Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

Regarding Sikkim's perspective, the first three  Everest Expeditions hold special significance for a person named Gyalzen Kazi, who was a landlord but played an important role during the expeditions. Gyalzen Kazi was the interpreter for the 1921 Everest and 1922 and 1924 Expeditions.  It is well said that Gyalzen Kazi and Karma Paul, another interpreter from Darjeeling, had a significant role in the Everest Expeditions. Gyalzen Kazi was known more for his role as an interpreter but to my findings, he was the first mountain explorer of Sikkim. Another interesting finding that came to me was the page of the Aritar Dak Bungalow Visitor Book with the names of five 1922 Mt Everest Expedition mountaineers. Charles G. Bruce, Edward "Teddy" F. Norton, Dr Arthur Wakefield, C. John Morris, and C. Geoffrey Bruce had signed the visitor book during their stay at the Dak Bungalow on July 29 and 30, 1922.  Though I felt a little sad not to find Mallory’s name in the book, nevertheless...

As the old saying goes, legend never dies. George Mallory and his teammate Sandy Irvine went missing while trying for their third attempt to conquer the mighty Mt. Everest when they were just a few hundred meters below the summit. The year was 1924, and 75 years later, a search team was lucky enough to recover the legendary Mallory's body with his badge struck on his weathered cloth.  This story of George Herbert Leigh Mallory has always fascinated my little fantasy. My excitation knew no boundary when I read that Mallory, on three separate Mt Everest Expeditions (1921, 1922, and 1924), had passed through the valley of Sikkim on their way to Mt Everest from the north side of Tibet since the route through Nepal was closed for Western foreigners. The failure of the 1921 and 1922 Everest Expeditions did not deter him. He once replied to a reporter, ‘Because it is there,’ when asked why he wanted to scale Everest. The phrase went on to be a record book as one of the popular phrases...

History has its perspective to retell its own story. That long-lost tale of yesteryears recapitulates the golden days of bygone years. Today Lingtam, a half-hour vehicle road from Rongli Bazaar is a silent wayside small village mostly forgotten by history. Nowadays with flourishing tourism and beautiful homestays; the place is customarily remembered by the tourists for its small Lingtam Police Check Post where the visitors and the vehicles need to submit their “Permit Pass” to visit the other side of the road till Changu. Towards the end of the 1880s, this place had continuous visitors in the army personnel related to British Expedition Forces that marched towards Gnathang, the Sikkim-Tibet Border. Despite the presence of exotic locales around this effortless landscape; one deserted house that lies just along the wayside caught my fancied eye when I visited this place for the very first time a decade back. Between the modern days, concrete buildings lay a small wooden house empty f...

PIC: BENTLEY BENTHEM As the old saying goes by, legend never dies. George Mallory and his teammate Sandy Irvine while trying for his third attempt to conquer the mighty Mt Everest went missing when they were just a few hundred meters below the summit. The year then was 1924 and it was 75 years later a search team was lucky enough to dig out the missing corpse of the legendary Mallory with his badge struck on his weathered cloth.    This story of George Herbert Leigh Mallory had always fascinated my little fantasy. My excitation knew no boundary when I came to read that Mallory on three separate Mt Everest Expeditions (1921, 1922 and 1924) had passed through the valley of Sikkim on their way to Mt Everest from the north side of Tibet since the route through Nepal was closed for western foreigners.  Failure of the 1921 and 1922 Everest Expedition did not deter him. He once replied to a reporter ‘Because it is there’ when asked why he wanted to scale the Everest. It is...

JC White had a significant influence on Sikkim. In his popular blog, Rajen Upadhaya, History Lecturer, Namchi Govt. College writes, “With the appointment of J C White as the Political Officer in 1889, Sikkim witnessed his self-styled Zamindari System. Several Lessee Landlords were created throughout Sikkim with untold powers to mortgage or confiscate the lands of innocent peasants, further, with the help of his Sikkimese protégés Claude White board upon a policy of obliterating the ancient economy of Sikkim. This paved the way for the birth of Kaziism, the Thikadari system, and all the other forced labors like Kuruwa, Kalobhari, Jharlangi, Theki-Bethi, Ghar-Lauri, etc.”. In 1889, JC White conducted a land survey, according to which each piece of land was leased to the interested landowners at various rates. A Labour tax of two rupees for every household was charged, along with an excise charge of two rupees for brewing grain alcohol. Auctions for the license to weigh and ta...

I had heard from old folks that there used to be a statue of JC White at the exact place where Jawaharlal Nehru's statue is today at Ridge Park near White Hall, Gangtok. Later on, during the early 70s, the statue was removed and replaced with the statue of the first Prime Minister of India. JC White's statue had gone missing until it was again found and kept at Smile Land near Ranipool. My fantasy about JC White grew with each passing day and I just wanted to know more about his persona.  John Claude White, a British engineer, was sent to Sikkim in 1887, and he peacefully handled the situation at the Sikkim–Tibet front. A year later, he was again sent to Sikkim as an Assistant Political Officer with the British Expeditionary Force. With the defeat of the Tibetans during the 1888-89 conflicts, the power of control over the small Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim came under British rule.  A new post as Political Officer of Sikkim was created, thus making John Claude White an a...

Today, Lingtam , a half-hour vehicle road from Rongli Bazaar , is a small, silent wayside village mostly forgotten by history. Today, it is remembered by the tourists for its small Lingtam Police Check Post , where the visitors and their vehicles need to submit their “ Permit Pass " to visit another side of the road to Changu . Towards the end of the 1880s, this place had continuous visitors in the army personnel related to  British Expedition Forces that marched towards Gnathang , the Sikkim-Tibet Border . The development of Sikkim had always evaded this small place for most of the decades. Despite the presence of exotic locales around this effortless landscape, one deserted house just along the way caught my fancied eye when I visited this place for the first time. Between modern days, concrete buildings lie small wooden houses that are empty from the inside with broken planks....

Troops and pack animals climb a steep mountain pass near Lingtu on their way to Tibet during the expedition led by British Army officer and explorer Colonel Sir Francis Younghusband (1863 - 1942), November 1903. The mission resulted from disputes over the Sikkim - Tibet border and ended with the British occupation of Lhasa.  Original Publication: The Graphic - Pub. 30th January 1904  (Photo by The Graphic/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

As always when I come across stories related to Sikkim history my feet have no boundaries. I had heard about a small war memorial at Gnathang along the Sikkim-Tibet border a few years back but due to unavoidable circumstances, I was not able to visit that place. So when I set foot at Gnathang this March I was very excited. Well, there is a War Memorial in Gnathang but more than that a neglected one. Despite its historic importance, I believe it has lost its existence. The dry overgrown grasses and the broken nameplates of the memorial speak of the negligence. World history remembers the event as the Sikkim Expedition in 1888. There are around 15 graveyards in the War Memorial of those soldiers representing the British Expeditionary Force that fought a war against the Tibetan Army in 1888 at Gnathang. The British Force stayed at this remote mountainous corner between 1888 to 1895 and the memorial reflects the determination and grit of those people most of whom were in their mid-20s and ...