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Sikkim

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

Sikkim , state (2001 provisional pop. 540,493), 2,745 sq mi (7,110 sq km), India. It is located in the E Himalayas and bordered by Nepal (W), by the Tibet region of China (N), by Bhutan (E), and by the Indian state of West Bengal (S). The capital and only town is Gangtok. Most of Sikkim is mountainous, and rivers, including the Tista, flow through deep valleys, intersecting the country and hindering travel. In the mountains are extensive forests and grazing land for sheep, goats, cattle, and yaks. Corn is the major crop of the tropical lowland valleys, and rice, millet, wheat, barley, legumes, fruits, and cardamom are also grown. Agriculture is chiefly for subsistence. Sikkim has some copper deposits. There is a handicraft industry, and cotton weaving is common. In 1979 its first hydroelectric station was put on line.

Sikkim's people are predominantly of Nepalese extraction; the minority Bhotias (Tibetan in origin) and aboriginal Lepchas are mainly pastoral nomads. Although the Nepalese practice Hinduism, Buddhism was professed by the former chogyal ( "king under the religious laws" ) and the official class, and Sikkim is noted for its Buddhist monasteries. Tibeto-Burmese languages and dialects are spoken widely.

In the 16th cent. Tibetans began to settle Sikkim, whose native Lepchas were probably converted to Buddhism by Tibetan lamas. In 1642 a Tibetan king started a hereditary line of Sikkimese rulers that lasted until 1975. Gurkhas from Nepal invaded Sikkim several times in the 18th and 19th cent., but the British, expanding their presence in India, forced the Gurkhas out of Sikkim (1814-16). Later (1835, 1849) the Sikkimese had to cede territory to the British, who assumed a protectorate. China, nominal suzerain of the area, finally recognized the protectorate in 1890, after a British victory over Tibet, but continued to maintain a claim over the area and later did not acknowledge that Sikkim was an Indian state until 2005.

British protection ended when India won independence in 1947, but political and social unrest in newly independent Sikkim led to a treaty (1950) by which the kingdom became an Indian protectorate. India directed defense and foreign relations and communications, while Sikkim retained internal autonomy. India financed construction of strategic roads traversing the mountain passes, thus ending Sikkim's long isolation from the outside world. Sikkim's administration was turned over to India in 1974, and in 1975 India ended Sikkim's last vestiges of independence, deposing the kingdom's chogyal. Sikkim became India's 22d state. It is governed by a chief minister and cabinet responsible to a unicameral legislature and by a governor appointed by the president of India.

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Sikkim

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Sikkim State in n India, bounded by Tibet, China (n and ne), Bhutan (se), India (s), and Nepal (w); the capital is Gangtok (1991 pop. 25,024). The terrain is generally mountainous, rising to Mount Kanchenjunga, at 8591m (28,185ft), the world's third-highest peak. The original inhabitants of the area were the Lepcha, but after the 17th century the Rajas of Tibet ruled Sikkim. By 1816 it fell under British influence, and after British withdrawal from India in 1947, Sikkim gained independence. Political unrest led to the country becoming an Indian Protectorate in 1950, and it was made an associate state in 1975. Agriculture is the main source of income, with maize, rice, barley, fruits, tea, and cardamom among the main crops; the tourist industry is growing. Area: 7096sq km (2734sq mi). Pop. (2001) 540,493.

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Sikkim

A Dictionary of Contemporary World History | 2004 | | Copyright

Sikkim An erstwhile Buddhist kingdom, it was subject to many aggresive encroachments by Buthan, Nepal, and, finally, China, so that Britain declared a protectorate over the small state in 1889. Ruled feudally by chogyals (kings), it transferred to an Indian protectorate after 1947, though it retained its own internal autonomy. India defended its northern border in the 1962 Indo-Chinese War. Popular pressure for incorporation into India was finally successful, against the resistance of the chogyals, after a 1974 referendum. It was incorporated as the twenty-second state of the Indian Union on 16 May 1975.

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JAN PALMOWSKI. "Sikkim." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Sikkim

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names | 2005 | | Copyright

Sikkim, India A state whose name may be derived from the Sanskrit sikhin ‘summit’ or from the Limbu su him ‘new homeland’ or perhaps ‘happy homeland’. For long a buffer state between British India and Nepal, it became a de facto British protectorate in 1817, although retaining its status as an independent Himalayan Buddhist kingdom. It ceased to be a British protectorate in 1947 and became an Indian one instead in 1950. It joined the Indian Union in 1975 as a result of a referendum.

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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Sikkim." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Sikkim." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Sikkim.html

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Sikkim

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | | Copyright

Sikkim. A small Himalayan state, once an independent Tibetan kingdom, which was integrated with India by popular vote in 1975. Though Hinduism is now followed by over two-thirds of the population, the influence of Tibetan Buddhism remains strong. According to tradition, Buddhism was introduced here in the 8th century ce by Padmasambhava.

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DAMIEN KEOWN. "Sikkim." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAMIEN KEOWN. "Sikkim." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Sikkim.html

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Sikkim

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

Sikkim •bedim, brim, crim, dim, glim, grim, Grimm, gym, him, hymn, Jim, Kim, limb, limn, nim, prim, quim, rim, scrim, shim, Sim, skim, slim, swim, Tim, trim, vim, whim •poem • goyim • cherubim • Hasidim •seraphim, teraphim •Elohim • Sikkim • Joachim • prelim •forelimb • Muslim • Blenheim •paynim • minim • pseudonym •homonym • anonym • synonym •eponym • acronym • antonym •metonym • Antrim • megrim •Leitrim • pilgrim • Purim • interim •passim • maxim • kibbutzim •Midrashim • literatim •seriatim, verbatim •victim •system • ecosystem • subsystem •item • Ashkenazim

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Chamling generates interest for Sikkim among foreign investors. News Wire article from: PTI - The Press Trust of India Ltd.; 4/10/2006
	Sikkim talks to JBIC to promote Buddhist circuit. News Wire article from: PTI - The Press Trust of India Ltd.; 7/30/2006
	Sikkim all set to roll its roulette for great gamblers. News Wire article from: PTI - The Press Trust of India Ltd.; 3/30/2008