. K. Smash and Grab: Annexation of Sikkim (Tranquebar Press, Delhi, India, 2013)
Davis, W. Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest (The Bodley Head, London, 2011
)
Dhar, M. K. Open Secrets: India’s Intelligence Unveiled (Manas Publications, New Delhi, 2010)
Dhar, P. N. Indira Ghandi, the ‘Emergency’ and Indian Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2000)
Doma, Y. Legends of the Lepchas (Tranquebar, Chennai, 2010)
Dunham, M. Buddha’s Warriors: The Story of the CIA-Backed Tibetan Freedom Fighters, the Chinese Communist Invasion, and the Ultimate Fall of Tibet (Penguin India, 2005)
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Galbraith, J. K. Ambassador’s Journals: A Personal Account of the Kennedy Years (H. Hamilton, London, 1969)